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I decided to go to Newark Penn for National Train Day.
1) Hicksville to NYP
After poring through the timetable, I chose the 9:16 AM train to Penn Station from Ronkonkoma. It makes no stops before Jamaica. Since I was boarding far away from the origin, there were no window seats available in the pair of cars I checked. So, I used the aisle seat. The train was ~4 minutes late, but on time by LIRR standards (up to 5 min.+ 56 sec.). At Jamaica, a horde of people got off. I now got the window seat on the left side of the train I wanted. After stopping at Woodside, I took these pictures.
Sunnyside Yard, with an Amtrak LD consist ready to go.
The train platformed on Track 16, which was the Amtrak Concourse at 10:00, 1 minute late.
2)Events in Penn Station New York
Since I have never been in the Amtrak concourse before, I asked a ticket collector where the rotunda was. He told me and I went there. It was packed. The first thing I saw was a basketball hoop. As I advanced, I got more and more stuff, including the system timetable I wanted for 1 month. However, I overheard an announcement that the 10:00 train to Boston is delayed in Newark. Soon, I would find out that it would be an hour late. I watched the model trainset.
Photos:
The model railroad display (N-scale)
3) NYP-NWK
Cautiously, I made my way to the drab NJTransit corridor, where I purchased tickets to NWK. The next train was a train to Long Branch, scheduled to depart at 11:07. At ~10:58, the track was posted (4). I immediately went down to the track to find a train of Comet cars, locomotive first, with people hording around the doors. Thankfully, there was no train on the adjacent track. These tracks have roadway stop signs at the ends of them. The clock ticked to 11:07. The doors didn't open, and not until 11:13 did they start boarding. The coaches were drab, and the seats hard. Comparable to Budd M3 class. We left the station. This ride was full of new things for me. (list at end of report) It was terrible, like riding in a freight car with too much slack. We lurched forward, then stopped. Throughout the run, it felt like the engineer was trying to apply power with a little braking.
I thought we were waiting for that late Regional. The Hudson tunnels didn't make my ears pop like the East River tunnels did. We held for ~3 minutes right before Newark Penn for a Regional headed to NYP.
4) Pictures in NWK
Our train platformed on track 4. There was an Acela on track 2. (trainset #5, the same trainset that is modeled in MSTS!) Shots:
Special cases:
When a train of Arrow EMU's passed through the station, I saw the catenary sparks and there was a red spot running down the catenary to the last unit.
The engineer of AEM7AC 904 to Harrisburg took a picture of me standing in front of the loco. This picture is not uploaded.
When a Regional started up, there was scraping noises from the tracks. When it was gone, I heard a noise like that of a heater cooling down.
At ~12:30, I saw a LD consist come up the tracks. It was the Crescent from NOL, 1 hour early.
Delays abounded, all the Amtrak's except for the Keystone were at least 20 minutes late, more for those from/to Boston.
5) The Trip Home
I originally planned to catch the 2:12 train to NYP, but it was delayed 25min, so I caught the 2:25 train to NYP.
The ride was even joltier. At NYP, I went to the LIRR concourse and got 13 timetables. The 3:37 train to Huntington wasn't crowded, but I sat on the right.
Firsts in this trip:
First time in Hudson Tunnels
First time in a non-EMU train
First time railfanning
First time seeing Amtrak up close.
More pictures in next post.
1) Hicksville to NYP
After poring through the timetable, I chose the 9:16 AM train to Penn Station from Ronkonkoma. It makes no stops before Jamaica. Since I was boarding far away from the origin, there were no window seats available in the pair of cars I checked. So, I used the aisle seat. The train was ~4 minutes late, but on time by LIRR standards (up to 5 min.+ 56 sec.). At Jamaica, a horde of people got off. I now got the window seat on the left side of the train I wanted. After stopping at Woodside, I took these pictures.
Sunnyside Yard, with an Amtrak LD consist ready to go.
The train platformed on Track 16, which was the Amtrak Concourse at 10:00, 1 minute late.
2)Events in Penn Station New York
Since I have never been in the Amtrak concourse before, I asked a ticket collector where the rotunda was. He told me and I went there. It was packed. The first thing I saw was a basketball hoop. As I advanced, I got more and more stuff, including the system timetable I wanted for 1 month. However, I overheard an announcement that the 10:00 train to Boston is delayed in Newark. Soon, I would find out that it would be an hour late. I watched the model trainset.
Photos:
The model railroad display (N-scale)
3) NYP-NWK
Cautiously, I made my way to the drab NJTransit corridor, where I purchased tickets to NWK. The next train was a train to Long Branch, scheduled to depart at 11:07. At ~10:58, the track was posted (4). I immediately went down to the track to find a train of Comet cars, locomotive first, with people hording around the doors. Thankfully, there was no train on the adjacent track. These tracks have roadway stop signs at the ends of them. The clock ticked to 11:07. The doors didn't open, and not until 11:13 did they start boarding. The coaches were drab, and the seats hard. Comparable to Budd M3 class. We left the station. This ride was full of new things for me. (list at end of report) It was terrible, like riding in a freight car with too much slack. We lurched forward, then stopped. Throughout the run, it felt like the engineer was trying to apply power with a little braking.
I thought we were waiting for that late Regional. The Hudson tunnels didn't make my ears pop like the East River tunnels did. We held for ~3 minutes right before Newark Penn for a Regional headed to NYP.4) Pictures in NWK
Our train platformed on track 4. There was an Acela on track 2. (trainset #5, the same trainset that is modeled in MSTS!) Shots:
Special cases:
When a train of Arrow EMU's passed through the station, I saw the catenary sparks and there was a red spot running down the catenary to the last unit.
The engineer of AEM7AC 904 to Harrisburg took a picture of me standing in front of the loco. This picture is not uploaded.
When a Regional started up, there was scraping noises from the tracks. When it was gone, I heard a noise like that of a heater cooling down.
At ~12:30, I saw a LD consist come up the tracks. It was the Crescent from NOL, 1 hour early.
Delays abounded, all the Amtrak's except for the Keystone were at least 20 minutes late, more for those from/to Boston.
5) The Trip Home
I originally planned to catch the 2:12 train to NYP, but it was delayed 25min, so I caught the 2:25 train to NYP.
The ride was even joltier. At NYP, I went to the LIRR concourse and got 13 timetables. The 3:37 train to Huntington wasn't crowded, but I sat on the right.
Firsts in this trip:
First time in Hudson Tunnels
First time in a non-EMU train
First time railfanning
First time seeing Amtrak up close.
More pictures in next post.
