LIRR And MNRR Random Thoughts Thread

[brakethrow]

Most of us would be lying if we said we never felt tempted to blow the horn when crossing between cars on the M7+ fleets. MetroNorth seems real lax when it comes to leaving the cab doors open throughout the train.

[RapidoNewLook]

7 hours ago, brakethrow said:

Most of us would be lying if we said we never felt tempted to blow the horn when crossing between cars on the M7+ fleets. MetroNorth seems real lax when it comes to leaving the cab doors open throughout the train.

And who says none of us ever did? No one I know, of course...😋

[trainfan22]

8 hours ago, brakethrow said:

Most of us would be lying if we said we never felt tempted to blow the horn when crossing between cars on the M7+ fleets. MetroNorth seems real lax when it comes to leaving the cab doors open throughout the train.

I'm not I'm not employed by either of the two MTA railroads but, I would imagine that some of the cab controls in the middle of the train are "cut off" when not in use?

 

I been inside the cab of both the M3 and M7's at Croton Harmon shop open house tour and none of the buttons worked when I pressed them. 

 

I know that on NYC Subway trains the horns still work in the C/R cabs as C/R's honk to T/O's on another train on local/express runs.

 

I never felt tempted to do such a thing cause I'm pretty sure the train crew would call MTA Police to meet the train en route to have you arrested.

I seen train crews on multiple occasions on both LIRR and NJT call for cops to meet a train en route and eventually see a passenger taking off the train in cuffs. I'm good lol

[brakethrow]

4 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I'm not I'm not employed by either of the two MTA railroads but, I would imagine that some of the cab controls in the middle of the train are "cut off" when not in use?

 

I been inside the cab of both the M3 and M7's at Croton Harmon shop open house tour and none of the buttons worked when I pressed them. 

 

I know that on NYC Subway trains the horns still work in the C/R cabs as C/R's honk to T/O's on another train on local/express runs.

 

I never felt tempted to do such a thing cause I'm pretty sure the train crew would call MTA Police to meet the train en route to have you arrested.

I seen train crews on multiple occasions on both LIRR and NJT call for cops to meet a train en route and eventually see a passenger taking off the train in cuffs. I'm good lol

Interesting, I always assumed the horns still remained functional. But I think the most you'd get is a "ummm sir, you're not allowed to touch the controls" or something a bit more stern if you're bold enough to actually sit in the cab whilst doing so (not encouraging anyone here lol).

Edited June 23, 2020 by brakethrow

[Jova42R]

9 hours ago, brakethrow said:

Interesting, I always assumed the horns still remained functional. But I think the most you'd get is a "ummm sir, you're not allowed to touch the controls" or something a bit more stern if you're bold enough to actually sit in the cab whilst doing so (not encouraging anyone here lol).

Once I rode the entire Hudson Line from Croton to GCT in the cab, and the conductor didn't even bat an eye. Although I didn't blow the horn.

[trainfan22]

Today I finally did an railfan trip I've been wanting to do for an while now, railfan one of the Babylon Branch express runs. 

 

I've ridden the Babylon Branch quite a few times in the past but it was always local runs, etc. Finally rode it today and man did it live up to hype! Hit MAS (80 MPH) and stayed in the 70s for a good duration of the express run. Second best commuter rail express run in the Tri State, only the 3900 NEC express runs on NJT is better IMO.

 

Coming back to the City the train I got was also an super express run, great day of fanning. Always nice to ride an commuter rail route from end to end.

 

 

Also, I saw four sets of M9s running in service, NO M3 were seen in service. Read on RR.net that the M3s have only ran in service once in the entire month of June so far. LIRR service is pretty close to an regular schedule from what I saw today, once a few more sets of M9s are in service the LIRR M3s might be done for good sooner rather than later.

Edited June 24, 2020 by trainfan22

[R68OnBroadway]

56 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Today I finally did an railfan trip I've been wanting to do for an while now, railfan one of the Babylon Branch express runs. 

 

I've ridden the Babylon Branch quite a few times in the past but it was always local runs, etc. Finally rode it today and man did it live up to hype! Hit MAS (80 MPH) and stayed in the 70s for a good duration of the express run. Second best commuter rail express run in the Tri State, only the 3900 NEC express runs on NJT is better IMO.

 

Coming back to the City the train I got was also an super express run, great day of fanning. Always nice to ride an commuter rail route from end to end.

 

 

Also, I saw four sets of M9s running in service, NO M3 were seen in service. Read on RR.net that the M3s have only ran in service once in the entire month of June so far. LIRR service is pretty close to an regular schedule from what I saw today, once a few more sets of M9s are in service the LIRR M3s might be done for good sooner rather than later.

Where do the expresses and super expresses stop?

[trainfan22]

1 hour ago, R68OnBroadway said:

Where do the expresses and super expresses stop?

On MTA.info go to the schedule section and put in Penn Station to Babylon and it shows you ALL the stops each train makes. To make things easier, the runs that say they take an hour or so to go from NYP to Babylon are the express runs.

 

The expresses on the Babylon Branch seem to be pretty random as to what stops they make and what stops they skip, etc.

Edited June 25, 2020 by trainfan22

[40MntVrn]

On 6/24/2020 at 7:52 PM, trainfan22 said:

Today I finally did an railfan trip I've been wanting to do for an while now, railfan one of the Babylon Branch express runs. 

 

I've ridden the Babylon Branch quite a few times in the past but it was always local runs, etc. Finally rode it today and man did it live up to hype! Hit MAS (80 MPH) and stayed in the 70s for a good duration of the express run. Second best commuter rail express run in the Tri State, only the 3900 NEC express runs on NJT is better IMO.

 

Coming back to the City the train I got was also an super express run, great day of fanning. Always nice to ride an commuter rail route from end to end.

 

 

Also, I saw four sets of M9s running in service, NO M3 were seen in service. Read on RR.net that the M3s have only ran in service once in the entire month of June so far. LIRR service is pretty close to an regular schedule from what I saw today, once a few more sets of M9s are in service the LIRR M3s might be done for good sooner rather than later.

Considering the health crisis, what was the passenger load on the super express? I'm surprised that a trip with such a narrow passenger demographic is running during this phase.

[trainfan22]

1 hour ago, 40MntVrn said:

Considering the health crisis, what was the passenger load on the super express? I'm surprised that a trip with such a narrow passenger demographic is running during this phase.

Ridership was very light on both trains..

[Mtatransit]

On 6/24/2020 at 8:49 PM, R68OnBroadway said:

Where do the expresses and super expresses stop?

LIRR does not have set patterns when it comes to which station it skips/stops

But when it comes to the Babylon Branch, those rush hour flyers usually only stop at three consecutive stations and then its non stop into Penn Station. (Wantaugh,Bellmore,Merrick)

 

[Lil 57]

On 6/24/2020 at 8:49 PM, R68OnBroadway said:

Where do the expresses and super expresses stop?

 

On 6/26/2020 at 3:06 PM, trainfan22 said:

Ridership was very light on both trains..

 

On 6/27/2020 at 12:01 AM, Mtatransit said:

LIRR does not have set patterns when it comes to which station it skips/stops

But when it comes to the Babylon Branch, those rush hour flyers usually only stop at three consecutive stations and then its non stop into Penn Station. (Wantaugh,Bellmore,Merrick)

 

I took one of them today From Amityville to Penn Station (Expressed from Babylon) stopped at Amityville, Freeport, Jamaica an Penn Station, another super express left half an hour before which had the same stopping pattern but made an extra stop at Woodside. I believe that these trains were going to be deheads from Babylon to Penn Station to become peak trains so instead of making them NIS they made them stop at limited stops otw to Penn Station to get some extra cash. So ridership doesn't really matter. (I was the only one in the car the whole ride.)

[danielhg121]

Turns out that DE30AC #423 (ex DM30AC-507) has been placed back into service following a 7-month hiatus. 

 Currently operating as Train #655 to Jamaica.

[trainfan22]

Metro North mascot giving out masks on the railroad

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/MetroNorth/status/1283345821870759936

 

I miss days when Metro Man had the M1/M3 body...

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by trainfan22

[danielhg121]

Does anyone know why there's a 6:49 PM train starting from Stony Brook (not Port Jeff.) and heads west? Why did they bother scheduling such a slow service to begin with? It takes an extra 40 minutes because it's waiting on eastbound trains to come through. I know the train has existed in the timetable for awhile now but there isn't anything the MTA can do to speed it up? I know eastbound trains have priority and all but making westbound passengers wait 10+ mins at every station isn't exactly a compromise.

[Lil 57]

6 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

I miss days when Metro Man had the M1/M3 body...

 

Looks kinda creepy to me

[Lex]

4 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Does anyone know why there's a 6:49 PM train starting from Stony Brook (not Port Jeff.) and heads west? Why did they bother scheduling such a slow service to begin with? It takes an extra 40 minutes because it's waiting on eastbound trains to come through. I know the train has existed in the timetable for awhile now but there isn't anything the MTA can do to speed it up? I know eastbound trains have priority and all but making westbound passengers wait 10+ mins at every station isn't exactly a compromise.

That would need to be double-tracked, and the terminus would have to cover more than the north side of the tracks...

[danielhg121]

1 hour ago, Lex said:

That would need to be double-tracked, and the terminus would have to cover more than the north side of the tracks...

I think if the train was scheduled earlier, it wouldn't be much of a problem. They could make the transition more seamless for the eastbound train to meet the westbound train at the sidings. Also, there's no reason why it should be a 2hr 30m wait between 4:18 and 6:49 for a train that doesn't even begin in Port Jeff. People trying to take the train from Port Jeff are screwed and have to wait till 8:44 , that's more than 4 hrs for a train... They could totally schedule a train between the 5:26 and 6:05 arrivals to Port Jefferson to head west, maybe even flip the 5:26 around. Let the train pull into Stony ~5:54 to meet the first PM peak heading east, pull into Smithtown followed by Kings Park, it'll have to wait for 5-8 mins -6:29 departure for the eastbound train to pass and pull into Huntington at 6:47 for passengers to transfer to electric service. That's more in line with the 2:46 train schedule. 

[Trainmaster5]

Now for something completely out of left field. I'm out here in Brentwood riding aimlessly when, because of a traffic accident, I decided to detour into the Pilgrim State Hospital grounds heading westbound on G Road. Figured I'd take the shortcut down into the Heartland complex down toward Deer Park LIRR station. Pulled over because everyone seemed to be lost and I figured I'd let some of the traffic die down. Happened to glance to my left and through the tall underbrush I noticed some poles and what appeared to be a structure. Sure enough the Pilgrim State LIRR shed is still standing. The last few times I've noticed it was about a decade ago in the winter or early spring so there was no brush blocking the view if you slowed down to look for it. I wasn't too keen on getting out of my air conditioned car to do any exploration because it was hot as Hades but I figured that some young explorer types might be interested in this info. Carry on.

[bobtehpanda]

On 7/17/2020 at 2:05 PM, danielhg121 said:

Does anyone know why there's a 6:49 PM train starting from Stony Brook (not Port Jeff.) and heads west? Why did they bother scheduling such a slow service to begin with? It takes an extra 40 minutes because it's waiting on eastbound trains to come through. I know the train has existed in the timetable for awhile now but there isn't anything the MTA can do to speed it up? I know eastbound trains have priority and all but making westbound passengers wait 10+ mins at every station isn't exactly a compromise.

Classes at Stony Brook can end at 6:30PM and the station is not very close to where buildings are located on campus, from the farthest corners you definitely need all 19 minutes to make the train.

Edited July 24, 2020 by bobtehpanda

[danielhg121]

1 hour ago, bobtehpanda said:

Classes at Stony Brook can end at 6:30PM and the station is not very close to where buildings are located on campus, from the farthest corners you definitely need all 19 minutes to make the train.

Nah, it turns out they can't really schedule it earlier because eastbound trains have priority anyways, if it were scheduled to arrive at Huntington 50 mins earlier to try and catch the 7:05 from Huntington, it would create quite the traffic jam at Huntington as it would have to fumigate and get out of the way to let the EMU from behind through and there's also an eastbound EMU that will terminate and a diesel will pick up the stragglers. They can't use 656 crew to run the train as it would violate their hours worked. Just an amalgamation of horrible timings and lack of infrastructure causes this oddball in the schedule...

[trainfan22]

Has anybody noticed that the Long Beach branch has an two hour gap in service E/B in the middle of the afternoon on weekdays? I know LIRR service isn't fully restored but it seems odd to cut the 1:58 out of Penn to Long Beach...

 

 

[turbom7a]

I like the M7 very much. It's my favorite train of all time. Boom. Random thought from me.

[R10 2952]

Been reflecting on certain travels I used to do 5-10 years ago on commuter rail in Downstate NY, mostly Metro-North.  All this talk in the news currently about a "coin shortage" reminds me of all the times the MNRR ticket-vending machines spouted unwanted amounts of dollar coins at me.  One TVM I was at wasn't accepting cards, so I had to get a round trip with a $50 bill; thing literally spit out like 35 dollars' worth of spare change, like one of those old Vegas slot machines.  Made for a damn awkward scene, not to mention carrying all that metal home...

Used to be other funny shit that happened too, over the years- a druggie using the payphone at White Plains station, a 100-car CSX freight train rumbling through Spuyten Duyvil in the middle of the day, people from an Amtrak train galloping down the stairs to catch the commuter train at New Rochelle.  Funny stuff, lot of it's changed now..

[checkmatechamp13]

On 7/17/2020 at 5:05 PM, danielhg121 said:

Does anyone know why there's a 6:49 PM train starting from Stony Brook (not Port Jeff.) and heads west? Why did they bother scheduling such a slow service to begin with? It takes an extra 40 minutes because it's waiting on eastbound trains to come through. I know the train has existed in the timetable for awhile now but there isn't anything the MTA can do to speed it up? I know eastbound trains have priority and all but making westbound passengers wait 10+ mins at every station isn't exactly a compromise.

Probably a converted deadhead