http://trainjotting.com Trainjotting Blog Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:53:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A sad day yesterday on New Jersey Transit. As our 5:18 express train from Penn Station reached East Orange, the train stopped abruptly. After a momentary pause, the conductor made an announcement that our train had hit someone in the tracks, and there had been ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/12/jerseyjim-incident-on-the-518/ I heard it yesterday and then again today. It could be I've missed it before while in a straphanger fog. But two days in a row means it's probably real and not an illusion. Yesterday I was on the F train coming home at about 6:36pm. The train was sparsely populated ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/11/straphanger-joe-announces-sexual-misconduct/ There's a poster in front of me showing two guns, one red the other black with the caption, Which is real and which is a toy? above it. These public service ads have been out since since December but every time I see them I stop and ask myself, Which is real and ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/09/straphanger-joe-looking-for-the-obvious/ It's been a while since I've really looked at the other passengers on the subway. Maybe that's what winter does to you - it numbs you. Or maybe I've just been tired of people and there are too many around you on the train. You'd think I'd be used to ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/08/straphanger-joe-comes-out-of-hibernation/ This bit of Westchester commuter humor before I sign off for the week comes from Jimmy Fallon. A woman who lives a mile from the Clintons in Chappaqua, New York has been charged with prostitution. The woman said she hates living in Chappaqua but she loves the one-mile commute. [image: skaneatelesdesign.com] http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/05/what-really-happens-on-old-house-lane/ TJ is on vacay starting in, oh, 3 hours and 15 minutes, and probably unable and unwilling to post. In my stead is the capable and charming Straphanger Joe, who will be maintaining Trainjotting next week, and adding his observations from the subways. Joe is an old friend, an astute observer and ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/05/guest-blogger-straphanger-joe/ The woman who "flashed" her MetroCard at the 28th Street station this morning. We were getting off the downtown-bound 6, and were making our way to the emergency exit door that leads to the way out at 26th Street. You were flying into the station, desperate to get on board that train. You ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/04/an-open-letter-to-44/ Slate.com has a a fun story penned by Julia Turner on yet another reason to dislike Penn Station--impossible-to-follow signs. Penn Station's signage got 2.5 stars on Yelp.com ("Without a doubt, one of the poorest and most confusing arrangements for signage and passenger movement that I can imagine"), Turner notes, compared ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/03/slate-why-penn-stations-signs-suck/ C'mon, folks, get those votes in for the Best Damn Commuter Town Period contest. A week ago, we announced the second running of Trainjotting's search for the best commuter town in the area, based on train service, downtown options, property taxes, walkability, a**hole factor, and other factors that make a cool ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/02/whats-the-best-commuter-town-in-the-tri-state-area/ A reality show about the New York subway and its workers has, like so many N trains, been delayed. Reports the NY Times: The series, commissioned by the A&E network, would follow an ensemble cast of train conductors, station agents and other subway workers as they handle track fires, angry customers and ... http://trainjotting.com/2010/03/02/subway-series-delayed/