http://trainjotting.com Trainjotting Blog Fri, 16 May 2008 20:02:01 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I just drove by Hawthorne train station and saw a News 12 van in the parking lot, its microwave dish out. I pulled in and waited for a crew member to surface, then asked him what the deal was. The News 12 guy said a cab driver with Mount Pleasant Taxi, ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/16/breaking-dead-rabbits-are-never-funny/ The conductor's announcement prior to Wednesday's 5:50 departure, when the lights went out and the engines went silent "Ladies and Gentlemen, We're just recycling the motor, we should be up in a few minutes." Another dirty deed done dirt cheap, and we were soon off... --Jerseyjim   http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/15/green-trains-in-garden-state/ A reader asks... I was wondering; I can occasionally hear this whistling sound from the engineers cab and he slows down. I was wondering if the whistling indicates distance between trains is getting too close or is it generated for some other reason such as schedule time? Thanks Joel F. -- If any of the ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/14/conductor-caught-whistling-at-attractive-passenger/ Getting a little time off work--and the commute--thanks to the arrival of Little Miss C on Sunday, I had the express pleasure of accompanying new big brother Little G to his Music Together class today up 117 a bit in Hillaryville. As any veteran of a Music Together class or CD ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/13/the-engineer-was-bonkers-on-our-ride-to-yonkers/ TJ welcomes the arrival of Charlotte (heretofore referred to as Little C), 6 lbs, 12 oz., into the world yesterday. The serious contractions came around 4:30 a.m., we hit the hospital around 7, and Charlotte zipped out with the speed and purpose of the 4 train. As a result, this week's posts ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/12/born-yesterday/ Our Metro-North-obsessed brethren Station Stops has some great video of an R&B singer named Alice Tan Ridley belting some tunes out in the subways. It's the kind of stuff that makes you remember how great it is to live in (or at least commute to) New York. Note how much fun ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/12/midnight-6-train-to-georgia/ We've long heard that subways run on some sort of actual schedule, similar to commuter trains. Like, the 6 train is due in at 9:15, and if you miss that one, the next one is due in at 9:20, or something like that. We always kind of chalked that up to ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/09/subway-schedules-at-your-fingertips/ Finally catching up on rest from a quadruple-overtime hockey game the night before, and the drizzly weather suits me fine. Changing up my usual triathalon of biking to station, sardine can swim in train car, and speed-walk to the office, I walked the 7/10th mile to the station, and thus ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/09/jerseyjims-java-jones/ Matt Lauer put on his best play clothes this morning to examine "The Mystery of Track 61" on the Today show. Lauer went 30 feet below the Waldorf to investigate the secret train track that has intrigued urban explorers for decades. As luck would have it, when one Googles "Track 61"--as ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/08/thank-you-matt-lauer-for-the-traffic/ The letter came on crisp Metro-North Railroad stationery yesterday, informing me that the railroad had approved my damaged-property claim stemming from the train armrest tearing my pants on April 17. A check for $15 was enclosed to cover "Misc/Damage to Personal Property." I must say, much as I was skeptical that Metro-North ... http://trainjotting.com/2008/05/08/metro-north-gives-me-15-for-my-pants/