Tri-State Railway Historical Society Meeting Notice For Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The next meeting of the Tri-State Railway Historical Society will be on Tuesday, April 19th. Note that this month's meeting has been changed to the third Tuesday to accommodate the Morris Museum's schedule.
This month's meeting will feature a special program by internationally known transportation photojournalist Joseph M. Calisi of New York City. He's been closely following the East Side Access project -- the first
expansion of the LIRR in about a century, one that will bring the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal. This PowerPoint show explains much of the history and progress of this historic project. It contains several
never-before-published photos past and present and many showing the current progress. His photos have been published in nearly every railfan and rail industry publication, and he assembles video news segments
for New York City area cable television stations. This is his first presentation for Tri-State, and we are looking forward to it.

Our meetings are held at:
Morris Museum's Bickford Theater
6 Normandy Heights Rd.
Morristown, NJ.

The meeting begins at 7:30 PM, admission is free, and all are welcome. Directions to the meeting and a printable flier are on our web site at: http://tristaterail.org/meeting.html

Metro-North Issues New Spring Timetables

April 3, 2011 New Rochelle, NY - Metro-North has issued their new Spring timetable. I'll discuss the service changes over a period of time to show the overall scheduling changes.

As you may recall, riders 'lost' some trains due to budget and winter weather influences. For example, on the New Haven line, a 6:38 pm express out of GCT was combined with the 6:45 pm local as part of a service consolidation over the winter into a 6:42 pm departure. In the morning, the 8:29 am express to GCT briefly departed the scene forcing some to stand cheek-to-jowl into Grand Central on the 8:33 am local.

The one-month timetable (March 7 - April 2) shows the 8:31 am express, 6:38 pm express and 6:45 pm local returning to the scene, which made for less standing room usage and a more even distribution of passengers between the two trains.

Beginning today, those 3 trains are there, much to my relief - I hated standing all the way or if some large person is filling the middle seat forcing me to read his newspaper instead of mine. Some of those winter rides made me think I was on the Lexington Avenue subway all the way from NR; it wasn't very comfortable being that close to people with colds.

During March, we also saw the debut of the new M-8 commuer cars (yes, initially with that new car smell). For a period of 3 weeks, those new cars were scheduled on the 8:15 morning rush hour departure. For riders, this was a welcomed relief from the M-2/4/6 'Cosmopolitan' cars that began plying the rails about 30 yearas ago. As those cars saved the railroad back then, the M-8 cars will continue to offer great service. I just wish more bar car service would be introduced by keeping some M-2 trainsets because they make the trip home much more fun.
 
With the recent improvements on the New Haven line, better days and rides are ahead. Now with more space around me, there's nothing better than the tranquil rush hour ride on Metro-North because that's what I pay $204/month for.

What’s Old Is New – The Self-Winding Clock Is Back In Action At GCT

New York, NY (March 15, 2011) – Old reliable is back on the case. After living in mothballs following removal from above Grand Central Terminal’s track 19 bumper block, the self winding clock that told millions of commuters over the years how much time they had left to board their train – has been put back into service in a new location. The vintage timepiece made by the Self Winding Clock Co. was recently pulled out of mothballs and mounted on GCT's Lower Level concourse ceiling near the entrance to track 108. According to Margie Anders of the MTA Press Office, “It was moved there the first week of March, the oak housing was refinished and the face was repainted.”



Editors: For publication rights to the full story and photos, contact me at transprailien@gmail.com.

The Economy Is Turning Around. The Evidence? Frequent GCT Public Events.

Grand Central Terminal, March 30, 2011 - The government and media have been stating that the nation’s economic situation is turning around. The reported unemployment rate recently has dropped somewhat and it appears that more corporate money has been freed-up for feel-good events. The evidence of all this – more public relations events held in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall.

Historically speaking, Vanderbilt Hall was once a waiting room where passengers waited to board famous trains such as the New York Central's Twentieth Century Ltd. Yes, this is the train that they literally rolled out the red carpet (giving rise to that often-used iconic phrase). It is fitting that a room that was used to physically transport passengers to other parts of the country, is now used to take visitors into different realms and places.

Within the past few weeks, many events have been held there. At first, I'll use the past week as an example, I’ll explore the happenings.

Bermuda Tourism held a day-long event that featured CBS-FM’s live morning drive program hosted by Dan Taylor with his sidekicks Mr. G (weatherman) and newswoman Debra Rodriguez. The public got a rare glimpse into seeing this popular radio program in progress in addition to being able to have autographed publicity photos of those broadcasting stars. The overall event had booths with handouts, samples of drinks and a band that played music you would expect to hear in Bermuda. This was held on the eastern side of Vanderbilt Hall.

Nintendo had a two-day event on the western half of the famed hall, allowing the public to experience 3-D gaming and other features their new technology had to offer. Even I, a noted non-computer game player, was lured into the modernistic shell to experience this new visual. My impression is that this is certainly a long wayfrom Pac-Man and other games from thirty years ago.

In a couple of weeks prior to this, NBC-TV staged an event for their latest 'reality show', America's Next Great Restaurant. The public was treated to various prepared food samples ranging from a bean salad to fried chicken in a bun. Not only were the food samples quite good, but it got me to view the program that Sunday evening (maybe it was the food that got me to watch the program).

The economic recovery has been slow but moving ahead nonetheless. With worries about inflation creeping into the economic puzzle, that is worrisome for sure – but the trip to Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall took me away from all those issues. So relaxing, it felt like Bermuda or even being in a great new restaurant with a great meal. The red carpet may not be rolled out here for 'The Century' anymore, but visitors still get the royal treatment.