Long Train Runnin'
Engineer
HereI thought I would take a minute to write something up to match the photographs I took while at National Train Day in Philadelphia. I started out my day at Metropark where I met up with Jishnu (jis) and Piotr (NJCoastExp) where we chatted for a little while before boarding a very crowded Northeast Regional (155) where we found a table in the café car to sit and chat for the ride through New Jersey.
I believe we arrived on time in 30th Street Station, but I didn’t check that closely. We broke off as we waited for 11AM to roll around and to meet the rest of the group. I went and got of coffee, and walked around the exhibits although they weren’t open yet. Around 11 I began seeing some familiar faces, so I joined up with the group. We waited for other members of the group to arrive from North and South. Once it appeared we had the whole group together we headed to the food court to get some lunch.
After lunch we made our way to the equipment displays where we all were able to take advantage of the AGR Mastercard fast lane, or whatever it was called. We were quickly down at the display which started with a walk through of an Acela train set. They had some maintenance of way equipment, and display by NJ Transit. One of the more interesting things they had on display was Amtrak’s track geometry car outfitted with an amazing amount of computer systems and displays. It was pretty interesting to see all the technology they use to monitor track conditions. They also had some great historical cars on display as well. The most interesting in my opinion was a Silver Meteor “Sun Lounge” built in 1955. It had very large windows and almost like a dome it had curved glass windows over the ceiling. There were other cars as well, but those were the highlights for me personally.
After the equipment tour we all milled around and chatted for a while. I stayed and for about another 20 minutes talking to various people, and from there we all started to break apart. It seemed like most were heading off on a Keystone, but I wasn’t able to join them, so I jumped on the next Septa Trenton Line Train to head toward New Jersey and eventually home.
The SEPTA portion of my ride home was largely uneventful we ran basically 3 minutes late through the entire run. I spent most of the trip writing this report. I had about 20 minutes to spend in the Trenton Transportation Center. I hadn’t spent any amount of time there before, and I know they recently completed some renovations there. Overall it’s a nice station with a good food options, clean bathrooms, and a light rail connection. It didn’t seem to have enough places to wait indoors IMHO, but otherwise it looks very nice.
At 2:49 I boarded a NJ Transit Northeast Corridor local train, and 50 minutes later I was back at Metropark.
I really enjoyed the whole day it was great to see new and familiar faces. I still can’t believe how many folks travelled quite a long distance to spend the afternoon. I hope the points run went well, and everyone makes it back safely.
You can see the photos
I believe we arrived on time in 30th Street Station, but I didn’t check that closely. We broke off as we waited for 11AM to roll around and to meet the rest of the group. I went and got of coffee, and walked around the exhibits although they weren’t open yet. Around 11 I began seeing some familiar faces, so I joined up with the group. We waited for other members of the group to arrive from North and South. Once it appeared we had the whole group together we headed to the food court to get some lunch.
After lunch we made our way to the equipment displays where we all were able to take advantage of the AGR Mastercard fast lane, or whatever it was called. We were quickly down at the display which started with a walk through of an Acela train set. They had some maintenance of way equipment, and display by NJ Transit. One of the more interesting things they had on display was Amtrak’s track geometry car outfitted with an amazing amount of computer systems and displays. It was pretty interesting to see all the technology they use to monitor track conditions. They also had some great historical cars on display as well. The most interesting in my opinion was a Silver Meteor “Sun Lounge” built in 1955. It had very large windows and almost like a dome it had curved glass windows over the ceiling. There were other cars as well, but those were the highlights for me personally.
After the equipment tour we all milled around and chatted for a while. I stayed and for about another 20 minutes talking to various people, and from there we all started to break apart. It seemed like most were heading off on a Keystone, but I wasn’t able to join them, so I jumped on the next Septa Trenton Line Train to head toward New Jersey and eventually home.
The SEPTA portion of my ride home was largely uneventful we ran basically 3 minutes late through the entire run. I spent most of the trip writing this report. I had about 20 minutes to spend in the Trenton Transportation Center. I hadn’t spent any amount of time there before, and I know they recently completed some renovations there. Overall it’s a nice station with a good food options, clean bathrooms, and a light rail connection. It didn’t seem to have enough places to wait indoors IMHO, but otherwise it looks very nice.
At 2:49 I boarded a NJ Transit Northeast Corridor local train, and 50 minutes later I was back at Metropark.
I really enjoyed the whole day it was great to see new and familiar faces. I still can’t believe how many folks travelled quite a long distance to spend the afternoon. I hope the points run went well, and everyone makes it back safely.
You can see the photos
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