100 Years of LIRR's Jamaica Station

On October 23, 2013, the Long Island Rail Road’s Jamaica Station celebrated its 100th Anniversary as the main hub of the railroad. Used by 150,000+ commuters daily, the station is the nerve center of the railroad. MTA and public officials cut the ribbon to the newly renovated station and celebrated it with gifts for the station, speeches, live music, and even a cake! I was on hand to witness the reopening of the iconic station and filed this report.

LIRR President Helena Williams led a host dignitaries at the ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the restored ticket office on Sutphin Blvd. 

The November program can be seen at your convenience on YouTube. The report begins at about the 14-minute mark of the program at: http://www.youtube.com/mtainfo


To see some of my other reports, click on the April, May and October 2013 as well as the January 2014 shows!!!

Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus Came To Town

March 3, 2014 - The circus came and went. On a cold, windy day, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus rail caravan was on the move from Long Island City to Hempstead LI for the show at the Nassau Coliseum later this week. When the circus moves from city to city, it is normally over a mile long.

 

The photo was taken at LIRR's Queens Village Station. A pair of Long Island Rail Road SW-1001 diesel locomotives that are normally used for switching operations, move the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus to Uniondale, LI. A week later, the train hit the road again - this time to New Jersey for the final New York-area dates in the region.

Joseph M. Calisi To Deliver Rousing Presentation On Transportation In Italy For The North Jersey Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society

Wednesday, March 26, 2014, Bloomfield, NJ – The North Jersey Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society will host the renowned International Transportation Photojournalist Joseph M. Calisi for a two-hour presentation about mass transportation in northern and central Italy at 7:25 pm. The focus of his Powerpoint presentation are images that were taken during the fifteen-day Electric Railroader’s Association (ERA) ‘European Extravaganza’ this past May, 2012. 

The photography shown is spectacular in that the images are totally iconic of the places where they were taken as everyday tourist locales were included to show that transportation is in the fabric of everyone’s daily lives – in effect, the images themselves told a story that supplemented the discussion at hand.

The official ERA trip began in Torino on May 10^th, 2012 with a welcoming dinner and was ‘bookended’ with a farewell dinner in Rome on May 25^th. The group of 34 men and women chased after high-speed Frecciarossas, trams, ropeways and other forms of Italian mass transportation. The presentation could not only be summed up as ‘a snapshot’ of the trip but as a thorough discussion that included history, economics, artwork and design.

The photographic essay had a special surprise – the public debut of his unique website, JosephMCalisi.com which features iconic images taken in Italy at that time.

The North Jersey Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society is located at:

84 Broad St (Bloomfield Civic Center)

Bloomfield, NJ

(parking is free after 6 pm)

Media editors: Mr. Calisi can be reached for interviews via e-mail at JMCalisi@verizon.net.

Japan Invades Grand Central Terminal

March 6-8, 2014 – Grand Central Terminal hosts various events in Vanderbilt Hall and these three days were no exception. The annual Japan Week exhibit made its way into the grand hall with food (you need to pay for) airline and railroad exhibits.

JR East with their high-speed train models had a booth to show off their latest wares. The Series E-7 high speed train model was on display in advance of its Spring 2014 debut. A video detailing the design – inside and out – made for interesting viewing.

An N-scale model railroad club that specializes in Japan scenery came prepared with a running layout that featured Godzilla at its core. The Japan Rail Modelers of Washington DC certainly made a good accounting of themselves with this varied layout showing hillside and urban areas completely in scale. As an experienced HO-scale scratch-building modeler, it was cause for me to take a long look at this one.

It was interesting not only to see trains this small whizzing around, but these models of Japanese equipment was certainly unique for something on display within the U.S.

Other vendors were also there including Delta Airlines that offered a prize if your entry was chosen out of the many entries. In case you’re interested, I didn’t win and would have to pay for my own flight there should I choose to go there.

All things considered, it was an interestingly-spent lunch hour in one of the grandest railroad structures in the world – Grand Central Terminal.

POSTCARDS OF THE MEZZOGIORNO: A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY OF SOUTHERN ITALY IN THE BARI AREA

A photo essay by Joseph M. Calisi, The International Transportation Photojournalist

Friday, December 13, 2013, 6:30 p.m. at the Italian American Museum in Little Italy (NYC)

On December 13, 2013, at 6:30 p.m., the Italian American Museum at 155 Mulberry Street (corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets) in Manhattan will host “Postcards of the Mezzogiorno: A Photographic Essay of Southern Italy in the Bari Area.” Joseph M. Calisi, The International Transportation Photojournalist, retraced places visited in his youth to capture the sun-splashed beauty of a region rarely seen by tourists. This photographic essay of Puglia, features the beauty of Southern Italy that extends beyond the cathedrals of Rome and the gondolas of Venice. Commentary will accompany the presentation as he explores how the subtle overlay of technology has been interwoven with the classic architecture that endures.

“Mezzogiorno” translated literally means ‘mid-day or noon’, and it is also used as to reference the Southern Italian region. Photographs of Bari, Mola di Bari, Alberobello, Cozze, Conversano, San Vito and Polignano in this presentation captures the magic of the towns including the traditional of the feast of St. Nicholas, held close in the hearts of the Baresi. In surrounding towns, century old homes and streets intermingle with modern palazzi, offering an insider’s perspective of the region.  Traditional ways of life such as area farms, old buildings and open markets are juxtaposed with modern electrical equipment such as solar cells. Historical landmarks meet modern amenities in a curious mix where the populous absorbs the benefits of modern lifestyle but retains older values. 

“Visiting Italy, retracing the steps of my youth, I still marvel at the architecture of the region, how many of the buildings and stores remained the same, yet technology appeared where I least expected it. A visit to the fish market for example showed one vendor using a scale with counterweights and another using an electronic scale. I looked to reconcile the memories I had of the streets, towns and markets and marveled at although much had changed; so much had stayed the same. I also enjoyed hearing the old dialect as I walked through the town. It was music to my ears,” says Joseph M. Calisi.

Joseph M. Calisi has been an International Transportation Photojournalist since 1993. He has contributed to the information world in print magazines and newspapers and electronic media TV reporter, radio broadcaster and as an expert in transportation systems around the world. 

To sample additional works you may visit his website at www.josephmcalisiphotography.com.

“Postcards of the Mezzogiorno: A Photographic Essay of Southern Italy in the Bari Area” will be presented on December 13, 2013 at the Italian American Museum, corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets in Manhattan. The suggested donation is $10. To RSVP for this event, please call (212) 695-9000 or email the ItalianAmericanMuseum@gmail.com.

Review: Mass Transit & Trolley Modelers Convention at Rutgers University

Autumn is almost here which means it is time for the The New York City Model Transit Association annual model train show. The next day-long  rendition of this event is held at 9:30 am on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at:
Rutgers Student Center (next door to the previous gym location)
126 College Ave
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

During my previous visits to this show, different models of transit-type transportation were exhibited including subway cars that no longer exist such as BMT 'Bluebirds' on an operating layout. Vendors had all kinds of collectible items for sale ranging from photographs to books to videos to rail equipment (trolley cars, interurbans, subways, buses and their associated detail parts) in various scales mostly in O, HO and N gauges. The show isn't limited to models but vintage full-sized buses that can be described as a fleet from yesteryear will be in the parking lot.

For the serious scale modeler, model contests (scratch-built mostly) and lectures/clinics from prominent 
transit historians and modelers help give you those 'inside tips' that can make you models enterable in the aforementioned contests - heck, it will give you something to do over the winter months.

Admission is $20 (cash) with spouses and children are free. This isn't a show that generates personal wealth to the organizers but the net proceeds go to the Shore Line Trolley Museum which is still recovering from Hurricanes Irene and Sandy as that important historic venue suffered much damage in both storms.

I encourage you to come out and support this show as you can have a great time while learning about transportation history and how you can recreate it in your home.

For additional information, visit the organizer's website at:

nycmodeltransit.org/2013details.htm or by e-mail at: transitmeet@yahoo.com

NYCT Subway Service 2012 Investments Announced

New York, NY, July 19, 2012 – The draconian service cuts made 2 years ago during the apex of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) fiscal crisis may make a partial reversal while keeping the IND Queens-Brooklyn crosstown local ‘G’ train service extension in addition to some new transit operations. At that time in 2009, two subway lines and some bus services were either eliminated and others re-routed. Commuter trains were pared or combined to save money.

According to published reports, of the $90 million extra dollars stated in the MTA's most recent finance report (than were projected in the February budget), $20 million of that could go to fund the restored service. The news for straphangers isn’t all good as a 7.5% fare increase is expected to pay for it in March, 2013. The MTA’s adding and extending service on almost 40 bus, subway and commuter rail lines to better serve its customers, enhance access to mass transit, accommodate ridership growth and attract new transit customers. These investments come at a time when MTA ridership is steadily increasing across all forms of mass transit: subway ridership is at levels not seen since the 1950s; commuter train ridership is approaching all-time records and; bus service is at a premium for riders.

The G train story is of particular interest because the line was extended due to the Culver Viaduct repair work at the Smith-9th Street elevated stop over the deep-bottomed Gowanus Canal. Built in the 1930s, it was the only IND (New York City-built INDependent line) service constructed as an elevated. Due to wear and tear over the decades, the structure needed rebuilding which included a complete gutting and overhaul of that station. With the advent of the Culver Viaduct restoration work in 2009, the line was extended 5 stops to its current Church Avenue terminus with intermediate stops at Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street, Seventh Avenue, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway.



EDITORS: The full-length article is available upon request to: jmcalisi@verizon.net