To boldly go ---- to the ends of New York

[PVD]

2500 cars were reefed, but the last few batches to go (post 2010) have been cut up for scrap.
Subway Car Coral Reef: Old NYC Trains Sleep With the Fishes | StreetEasy

 

[joelkfla]

I believe NYC MTA dumps them in the oceans to become new Coral Reefs. I believe there are several Red Birds down at the bottom of the Atlantic. I'm sure they strip the components off of them first as a lot of that stuff can be reused on other cars or sold to collectors. There is a market for everything.

I attended a presentation on reefing by the NY Transit Museum. There are no plans at this time for any further reefing.

Before being placed, the cars have to be completely stripped of anything that could cause environmental damage or a safety risk to recreational divers. IIRC, newer cars are more complicated because of all the electronics, wiring, and non-metal materials, making the expense of preparing and sinking them uneconomical.

 

[Barb Stout]

While eating lunch, I fired up the Amtrak app and looked for trains to take home. I estimated the time I would need to get back to Penn Station, then added a little for for padding and to see a couple more things on the way, and figured I would have no problem catching the 6 PM Acela. I also used a 12-hour advance upgrade coupon that was going to expire in a couple of months, and snagged a First Class seat. With that business taken care of, it was now time to catch the train back to the city.

With regard to Amtrak's NEC including Acela, can one just walk up to a ticket office a half-hour (or whatever) before the scheduled departure and buy a ticket or what is the least amount of time one can buy a ticket either online, in person or by phone?

 

[MARC Rider]

With regard to Amtrak's NEC including Acela, can one just walk up to a ticket office a half-hour (or whatever) before the scheduled departure and buy a ticket or what is the least amount of time one can buy a ticket either online, in person or by phone?

Heh, heh, don't tell anyone, but I have actually boarded trains and bought my ticket using the app while waiting for the conductor to come by and scan them. I'm not sure I'd do that during busy periods, because you might accidentally board a sold-out train, but then, I've never actually seen a sold-out train. And now that the Acelas are all-reserved seating, you really need to buy your ticket before you get on so that you know where to go when you board.

When I was riding the Northeast Regionals regularly on the days I worked later, I would usually wait until I arrived at Union Station before I fired up the app to buy my ticket. I'd generally be doing it while I walked from the Metro station up into the concourse, unless the cell signal was flaky, and then I'd wait until I got to the concourse, where the cell signal and wifi was better. Before I had the app, I just went to the concourse and bought a ticket from a Quick-track machine. Of course, doing it that way reduces your chance for low bucket tickets, but then, the ride was short, the tickets relatively cheap, and, surprisingly on many weekday evenings, low-bucket fares were still available right before departure.

 

[MARC Rider]

Back on the Staten Island Railway....

It was slow going, rocking back and forth, getting a little queasy, needing the men's room...But soon we arrived back at St. George, where at least the restroom need was taken care of.



Ah, great the M.V. Guy V. Moliari is sailing in. Does that mean that we get a ship with an open deck where I can hang out and get better quality pictures? No suck luck. As the passengers on the Moliari discharged, they sent those of us heading to Manhattan over to another slip. We got to ride the Andrew J. Barberi, sister ship of the Newhouse that I rode in on. That class of ship doesn't have open decks, which I guess is nice in cold weather, but it does mean that you miss the sea breezes and you have to take pictures through dirty windows.

When the opened the doors, the crowd stampeded to the boat. Social distancing was more or less impossible, but everyone wore masks. It was much better on board. With a sound from the ships horn, we were off for our crossing.


Verrazano Narrows Bridge. (There's a Verrazano Bridge in Maryland, too. It's a much shorter span that connects Assateague Island State Park to the mainland.)



Look how high they pile those containers up! I wonder how those ships handle in heavy seas.


Barge traffic


Approaching lower Manhattan.



Whitehall Terminal, and back in the heart of the city.



Now the question --what to do until train time? I had thought of taking the 7 subway train out to Flushing Meadows Park and seeing both Sunnyside yards (from the train) and the site of the 1939 and 1964 Worlds Fairs. (I went to the fair in 1964, and there are still a few monuments standing, as those who watched the film "Men in Black" know.) However, thinking about it, I thought I might now have enough time for that, so I decided it might be better to check out Hudson Yards, and then stop a B&H Camera, which is located near Penn Station, as I'm thinking about getting a mirrorless camera and this would be chance to actually handle the merchandise. So I went on the Subway and took an R train north, with the idea of getting off at Times Square and taking the 7 train to the new Hudson Yards Station. As I swiped my Metrocard, I again noticed that it counted as a "transfer," as I had swiped it on the SIR as I left the station at St. George.

As we rumbled under the city, it suddenly occurred to me that, given my visit to New York's new intercity train terminal, I should see how it compares with New York's other iconic major train terminal. So I hopped off the train at 14th St., and got on the Lexington Avenue Line for the short hop to Grand Central Terminal.



OK, Moynihan is very nice, but, let's face it, nothing can beat Grand Central. Except that they don't have a Metropolitan Lounge at Grand Central. And the only places you can go are to Poughkeepsie, Wassaic, and New Haven and intermediate stops. (and a couple of branches of the New Haven Line.)

I wandered downstairs to find the restroom. One was closed, but the other was available. It was a bid sad. Traffic is down so much that nearly all the places in the food court downstairs are closed.





Also, the Oyster Bar is temporarily closed. They tried reopening it in September, but there just wasn't enough traffic. I'm hoping things get better by June and Dutch herring season.

Now, off to Hudson Yards....

 

[PVD]

almost everything you might want to know about the Ferry but it leaves out the new Ollis class boats (3) the last of which (The Dorothy Day) was christened a few weeks ago they will replace the Kennedy and Barbieri, for a gain of 1

 

[railiner]

almost everything you might want to know about the Ferry but it leaves out the new Ollis class boats (3) the last of which (The Dorothy Day) was christened a few weeks ago they will replace the Kennedy and Barbieri, for a gain of 1

Oh, I will sure miss the Kennedy, and the “chant” of her 2 stroke EMD diesel, as well as her car deck, which I last used a couple years ago with my bicycle...

 

[PVD]

You might like the "new boat sound", they have 4 EMD 710 which I believe are 2 stroke arranged in 2 pairs to power each end

 

[railiner]

You might like the "new boat sound", they have 4 EMD 710 which I believe are 2 stroke arranged in 2 pairs to power each end

I had thought they quit building the 2 stroke, account inherent pollution?
Other than that, the EMD and Detroit Diesel 2 strokes, were my favorite engines...

 

[AFS1970]

For good views of the Hudson Yards, which is probably too late for you now, there is a walkway that I think is part of the Highline elevated park, that wraps around the yards. The highline is another site to see in the good weather, as it is a park built on a reclaimed elevated freight track.

 

[jis]

Heh, heh, don't tell anyone, but I have actually boarded trains and bought my ticket using the app while waiting for the conductor to come by and scan them. I'm not sure I'd do that during busy periods, because you might accidentally board a sold-out train, but then, I've never actually seen a sold-out train. And now that the Acelas are all-reserved seating, you really need to buy your ticket before you get on so that you know where to go when you board.

I have done that too. But I did ask the Conductor on the platform before boarding. He said fine, just buy the ticket ASAP, there is space on the train. No problem at all.

I had thought they quit building the 2 stroke, account inherent pollution?
Other than that, the EMD and Detroit Diesel 2 strokes, were my favorite engines...

EMD® E 23 B 710 Series is Tier IV certified and is designed for Marine and Stationary use.

 

[SubwayNut]

A buddy and me were once doing a points run/getting another station for my website run from Boston up to Exeter, NH, the plan was to ride the Southbound train one stop to Haverhill to get that station and take the a MBTA Commuter Rail Haverhill line (that follows a different route than the Downeaster most of the way) back into Boston, but the Downeaster was a half-hour late, making it clear that we would miss the connection in Haverhill, and the next MBTA Commuter Train was two hours later. Unforchunately beacuse the scheduled train times had already happened I couldn't modify my ticket in the app or buy a new Haverhill to Boston ticket so it was a good half-hour on the phone calling Amtrak to talk to an agent who modified our tickets, it took even longer since we had seperate tickets. The conductors were super understanding but said our best bet was to call.

 

[Brian Battuello]

For complicated reasons, it was convenient for me to take the Boston area purple line from one station to the next and back every Saturday morning. The third time I did it the usual conductor told me to not bother buying a ticket.

 

[MARC Rider]

I once got on a SEPTA train without a ticket at Manayunk, ticket office was closed. No conductor ever came by to sell me a ticket by the time we arrived at Jefferson Station, so I got a free ride. They have better fare control now, but I have a SEPTA senior key card, so I can ride free legitimately.

 

[MARC Rider]

After checking out Grand Central, I headed back to the subway and found my way to the escalator to the lower level 7 line tunnel. It's pretty deep, I guess it would be the place to go if WW3 ever happened.



A quick ride to the new Hudson Yards station. The train pretty much emptied out at Times Square. Then they held it for a couple of minutes before letting it proceed. Perhaps once the residential space in Hudson Yards is filled, there will be more business to this new spiffy station.


The mezzanine level at Hudson Yards.



Was the designer trying to riff on the Washington Metro?



Yes, I think someone spent some time on the DC Metro. This station is deep. The escalator is the longest one I've ever seen in New York. And when you get to the top of this one, there's another short escalator ride in order to get to the street. The escalator is also paralleled by an inclined elevator of the sort we saw at the Cityplace station in Dallas.



When you come out of the escalator, you see this thing, called "Vessel," which is apparently something you can enter, climb up all the stair and get a good view. Some have criticized the Hudson Yards development as being a bit sterile on the design side, and overly upscale, as if Manhattan needs more places for rich people to congregate. I couldn't really tell about the latter during my quick run through the area. My goal was to find 34th St. and catch the extension of the High Line park that loops around the Hudson Yards for a view of the trains. I've already walked the High Line south of 30th St. Unfortunately, the gate to the High Line was completely locked tight. Not sure what that was about, but I still have another thing to do in New York.



Here's the Megabus "terminal" on 34th St. I'd hate to have to wait for a bus on a rainy day. Far better to pay the extra for Amtrak and get to wait in the Moynihan Train Hall.




I did get a view of the trains in the Hudson Yards, through a chain-link fence. Do they have an plans to make money for mta by selling the air rights and developing the area?



Walking up 33rd St., here is one of the entrance ramps for the Lincoln Tunnel. The backup is around the corner up 33rd St. practically to 9th Ave. Train traffic might be down, but car traffic sure isn't.

I had a productive visit to B&H Camera. They have an incredibly large selection, and I was able to fondle, handle, and otherwise play around with the camera models I'm considering buying. Now I have an idea of what to buy, and when I'm ready, I can order it online. I just need to swallow the $600+ cost for the thing.

They have a "museum' of old cameras (not for sale) in the used camera section. Here's one of the original Polaroid SX70 cameras. In the early 1990s, I got a very cheap polaroid model that used SX-70 film from my Mom so that we could take instant baby pictures of our daughter. I still have it, though not working. What's interesting was that, even as late as the 1990s, this object was still being manufactured in the UK and not some cheap-labor third-world country. Now, it was time to head back to Penn Station, which, fortunately, was right next door.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

If the purpose of modern sculpture is to make something that nobody can recognize, that “Vessel” thing fails the test—I saw the decks of a ship in there right away.

 

[jiml]

I had a productive visit to B&H Camera. They have an incredibly large selection, and I was able to fondle, handle, and otherwise play around with the camera models I'm considering buying. Now I have an idea of what to buy, and when I'm ready, I can order it online. I just need to swallow the $600+ cost for the thing.

View attachment 21821They have a "museum' of old cameras (not for sale) in the used camera section. Here's one of the original Polaroid SX70 cameras. In the early 1990s, I got a very cheap polaroid model that used SX-70 film from my Mom so that we could take instant baby pictures of our daughter. I still have it, though not working. What's interesting was that, even as late as the 1990s, this object was still being manufactured in the UK and not some cheap-labor third-world country. Now, it was time to head back to Penn Station, which, fortunately, was right next door.

I love B&H! In my past consulting life I had an account with them to acquire not cameras, but hard-to-find other items for clients. Unfortunately my last visit to NYC was on a Saturday. I'm glad they've survived the pandemic.

 

[PVD]

When I worked on 34th st and after that 35th st, B&H was a long lunch destination walk if the weather was nice. The Hudson Yards station sees more usage when the offices are occupied, still quite a bit of remote work, also, when big shows are running at the Javits it can see good crowds. Everything has been put on hold, but the Javits has been a great mass vax site.

 

[PVD]

B&H is one of the few stores to have free parking (with min purchase) in that area. Also, their mail order service is excellent, with free shipping on orders over$49 which for me, much as love to walk through the store is better than paying for the Midtown Tunnel.

 

[Exvalley]

B&H is one of the few stores to have free parking (with min purchase) in that area. Also, their mail order service is excellent, with free shipping on orders over$49 which for me, much as love to walk through the store is better than paying for the Midtown Tunnel.

Just be aware of their holiday schedule!

 

[MARC Rider]

Here's the outside of Moynihan Train Hall from 9th Avenue.



Still some construction on the western side of the building.


The entrance on 33rd. St.

The view from 8th Avenue.

I didn't go right in. First, let's look at the old Penn Station. Everything is still there, and it seems like it's been cleaned up a bit.





Well, almost everything is still there. The old Amtrak ticket counters are now gone. You need to go to Moynihan Train Hall, and so I did. I went down the escalator to the LIRR level, passed the turnstiles for the 8th Ave Subway, turned the corner into the West End Concourse, and then, up the escalator into Moynihan.

I returned to the Metropolitan Lounge, filled out another contract-tracing form and got my temperature scanned, and then went and got another bottle of Saratoga Water to rehydrate. This is when I conducted by survey of power outlets that I described in my other post about Moynihan Train Hall. Finally, about 10 minutes before train time, they announced our track. There's no direct connection to the platform, from the Met Lounge, you have to go downstairs and find the escalator. There was nobody waiting to board; we were waved on down the escalator by the gate attendant.

Acela 2169 had parked all the way at the west end of the platform, and the First Class car was at the front of the train. The door was right near the escalator, if I had been traveling business class, I would have had to walk down the platform a bit. The First Class car was abut as crowded as I've seen one during the pandemic. Well, it was a 6 PM weekday departure. There seemed to have been a good number of passengers riding through from the north. I found my seat and settled in. There was a bit of hustle and bustle as everyone else found their seats. Despite the relative crowd, there were still empty seats, but it seemed like it took a while for the attendants to come around for drink orders. We weren't served until well after we left the tunnel, but it wasn't as disorganized as a trip I took in 2019 when I didn't get dinner until we were at Philadelphia. This evening, there are more choices than the snack box I was offered on my trip last October. I got the "short ribs," which was more of a pot roast, which was surprisingly tasty for being a Flex meal. I guess the double pour of Woodford bourbon helped out, and I enjoyed my dessert blondie with a cup of Baily's and coffee. Good thing service wasn't delayed too much, as I had to drive home from the station, and I did get a decent amount of time to burn off enough BAC to keep myself legal.




We rocked through New Jersey, running mostly 135 mph between New Brunswick and Trenton, and we were really passing cars like they were standing still as we paralleled I-95 in northeast Philadelphia. It was a fine ride; the only real downer was that I had someone sitting behind me who insisted on yapping into his phone almost the whole trip. There's nothing I hate more than having to listen to half of someone's phone conversation. There was also a guy across the aisle who was using his phone, but he only made one call, it wasn't too long, and when he was done, he didn't make any others. This guy also saw on the menu that they had "cocktails," but he didn't realize that they were pre-bottled, he thought that they actually had a bartender on the train (ha-ha!) and he asked if he could get his Old-Fashioned made with the Wodruff bourbon. (Actually, I think it would be cool if they could have a bar car with a real bartender, but I'm not sure if the costs of logistics are practical.) We got held up for a while outside Wilmington, the part of the line that parallels I-495, so we had the frustrating experience of seeing the cars whizzing by us. I also noticed at Wilmington that it was raining outside. Despite a doubtful weather forecast, my whole day in New York was without rain, and was actually mostly sunny and pleasant. Apparently that wasn't the case further south.

It got dark after Wilmington, and we blew down the line and arrived in Baltimore about 6 minutes late. I went to the garage, retrieved my car, and drove home in a pouring downpour, a little nervous eyeing the bright brake fluid pressure light that on the whole time. (We took the car to the shop the next day. They couldn't find anything more than the brake fluid being a little low, so they added some. The brake light is now off, and everything works fine.)

Well, that was my first post-vac Amtrak trip. I worked out pretty well, I got to see the new Moynihan Train Hall, and some parts of New York I haven't seen before. Where to next?

 

[MARC Rider]

I love B&H! In my past consulting life I had an account with them to acquire not cameras, but hard-to-find other items for clients. Unfortunately my last visit to NYC was on a Saturday. I'm glad they've survived the pandemic.

I should say they survived the pandemic. The place was hopping.

 

[Exvalley]

Where to next?

Have you ridden the Downeaster?

 

[MARC Rider]

Have you ridden the Downeaster?

Yes, although usually if I'm headed for Maine, I just pick up a car in Boston and drive. The same day connections from Baltimore aren't that convenient, aside from the issue of transferring between the stations. Plus, after I pick up my car, I drive over to Yankee Lobster and get a lobster roll.

I also once rode to Portland using the Concord Coach. That was pretty convenient as the bus terminal is right at South Station, and the bus ride is nonstop.

 

[PVD]

The B&H schedule is always available on their website....What is interesting, and something I respect, if the store is closed for a particular holiday where commerce is prohibited, the website will let you browse, but will not accept payment until the holiday ends.