Phone rang at 5:50 this morning, cancelling school for the day. It’s an automated message, and ALL our phones ring. (house phone and two cell phones, scattered around the house.

It was snowing wet-heavy Vancouver Olympixels, and starting to stick. My wife informed me that today’s storm has been dubbed The SNURRICANE, (or as they call it in Vermont: “Thursday.”). [Editor’s Note I: Does “Blizzicane” sound too much like a limited-time-only Mardi Gras milkshake at Wendy’s?]

Processing snow day factors, I heard the train whistle of the early train. Good. Things
are moving.

Time to join the morning commuter Olympiad. (ed. query - why doesn’t NBC use the term Olympiad?…much cooler than Olympics)

It was a wet but pleasant walk in the snow. Monday is March, but still winter.

- jerseyjim

[Editor’s Note II: Metro-North humming along too-we actually got in two minutes early to GCT.]

Some bait and switch on this morning’s New Jersey Transit Midtown Direct train to Penn Station.

Blackberrys were buzzing, and Clever Commuters were quizzing, as the 7:15 from Summit left the station.

As he walked through the first car, the conductor promised the nervous passengers that he would make an announcement.

“Due to AMTRAK problems, there are up to 60 minute delays in and out of Penn Station New York. Several trains are being diverted to Hoboken, but this train is not. Next Stop, Penn Station, NY.”

Some smiles, and audible sighs of relief rose above the seats. It sounded too good to be true. And sure enough, it was.

About 10 minutes later, another announcement from the conductor.

“Ladies and Gentleman, this train will be going to Hoboken. PATH trains will cross-honor fares for all NJT passengers.”
 
From the ongoing postings to Clever Commute, confusion and delays persisted on the other trains heading East.

So we rolled into Hoboken Lakawanna Terminal, and submerged to the PATH trains. Not much complaining; most of the passengers shrugged and took it in stride. In yonder days before the Midtown Direct, this was a daily slog for all Jersey commuters heading to New York City.

Waiting for the train this morning in the brisk air, I was again impressed by the smoking guy that stands about 30 feet from the tracks, and smokes his last cigarette before boarding the NY bound train.

It must be hard for a smoker these days, in the bitter thin air of winter. And with so many train delays, who knows when your next nicotine fix will come your way? This is why people drive cars.

It must be rotten being couped-up in a train for 55 minutes, then fighting the crowd in Penn Station with an unlit Marlboro clenched in your teeth. Climbing slowly from the tracks to the street level, finally free to light up, and become the city-walking-smoking guy.
 
From my recent observations, it stands to reason that cigarettes actually keep you warmer. So many folks outside without a coat, hat or gloves, and a burning ember in their lips, these portable Lung-Johns are ideal for people on the move. We must find a way to return to the Mad Men days of Don Draper, where smoking on trains, and everywhere, was part of life.

Don Draper has got me thinking. Our solution is right here in our hands, and that would be a cigarette made of coffee. Bear with me, but how different can nicotine and caffeine really be? I’m no chemistry wiz, so I’ll leave the details up to the experts. I think we need to put Starbucks on the case, with some small funding by Altria (Philip Morris’s new identity- the slick name that says “I’ll try ya!”).

Coffee beans are already exotic, and I don’t think anyone on the train, in a movie theatre, in the office, would be opposed to the idea of coffee that never gets cold, because it’s actually on fire. These beansmokes could be as harmless as a cup of Joe, and they’ll taste like French Roast!
 
Our trains would be safer and kinder. No spilled coffee. No disgruntled passengers waiting to light-up. And just imagine the new tax revenue! 

– jersey jim

From JerseyJim’s CleverCommute inbox late last week:

[NJTT-MandE] This morning a Gladstone train hit a deer, kept its speed & barely even hit the brakes w/ no delay!! Watch out, there’s a new conductor in town!!!

If you just don’t have enough train sounds in your life, here’s a pretty cool site that offers a stunning array of recorded train noise from various trains, including LIRR, Metro-North, the New York subway, and cars from all over the U.S.

The site is called TransitTalk Transportation Media Group, and it’s for train hobbyists (or “foamers,” to their detractors).

Thanks to JerseyJim for sending this our way.

[From Friday, when TJ was ducking out of town to escape Yankee Hysteria]

Last night was one for the NJ record books, as rail delays stretched through the rush hour, and on into Friday morning.

As I was heading home, the 5:50 p.m. from NY Penn stopped in Summit, as a disabled rush-hour train on the single track in New Providence blocked our progress, and blocked trains all the way back the line. I was lucky enough to disembark in Summit, and got a warm ride home from my wife.

But later, the problems really increased with a power outage. Trains stalled, cancelled, and announcements of 45 min to 1-hour delays. Likewise, commuters were directed to Path trains and Hoboken, to catch trains westward.
from NJT:

“Montclair Line train #6291, the 7:37pm departure is canceled. Passengers may use train #6293 the 8:37pm departure from New York Penn.

“Montclair Line train #6293, the 8:37 p.m. departure from New York Penn is canceled. Passengers may use train #6295, the 9:32 p.m. departure from NYPS.
Nov 05, 2009 08:51:16 PM

According to messages on Clever Commute….delays continued until just past midnight, as problems persisted. Tempers got heated, I can imagine. One Clever Commute customer wants to “arrange a BOYCOTT of New Jersey Transit, until they improve customer service and tell us what is going on.”

A noble effort, I’m sure. In a quick check, not a word of this in the Star-Ledger so far. I guess delays on NJT don’t qualify as “breaking news.”

I wonder if any of those reporters ride the rails?
 

-jerseyjim

Not the usual bustle of New Jersey folks on the 7:15 Midtown Direct this morning.

It seems a few citizens stayed back to vote, and catch a later train. It didn’t really register with me until our conductor offered a helpful reminder as our train pulled into Penn Station: “Today is Election Day. Polls are open until 9 p.m. in New York City, and 8 p.m. in New Jersey.”

It’s understandable on our line, as Chris Daggett (The Independent for Governor) might be courting the locals — he hails from Bernards Township, and an alumni of Ridge High School in Basking Ridge. Hope is alive until 8 p.m.!, as Jon Corzine and Chris Christie are speeding around the state, courting anyone that might listen to them. (read: not many.)

I was glad to avoid some wry commentary on the Yankees’ “Failure to Clinch” last night on my train, and their Utterly Utley undoing. The Bud Limes will have to stay on ice until Wednesday, as Chase Utley makes his way back to Wall Street, hair slicked back and feared, the Gordon Gekko of 2009.

-jerseyjim

Don’t worry folks, it’s SFW.

Browsing back on my ample time sitting and surfing the splinter-net, I recently spent my most productive ten-minutes ever online. A few clicks on the Commuter Nation website, and entering some random personal information, I was a weekly winner of the nation-wide RIDE FREE sweepstakes, covering two months of commuting, a $436 value.

Last month a few volunteers from Commuter Nation were handing out postcards at Penn Station, and on a whim, I took one home, and followed the Sweepstakes instructions. Much to my surprise, I got a call last week to report my victory!

I’m usually skeptical of commuter sites in general, (Except Trainjotting, of course!) but so far it looks like it’s all on the level. Very glad to have the travel-stimulus.
 
Keep on commuting!
-jerseyjim

EDITOR’S NOTE: As if JerseyJim winning the first annual Trainjotting Caption Contest wasn’t enough, JJ now grabs the Commuter Nation Sweepstakes. The guy is hotter than A-Rod right now.

With the big Nor’easter coming our way, SLIPPERY RAIL CONDITIONS are likely to hit New Jersey as soon as tomorrow.  I missed my usual NY train, and had to sprint to catch the 7:43 train to Hoboken., where I found a NJ Transit pamphlet about slippery rail.

The Transit Advisory warns of a “challenging season” for this “age-old problem” in the pamphlet. Decaying materials on the rail become “PECTIN, an oily residue that can make it difficult for trains to gain or maintain traction.”

One of the tricks and treats up NJT’s sleeve for slippery rail conditins, other than spreading sand on the rails prior to peak periods, is “deploying AQUA TRACK”–NJT’s high-pressure rail washing system. Our awesome pamphlet reports “Since AQUA TRACK SYSTEM has been deployed over the past six years, slippery rail delays have been reduced by about 50 percent.”

No delays this morning, except my own of course. But as the fall season lives up to it’s name, we can at least hope to draw some enjoyment on the autumn scenery, as Bob Dylan pictures it…

Train wheels runnin’ through the back of my memory,
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese.
Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece.

- jerseyjim

[image: sparrowfarm.com]