Photos of Barge of Death from Saturday

Posted on May 17, 2009 by brian

Loyal reader David-Paul Gerber captured some outstanding photos of the “Barge of Death”, Weeks 297, which carries retired subway cars out to sea to be dumped to create artificial reefs. He took photos of the barge as it passed between the Broadway, Henry Hudson, and Inwood Movable Bridges, and then again as it passed the George Washington Bridge.

Click HERE to view all of his photos, or click on some of the highlights below.

Thanks David!

The barge passed Spuyten Duyvil at about 2:30 PM. About two hours later it was followed out to the Hudson River by the barge carrying the subway car wheel assemblies or “trucks”.

And this was Barge 18 (the 18th barge to set sail in the current round of reefing), for those of you keeping score at home. Thanks to George Chiasson Jr. for that information.

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The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 … is coming closer

Posted on May 17, 2009 by brian

img123

June 12 is coming fast, and the proff is on the side of New York City buses!

I can’t wait to see this movie! I love the original!

Posted in bus, film, railfanning, subway | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Disney’s Christmas Carol Train Tour coming to Grand Central Terminal

Posted on May 13, 2009 by brian

Disney is sending a charter train around the country over the next few months to promote its upcoming movie “A Christmas Carol”. From the photos included in the USA Today and Reuters Blog articles, it looks like the train is made up of baggage cars with exterior advertising wraps and complete interior sets. The press release further reveals that Amtrak locomotives will haul the train, and a “private car” will also be included in the consist. Looks like Amtrak P42 157 will be doing the honors.

Anyhow, the train is scheduled to end its tour with a visit to Metro-North’s Grand Central Terminal in New York City between October 30 and November 1, 2009.

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Pull the cords on the buses

Posted on May 12, 2009 by brian
NYCT Bus Orion VII NG 3804 has bell cords!

NYCT Bus Orion VII NG 3804 has bell cords!

The New York Times City Room Blog has a piece today on the return of bell cords to New York City buses. It is specifically the new Orion VII Next Generation buses that have these bell cords.  While I think that these new buses are extremely ugly in general, the pull cords are a nice touch. Using the pull cord reminds me of the good times I’ve had riding the Vintage Bus Fleet in revenue service.

vintage New York City bus Flxible 7340 has pull cords - look for the black cord above the passengers' heads

vintage New York City bus Flxible 7340 has pull cords - look for the black cord above the passengers' heads

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CRASH and BURN

Posted on May 10, 2009 by brian
TOASTED!!!!

TOASTED!!!!

ChaxllChxxChxx (10:38:29 PM): hello there!
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:38:38 PM): do i have a story and photo for you!
Pxxxxxx (10:38:42 PM): y helo
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:38:46 PM): so
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:38:48 PM): friday night
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:00 PM): wife and i are having our sabbath dinner
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:09 PM): i look over at I-87
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:12 PM): the Major Deegan
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:17 PM): which we can see from our apt
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:24 PM): and i see this fireball
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:43 PM): so we get up
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:45 PM): and look
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:50 PM): and sure enough there’s this fire
Pxxxxxx (10:39:58 PM): cool
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:39:59 PM): and then all the emergency vehicles come
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:40:07 PM): and this thing is burning for like 10 minutes
Dxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (10:40:13 PM): i keep telling you
Dxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (10:40:17 PM): you need to hire a shabbos goy!
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:40:34 PM): now every firday night we usually see some kind of accident from our window
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:40:36 PM): traffic stops
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:40:44 PM): and all these emergency vehicles go by
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:40:50 PM): but this was the coolest one by far
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:40:59 PM): so that was friday night
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:05 PM): Sat nite we drove to Home Depot
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:11 PM): and on the 230th st overpass
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:14 PM): over I-87
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:20 PM): i see a burned out car!
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:28 PM): i’m like WHOA THAT’s IT!!!
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:44 PM): so this morning we drive back there and my wife took a photo of it
(10:41:54 PM) fxxxxxxxxxx has entered the room.
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:41:56 PM): http://www.railfanwindow.com/gallery2/v/TempByDate/2009-05-10/DSC_7878.jpg.html
Pxxxxxx (10:41:57 PM): lol
fxxxxxxxxxx (10:42:07 PM): so there was a chat and I wasn’t informed
Pxxxxxx (10:42:10 PM): it’s a hulk
Pxxxxxx (10:42:13 PM): precisely
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:42:15 PM): yeah
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:42:27 PM): you missed the story fxxxxxxx
Pxxxxxx (10:42:57 PM): it that a Camry?
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:45:11 PM): looks like a Camry
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:45:14 PM): i’m pretty sure it is
ChaxllChxxChxx (10:45:21 PM): pre 2007
fxxxxxxxxxx (10:45:24 PM): Yes, it’s a Camry

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Gothamist interviews Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, The Subway Doctor

Posted on May 8, 2009 by brian

Gothamist just posted an interview with Dr. Jonathan Zizmor, The Subway Doctor.

In short, this is what the Doctor says on the topics relevant to this blog:

  • He rides the subway two or three times per week
  • The subways are so clean you can eat off the floor
  • He loves the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn
  • He loves the redbirds
  • The redbirds are going to be unreefed since it didn’t really work out

No Doc, they’re not unreefing the redbirds…

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a guessing game – where was this photo taken?

Posted on May 7, 2009 by brian

Can you figure out where this photo was taken? Can you guess what’s going on here?

What in the world???

What in the world???

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Broadway Bridge disrupts subway service twice today

Posted on May 4, 2009 by brian

You might not have noticed the service alerts, but the Broadway Bridge was raised twice today, disrupting (1) train service both times.

10:35 AM

10:35 AM

8:00 PM

8:00 PM

Some people probably assumed that the “Barge of Death” was coming or going, but that was not the case.

In the morning, the Broadway Bridge was raised to allow a “spud barge” to be moved from west of the bridge to east of the bridge. This spud barge had been hanging around the area for a week.

Then, this evening, the Broadway Bridge was raised again. Once it was up, the new Circle Line boat “Manhattan” came through, followed by the spud barge.

I’m not sure why the Circle Line boat was waiting for the bridge to go up (it was waiting for at least 10 minutes), because they usually pass under the bridge. In fact, earlier today we saw a Circle Line boat pass under the bridge just fine. My guess is that either the water level was higher than normal, reducing clearance, or that the Circle Line crew wanted to give their passengers an up close view of the bridge going up (not that there were many passengers – the boat was almost completely empty from what I could see).

Here are some photos from this evening’s events:

And some BONUS Metro-North Railroad photos:

Posted in delays, service alert, subway | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

VIDEO: Bus driver texts and crashes

Posted on May 2, 2009 by brian

The driver of a bus carrying disabled passengers in Texas whipped out his cellphone in traffic while doing what looks like 40+ MPH and prompty smashed into several vehicles. Luckily it was all captured on tape.

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Metro-North announces the first trains to stop at Yankees-E.153rd Street station

Posted on April 27, 2009 by brian

Image source: Metro-North

Image source: Metro-North

Along with the updated train schedules released today, Metro-North has announced the times of the first revenue trains to stop at the brand new station near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx called “Yankees – E. 153rd Street”. It opens on Saturday, May 23.

  • First southbound train: 5:49 AM (a local from Croton-Harmon)
  • First northbound train: 6:33 AM (a local to Croton-Harmon)

The updated Hudson Line schedule have mentions of the new station written all over it, due to the station not opening until a few weeks after the schedule goes into effect, and also because some trains only stop at the station on certain game days.

In addition, the press releases notes that “there will be a separate brochure and timetable for special Yankees game-day train service, including direct service from the Harlem and New Haven lines and shuttles to and from Manhattan.” I look forward to picking that up soon.

Good luck to anyone planning on riding the first trains to stop at the new station, as well as the first direct New Haven line and Harlem line trains to arrive at and depart from the new station.

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