Passenger Trains > Look What They Are Whining About

While trainorders today enjoys a world wide membership, it nevertheless was "born" in Southern California. As such, it figures most of the "founding" Members are from that region. I realize that in the past decade, rail commuter service has emerged in the LA Basin. Apparently, it has strong public acceptance and is obviously here to stay.

However, it has a way to go to match the scope of that in the New York area.

Nevertheless, look at what could be considered a "whine" in Today's New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/nyregion/11TRAI.html

Here's a "brief passage":

"Shortly before 1:30 a.m., the stragglers always break into a mad, sometimes wobbly dash. They must make it back to Scarsdale, or Greenwich, or Yonkers. The fleet and the lucky reach the gates just as the conductor shouts, "All aboard!" Sweaty and winded, they flop into their seats with self-satisfied laughter as the train pulls away.

But this is not their story.

This is the story of the people left behind on the platform when the last train late at night goes out of Grand Central Terminal."

GBNorman quoted the namby-pamby New York Times:

> This is the story of the people left behind on the
> platform when the last train late at night goes
> out of Grand Central Terminal."
=============================

As we have heard countless times since 9/11, New York people are celebrated for their fortitude under duress.

But not all of them, it seems.

Perhaps when the whiners are averaged in, New York people come out pretty much average, after all.

By the way, does anyone know whether Metro-North follows the same convention at Grand Central as do Amtrak and NJT in Penn Station? Their actual departure time on the employee TT is one minute later than what shows on the departure boards and the public timetables.

I grew up in Scarsdale, on the Harlem Line, and the commuter trains are very much a part of the culture there. It'll be a long time before Los Angeles reaches the same level.

On Saturday morning, Grand Central is full of youngish, athletic-looking women with pony tails, carrying tennis rackets, presumably heading to the 'burbs for a game or two with their friends. Weekday rush hours are usually boozy, especially the later trains (my father would usually be on the 6:31, which had a bar car). The bar cars are, I think, all gone now, as are the private cars used by "commuter clubs".

I've made the mad dash for the 0130 train myself, more than once. I never did understand why MNR (and PC and NYC before that) didn't do "owl" service. As for the complaining in the NY Times article, a $70 fare to Westchester is a *lot* less than the cost of a hotel room -- unless you belong to a nearby club. My father's lodging of choice was the Harvard Club on 44th Street (next door to the NY Yacht Club, which probably has rooms too).

In each of the towns in Westchester and Connecticut, the train station is an important part of downtown. There are shops, parking, and taxis nearby. It's an entirely different lifestyle than most of the U.S. enjoys. Until I was in my early teens, I really believed that every father took the train to work, and every mother stayed home. I also thought that all railroads of any consequence were double track, and *really* important railroads were electrified. Boy, was I surprised. But then, when I was small my mother used to take me over to Croton-Harmon as a special treat, just after dinner, to watch the 20th Century change from electric to diesel.

rresor Wrote:


> I also thought that all
> railroads of any consequence were double track,
> and *really* important railroads were electrified.

That's the way, rresor. Show 'em out West where the REAL railroads are.... ;-)))))))

BTW, like you, I also thought until my early teens that all rail lines, other than spurs, were double track, and the major lines were electrified, with diesels reserved for secondary duties.

I also believed that every large city had trolleys and trolleybuses, and the more larger ones had subway lines.

Oh yeah, and that non-electric suburban trains did not exist.......


P.S. Childhood ignorance and naiveness is bliss..... :)

RE: Gene Poon's post about employee times being one minute later than public schedule:

Don't expect the same consideration in the Windy City.....Metra makes a big, big deal about (giving the appearance of) running an ON TIME operation. The 5:17 leaves at 5:17, not 5:18!

Have seen on numerous occasions Conductors shut the doors in the face of running communters and highball the train with the unlucky still running down the platform pounding on the doors.

Now to be fair, the Conductors on the last trains of the evening (12:40 AM on my line) are careful to watch the platform for runners. They have even been known on RARE occasions to (against regulations) stop halfway down the platform to scoop up a group of runners rather than leave them downtown 'till morning.

NZ

NebraskaZephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RE: Gene Poon's post about employee times being
> one minute later than public schedule:
>
> Don't expect the same consideration in the Windy
> City.....Metra makes a big, big deal about (giving
> the appearance of) running an ON TIME operation.
> The 5:17 leaves at 5:17, not 5:18!
>
> Have seen on numerous occasions Conductors shut
> the doors in the face of running communters and
> highball the train with the unlucky still running
> down the platform pounding on the doors.
>
> Now to be fair, the Conductors on the last trains
> of the evening (12:40 AM on my line) are careful
> to watch the platform for runners. They have even
> been known on RARE occasions to (against
> regulations) stop halfway down the platform to
> scoop up a group of runners rather than leave them
> downtown 'till morning.
>
> NZ

I have the same problem with my 6:10 PM Clocker out of New York City. As the flagman, I have to observe the train as it makes its way down the platform. I find that totally impossible with the rush of commuters continuing to come down the stairs without letting them on as the train is moving, so I just observe the doors closing to make sure there is nobody stuck in a door, then I shut my door to discourage anyone from trying to force their way onto the train. Then after a few car lengths, when the train builds up enough speed, I reopen the door and observe the platform. But as we start moving there are always a few suit-clad snobbies cussing me out for not letting them on.

rdg484 Wrote:

> But as we start moving there are always a few
> suit-clad snobbies cussing me out for not letting
> them on.
------------------------------------------

Yeh, instead of blaming themselves for being lazy and imprecise, they probably tell themselves it wasn't their fault because their Rolexes are running slow!

The only ETT and PTT differences I have ever been aware of is The 20th Century Limited.

There WB, ETT 601P, PTT (Form "Thousand and One") 6PM.

But more to the point of the Times' article.

We have "gaps' even here in Chicago in Weekend evening service. On the BNSF, there is Saturday service from CUS at 1030P but the next is at 1240A(Sun).

1030P is "too early" for most public events; 1240A is simply "too late". For example, I find I must "drive in" to Chicago Symphony performances. They seem to have an "uncanny" way of being over at 1005-1010P. Now I can "make it" from Orchestra Hall (Adams & Mich) to CUS on foot, but all to often, a high-heeled companion I have invited to accompany, simply could not.

I cannot understand why, the commuter agencies away from New York cannot "flex" the schedule of their "public event" train. Any public event, other than a movie or theatrical production, simply cannot be timed to the minute. In my case, waiting two hours for a train is simply not reasonable; accordingly, I opt for much higher priced "personal" transportation (i.e. "just the basics" of fuel $7, Tolls $1, Parking $20; forget any allocated costs. which in my case could easily add another $30 to the tab).

What about a cab from Orchestra Hall to CUS ? $5 for a cab should be better than a wait for the 12:40 AM "Silver in the night run" !

Good luck finding one, Mr. DanV
"Been there done that"

Oh and livery car?, we are talking $75; Chicago taxicab "all the way" (assuming the driver who does not likely speak English does not get too lost) $65.

Fortunately, some of the Chicago commuter lines have a roughly parallel line not too far away. If I just barely miss the final Milwaukee North departure from Chicago Union Station at 12:25am, I can easily walk a few blocks to Northwestern Station and catch the 12:35am final departure on the Union Pacific North line. (Indeed, I'm already halfway to Northwestern station if I've run very far down the Union Station platform.)

There is a UP-North station about 3.25 miles from the Milwaukee-North station nearest my home, thus I can walk home and arrive only about an hour late, which is quite preferable to waiting in the city for the next departure at 8:35am. It's also considerably better than riding the L to its northernmost station, which leaves me with a 12-mile walk home. (I only tried that once--soon after moving to Chicago and before I learned the UP-North schedule.)

About halfway between the two current stations, I pass a former Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee station and regret that I never saw it (and the Electroliners) in service.

What ever became of Metra's project to run a North/South line in the Western suburbs that would connect with all of the East-West corridors and turn East to connect with the North/Downtown corridors. Is that still on the stove, or in the trash can ?

This is one case where Southern California has beaten the hundred-year-old commuter operations to the punch. The Inland Empire-Orange County MetroLink line ties four lines out of Los Angeles together, but never gets near LA. The only other place where I've seen the ends connected like this is Network Southeast in England (probably has a different name now), where one can go from London to Brighton (and ride the Volks Electric Ry. built in 1883), Brighton to Hastings (along the south coast) and Hastings back to London (passing through Battle Station, as in 1066 and the Norman Conquest). France and Germany probably have circumferential lines also, but I haven't been there yet.

DanV Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What ever became of Metra's project to run a
> North/South line in the Western suburbs that would
> connect with all of the East-West corridors and
> turn East to connect with the North/Downtown
> corridors.

Metra's STAR line is still an active proposal according to Metra. The plan initially is to run a north-south segment from Joliet to Hoffman Estates on the EJ&E and a segment along the tollway (I-90) from Hoffman Estates to O'Hare. They have stated it would be operated with DMU cars.

At a still unspecified time farther in the future could be extensions to the circumfrential line east from Joliet and north and east from Hoffman Estates to intersect the existing lines south and north of the loop, respectively.

One fairly quiet union of existing Metra lines happened a couple months ago when the Milwaukee North line added a station at Prairie Crossing (at the Milwaukee Road/Wisconsin Central diamonds near Libertyville), where the North Central Service already stopped. In a year or so (when the North Central double-tracking is complete and its schedule is expanded), it's conceivable that those in some farther north suburbs can make a viable trip to O'Hare by transfering between these lines at Prairie Crossing. Presently this is best done with a transfer to the CTA blue line at Montrose, but that involves a walk of a couple blocks on city streets that more timid suburbanites (and those with much luggage) might not find acceptable, especially during winter in Chicago.

"...Amtrak and NJT in Penn Station? Their actual departure time on the employee TT is one minute later than what shows on the departure boards and the public timetables."

Which trains?

NebraskaZephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RE: Gene Poon's post about employee times being
> one minute later than public schedule:
>
> Don't expect the same consideration in the Windy
> City.....Metra makes a big, big deal about (giving
> the appearance of) running an ON TIME operation.
> The 5:17 leaves at 5:17, not 5:18!
>
> Have seen on numerous occasions Conductors shut
> the doors in the face of running communters and
> highball the train with the unlucky still running
> down the platform pounding on the doors.
>
> Now to be fair, the Conductors on the last trains
> of the evening (12:40 AM on my line) are careful
> to watch the platform for runners. They have even
> been known on RARE occasions to (against
> regulations) stop halfway down the platform to
> scoop up a group of runners rather than leave them
> downtown 'till morning.
>
> NZ

I have to agree with you on that with Metrolink. Yeah it's gonna take a while to get things going, but when Metro leaves on the advertised, they do, and it sucks when you get left (happened to me 2 times) because they won't stop and pick you up, it's be there or be square.