x635 a Metro-North Fan & New M-8 Sneak Peak

[x635 4,066]

x635 A Metro North Fan

Lately, my newest obessesion is the railroad, more specifically, Metro-North and to a lesser extent LIRR. I find their operations fascinating. I love the M-3 and M-7 trains and the FL-9/FL-10 and Genesis Locomotives. Lately I've been trying to ride the rails as much as I can, each and every line. I also love to photograph trains, and have been trying to find good and legal spots to do such. I also have been wanting to ride one of the diesel trains from Grand Central to Danbury and visit the rail museum, but I hear there are bustitions this month apparently, so I'm going to wait until June. I'm hoping their will be another Metro North Harmon (or even better, North White Plains!) Rail Yard Open House in October, and I will be able to go. I also wish I had space in my home for an HO layout.

Another thing I like, is that I live within short walking distance of a lower Harlem line train station. I can hop on a Metro-North Harlem line train, and be at Grand Central, and midtown Manhattan, within a half hour. That's so easy and so cool to me.

New M8 Sneak Preview

Anyways, in 2008 (I think) the CTDOT/Metro North will be receiving much-overdue new M8 railcars to replace the aging and worn M-2's on the New Haven lines. They will be similar to the M-7's, but have some key differences, including a pantograph.

Below are two links I found on a cool rail forum, Railroad.net'sMetro-North forum

Conceptual Color Drawing:

http://img126.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m...exterior5sh.jpg

Lifelike Conceptual Photo:

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/4628/m8...ngmedium2sd.jpg

Interior Concept Drawing:

http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=m...aldesign8jb.jpg

(These images posted and thanks to ImageShack by Railroad.net members "L-Dog" and "DutchRailnut")

They look HOT, I can't wait to see and ride them in person!

Other EMTBravo Network Railfans

Another interesting thing I found is that EMTBravo Network member GrumpyFF is also seemingly a railfan and has taken some real nice Metro-North photos. They are seen at this cool train photo site:

http://naphotos.nerail.org/show/?byrail:1:Metro_North

Is anyone else on here a "railfan"?

[orangEMT246 6]

A good website to look at is www.nycsubway.org. It has pictures and history of NYC subway as well as numerous links to other rail sites including Metro-North. When I was younger I would stand in the first car of the subway and look out the front window as we went down the track. Too bad you can't do that much anymore as the newer trains block your view to the front.

[Guest]

I gotta agree with Orange, I like the new cars, but hate that there is no longer a view out of the front. That was HUGE for me when I was younger, loved it.

As for the open house, its every year around the same time.

[grumpyff 1,159]

Guilty as charged yes i am a railfan. I have about 80 or so photos that I have posted on http://naphotos.nerail.org/ , mostly under Metro North, or by contibutor, Kurt Von Dietsch. Get your shots of the FL-9/F10 when you get the chance, as they are no longer in scheduled passenger service. They do, however pop up from time to time as replacements.

Some other train websites are:

http://www.thejoekorner.com/indexfrm.html

and

http://piercehaviland.com/rail/index.htm

The pierce haviland site does not get upgraded to often.

Edited May 12, 2006 by grumpyff

[AndyC3J 190]

I don't watch trains on a regular basis, but when the Chesapeake and Ohio 614 steam locomotive was around in the late 90's, I was running around the area quite a bit on those weekends looking for good photo/video ops.

Good thing it didn't conflict with any parades or wetdowns.....LOL!

[RC182 0]

I'm a big fan oa MNRR trains, i ride em every day to school

[zinger57 4]

An excellent rail site is Railpictures.net. It's updated everyday with photos virtually from all over including Metro North. Coming from a rail fan myself, it's a great site. You could get lost for hours on that site.

Matt

[capt2102 64]

check out the Naughtuck (spelling may not be right) R.R. web site. It is just outside of Waterbury on the Waterbury Branch of the New Haven Line. Nice train ride and museum. I believe they are the only tourist line to go across the face of a Dam.

[BmSmall92 1]

If you want to take pictures there are a couple of legal sites. If you want M-7's go to De Veries Park, Philispe Manor station, or Scarborough station you probably will get some decent action shots of the trains coming around curves. Another site on the Hudson line to get some good action shots would be around Breakneck Ridge in Cold Spring. On the New Haven line, Rye station is a good spot because you have trains coming around two curves. When you are taking pictures of the trains make sure you are a safe distance from the mainline. If you are too close to the tracks engineers from Amtrak and Metro-North will report you and the MTA police will show up. Be safe out there.

[x635 4,066]

Well, I visited the Danbury Rail Museum today, and it was quite a neat place.

They have an impressive collection of locomotives and rail cars. I particularly liked the New Haven FL-9, the caboose (the history of them is cool), the Sperry car, and the Budd car. And the Boston-Maine Mogul was pretty cool. It's pretty interesting what hard work it once was "working on the railroad" and still is today.

Unforuntely, didn't get to ride the train up there. But hopefully I will get to go on a train photo hunt soon, and I hope to get a Metro-North M-7, M-3, M-2, a FL-9, and a Genesis engine in New Haven colors.

[JBE 328]

I haven't ridden MN in ages, and never ridden LIRR. I see the trains regularly in my travels. I guess the single door gives enough room to allow for quick egress??

[grumpyff 1,159]

I haven't ridden MN in ages, and never ridden LIRR. I see the trains regularly in my travels. I guess the single door gives enough room to allow for quick egress??

←

it was designed to be ADA compliant and reduce maintenance costs. Yes the doors are wider, and allow for more people to enter/exit quickly. Also the emergency release handles are now right next to the door, and clearly marked behind a break away plastic door(both inside and outside)

[Jared1979 19]

very nice pictures

[Guest]

My commute everyday is in a Shoreliner (not MU, its pulled by a Genesis) both ways. MUCH better than the MU I think. Just feels more roomy. Maybe its just in my head. I don't know.

Good luck catching an FL-9 running. I hope you get it. Could be tough though, they formally retired the fleet last fall with a fan trip called, "Farewell to the FL-9's". Best Diesel ever. Classic.