Archive for August, 2009
Monday, August 31st, 2009
UPDATED, WITH PHOTOS!: NJ Transit Riders Get New Entrance
Penn Station, whose 1964 destruction and ensuing rebuild is a vital plot point in Mad Men this season, unveiled a new entrance/exit for New Jersey Transit commuters today, reports LoHud.com.
JerseyJim reports:
Autumn in New York has always been a great season, but it just got a little better for commuters at Penn Station.
At 7th avenue […]
No Comments » - Posted in Mad Men, New Jersey Transit, Penn Station by TJ
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Conductor Bobby’s Celeb Sightings a Dunne Deal
Besides elicting one of the most bizarre obit second paragraphs as I’ve seen in some time, the passing of famous writer Dominick Dunne earlier this week prompted an entertaining yard from Conductor Bobby, the New Haven Line staffer with a knack for spying–and approaching–celebs on board.
He writes:
I’ve seen the author Dominick Dunne on my train […]
No Comments » - Posted in Conductor, Derailed, New Haven Line by TJ
Friday, August 28th, 2009
JerseyJim Says Meadowlands Express Open For Biz
Our morning trains this week were leaflet-bombed with the August issue of “FYI Customer Update”, which informed our New Jersey Transit ridership that (among other things) the Meadowlands rail service is now in operation!
Back in the spring I made an experimental journey to the Meadowlands by train from Penn Station to Secaucus, and then connecting […]
No Comments » - Posted in New Jersey Transit, jerseyjim by TJ
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
JerseyJim: Fur Flies at Jersey Bike Rack
This is a bit hard to rap one’s head around, but let us try. A bike-to-the-station type erroneously chained not only his bike, but the bike next to his, to the rack at a Jersey Transit station. So when the owner of the bike that had been mistakenly chained up got back to the station, he […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Bike Rack, Bike to Work, Summit, jerseyjim by TJ
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Can Someone Please Help This Man?
I get the sense this letter-writer has put some thought into his commute. Any advice for the Man Who Thinks of Everything is appreciated.
Dear Trainjotting,
I have been really appreciating your internet blog, since you have the precious qualities of both being smartly aware of your territory, and being very generous in sharing valuable information.
I am an […]
5 Comments » - Posted in Hawthorne, Reverse Commute by TJ
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
David’s Car
NY Times columnist David Carr is probably the best media critic on the planet, as evidenced by his claiming the Mirror Award for Commentary, given out by media types to those who do the best job of covering the media, each year.
David Carr was also a raving crackhead lunatic in another life, assaulting women, injecting […]
No Comments » - Posted in Bus, Montclair, Trainjotting Reader by TJ
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Ashleigh Banfield Looks Young For ‘50′
The year 2000.
The towers stood tall, Mike Piazza hit mammoth home runs, and Ashleigh Banfield was all over MSNBC. Conductor to the Stars Bobby has an Ashleigh sighting on Metro-North (she lives in Connecticut), along with a topless woman who sounds like a lost participant in some Boardy Barn Sunday fun.
It’s all on Derailed. […]
No Comments » - Posted in Conductor, Derailed by TJ
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Hawthorne Rivals Portland in Pedestrian-Friendliness
I mentioned late last week that there was a new crosswalk spanning the driveway at Hawthorne’s train station, a rare moment in the former hamlet of Hummerville where pedestrians score some rights over the almighty automobile.
Well, that crosswalk isn’t the half of it. It’s more like the third of it, in fact. Yes, riding home […]
No Comments » - Posted in Hawthorne, Mount Pleasant by TJ
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Straphanger Joe is Feeling a Little Punchy This Morning
Salt and Pepper
There’s a poster above me.
It’s hot outside, cool inside. The AC in this car is working. It’s too crowded to be able to read and I’m tired, swaying a little with the motion of the car.
We’re somewhere under the East River, just past Roosevelt Island. I’m on my way in to […]
No Comments » - Posted in MTA, Straphanger Joe, iPod by TJ
Friday, August 21st, 2009
The Mean Streets of Scarsdale
It was an exceedingly rare night out in the Big Town for TJ last night–a coworker’s 40th, and the whole crew tipping a few on a sticky summer night.
Festivities wound down around 9, so I commenced my schlep to Grand Central. I didn’t know the departing train times offhand, and couldn’t be bothered to access […]