# The 2003 Harmon Shop Open House.



## Amtrak Railfan (Sep 26, 2003)

Last year I went to the MTA Metro North's Harmon Shop Open House and the weather was not sunny and I hope this Year event will be sunny. And I want to know how many GP Powers like the GP9 and the GP35s I will see in this year Harmon Shop Open House?


----------



## AlanB (Sep 26, 2003)

Amtrak Railfan said:


> And I want to know how many GP Powers like the GP9 and the GP35s I will see in this year Harmon Shop Open House?


You'll have to ask Metro North that question, they don't tell us what they are putting on display.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Sep 26, 2003)

Ok I will ask Metro North about it next week.


----------



## AlanB (Sep 26, 2003)

Here's the official press release from Metro North. The event will take place on Saturday October 18th.



> Climb aboard and explore locomotives, work equipment, passenger cars? Let real railroaders show you what it takes to transport more than 72 million people annually? Hop a ride aboard the Fall Foliage Special? and more. A great event for kids, and grown-ups too! It?s all free and it?s all at Metro-North?s largest maintenance and repair facility.


The full story from the Metro North website.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Sep 26, 2003)

I saw that online tonight.


----------



## AlanB (Sep 26, 2003)

Amtrak Railfan said:


> I saw that online tonight.


Well you are always welcome to post stories like that when you find them. In fact I would encourage you to post stories like that when you find them.


----------



## Viewliner (Sep 26, 2003)

That's interesting, I'd love to go, but I have to take the PSAT's that morning so I don't know if I'd be able to make it. Would be nice though after taking a test...


----------



## AlanB (Sep 26, 2003)

Viewliner said:


> That's interesting, I'd love to go, but I have to take the PSAT's that morning so I don't know if I'd be able to make it. Would be nice though after taking a test...


Well even if you didn't need to blow off steam after the PSAT's, I highly recommend the open house. They've been doing this for years now and they really know how to put on an event. There are always free giveaways, plus lots of things to see and do.

One can walk around the shops, they usually have one MU train setup so that you can pretend that your driving it (long wait for this, but worth it when you make the airbrakes hiss), they roll out both old and new equipment.

Last year I got a tour of the catenary maintenance vehicle, and I got to see how they weld the rails together. The later was really cool, or perhaps I should say hot as the heat coming off that was impressive. I had some idea how they did this, but it was really neat to actually watch a crew weld a sample rail. They also had a demo showing how the re-rail equipment after a derail.

Plus there is the free ride on the train and lots of food to eat, although you do have to pay for the food.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Sep 27, 2003)

I am going to the Harmon Shop for the Open House this year and who else is comeing?


----------



## AlanB (Sep 27, 2003)

I'm not sure yet, but I may be there.


----------



## Superliner Diner (Sep 29, 2003)

I definitely won't be there, although I would love to. Unfortunately I work weekends during this quarter and cannot take any more days off.

I did get there several years ago (1999 I think) and enjoyed it very much. I took Amtrak up there (Metro North must have loved that) from Penn Station, and by luck just happened to get the RTL II Turbo train, which was in better shape then than it was before it was retired last year and is now mothballed for conversion to RTL III.

The tours they give of the shops are well worth the trip, or you can tour on your own. The best thing is the Freebies --- I still use some of the pens and pads I picked up back then.


----------



## Bill Haithcoat (Sep 29, 2003)

I do believe Harmon is the name of the stop where long distance New York Central trains(like the 20th Century Lmited) would switch from their steam or diesel to a small electric locomotive which would power them into, and under, the City. Does anything in the exhibits etc, refer to this?


----------



## Superliner Diner (Sep 29, 2003)

Bill Haithcoat said:


> I do believe Harmon is the name of the stop where long distance New York Central trains(like the 20th Century Lmited) would switch from their steam or diesel to a small electric locomotive which would power them into, and under, the City. Does anything in the exhibits etc, refer to this?


It's actually Croton-Harmon station, with Croton on one side of the tracks and Harmon on the other. The Harmon Shops take up a lot of the space between the tracks and the river, so Harmon itself can't be all that big.

Engine changes, the few that are still done, are now handled in Albany, not Croton-Harmon. The remaining intermediate stop on the Lake Shore Limited between New York and Albany is Croton-Harmon, probably as a remnant of the old days. It seems that Poughkeepsie or Yonkers would be more logical places to make this stop for the sake of serving population and for passengers transferring to/from Metro North.


----------



## Bill Haithcoat (Sep 29, 2003)

I kind of think the Harmon stop did not even serve passengers, but was made purely as an engine change stop, much like Florence S.C. is a purely service stop for the Auto Train but without passenger transactions. That could make sense in light of what you said.


----------



## Bill Haithcoat (Sep 30, 2003)

I looked at the old New York Central timetables last night. At that time it was just "Harmon", not yet the combined station of Croton-Harmon. All the trains stopped there(to change engines) but MOST westbound trains stopped only to receive passengers. MOST eastbound trains stopped only to discharge passengers, thus few long distance trains carried passengers locally between Harmon and the City.

The small, boxy looking electric engines in service at that time were called T-class or T-3a. They were not nearly as attractive as any Amtrak loco or the old Pennsy GG1's either. Purely utilitatrian. Looked kind of cumbersome and odd on the head end of the majestic 20th Century Ltd.

I could not find out when the last one ran, or whether they survived into Amtrak.

Hopefully that display will have some info on them, perhaps there is even one still around to be modeled.

Of course, if it is seen as purely a Metro-North event, then none of the above may make any difference. .


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 4, 2003)

At the Harmon Shops can I see the New York Central FL9s at the Shops today?


----------



## AlanB (Oct 4, 2003)

One can never tell just what one might see at the Harmon Shops on any given day. However, generally there is a good chance that you will see an FL-9 at the shops. Of course none of the FL-9's are in NY Central paint anymore, they've all been repainted either into Metro North colors or New Haven colors.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 10, 2003)

I don't know what was the weather look like last Year I think it was not sunny?


----------



## AlanB (Oct 10, 2003)

I don't remember right now, but once I get home I'll check my photos. I seem to think that it was sunny, but I'm not positive.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 11, 2003)

I think it was cloudy.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 12, 2003)

On the Fall Foliage Special Train I know this Train have a P32AC-DM and the Comet Cars and so I want to know how many Comet Cars does this Train have?


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 15, 2003)

3 More days before this event!


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 16, 2003)

Tell me who is comeing to the open house this Saturday?


----------



## AlanB (Oct 16, 2003)

Sadly I won't be there this Saturday.  I'll be busy riding an Acela Express back to NY from Washington DC.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 16, 2003)

Are you comeing to the open House Amtrak-P42?


----------



## AMTRAK-P42 (Oct 18, 2003)

I dont believe I can make it, Amtrak-Railfan.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 18, 2003)

I was at the Open House today who also was there at the Open House?


----------



## AlanB (Oct 18, 2003)

Sadly,  I missed it since I was riding an Acela Express back to NY from Washington DC.

Perhaps you could give us a little report on what you saw there.


----------



## F59 PHI (Oct 18, 2003)

I was there. The shop was full of Fl9s... MNR scheme, NYC scheme, NH scheme, a number of M1s/M3s. an M1 had all of its undercar parts labeled. the M1 used for interior display had a weird new floor... grey and glow in the dark... sorta cool. no M4s that i could see, one M6 set and a number of M2s. Fall foliage train consisted of about 7 Shoreliners. 7002-3 were in the shops, without LIRR or MNR markings- mo yellow on the front either


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 19, 2003)

What time F59 PHI you was there at the shops in the Morning or in the Afternoon?


----------



## F50-PHI (Oct 24, 2003)

I was there from 1 ish on. on the topic of FL9s, they had them painted in New haven, MNCR and NYCentral colors. there was talk about a LIRR one too, but i didnt see that one


----------



## Bill Haithcoat (Oct 24, 2003)

Was there any mention made whatsoever of Harmon's former role as the place where long distance New York Central trains changed to small electrc engines to get them into Grand Central?(so as not to pollute the underground any more than necessary).


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Oct 30, 2003)

Does somebody have photos of the Open House?


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Nov 4, 2003)

Can we lock this topic because the open house was over.


----------



## AlanB (Nov 4, 2003)

There's no reason to lock the topic, just stop posting to it. Then it will gradually fall to the bottom of the list and be forgotten by everyone.


----------



## Amtrak Railfan (Nov 4, 2003)

Ok Keep it open.


----------

