Yep, I’m a little late this morning with my collection of old Harlem Division photos. I just managed to squeak by. Good morning everyone! Umm… I’m hungry. Where’s lunch?

If you haven’t heard me say it before, I like twitter. There are times where I really think that a look at twitter’s trending topics is like having your finger on the pulse of the world (though I’ll be the first to admit that some trends are monumentally stupid). To anyone that thinks that Twitter is comprised of complete pointlessness, they must be unaware to the fact that I landed my first job out of college, where I’ve been working for nearly 3 years now, due to twitter. After months of sending out resumes with not a single response, an agency recruiter found me via twitter. A quick whirlwind of events happened over the next weeks – I had my first interview, and from there landed my job. And if you want to stretch it a bit, I probably never would have even started this blog if it hadn’t been for twitter, as that job led to me becoming a regular rider of the Harlem Line.

Recently, however, twitter has landed me a new adventure. I really hate the term bucket list – I prefer to just say “crap I want to do before I die.” The majority of things on my list are not really activities, but places I’d love to see. I want to go to every continent, even Antarctica. Keeping with my desire to see strange places, I’d really love to see Pripyat, Ukraine. But there was one thing that I had always wanted to see, that I resigned myself to accepting I wouldn’t see. And that was a space shuttle launch. With NASA’s space shuttle program in its waning days, I figured I wouldn’t get the chance to see a launch. That’s where I was wrong. Enter twitter…

NASA, as well as many folks involved in the space shuttle program, are quite active on twitter. NASA has a dedicated account for arranging tweetups with followers as well. A tweetup was going to be held for Endeavour’s final flight, STS-134 – and 150 of NASA’s followers would be accepted to see the launch. I entered, and like the 4000+ people that also entered, really hoped to win. On the day that the winners were to be announced I found that I had not won, but had made it to the waiting list. If a winner could not make it or did not accept their invitation in time, people on the waiting list would be notified to take their place. The days I spent on the waiting list were like a terrible state of purgatory. I was excited to not have been outright denied, but the thought of being so close and not be chosen off the waiting list would be that much harder.

Fortunately, on Friday I was notified that I had been accepted to the group of people that will be attending the tweetup. I am absolutely ecstatic. This will be my second visit to Kennedy Space Center, and my first shuttle launch. If you have a twitter account and don’t currently follow me, you can find me under the name @mtaHarlemLine. Although the main subject of this blog is trains, I do use it to feature some of my other more interesting adventures, and this will certainly be one of them. Be sure to look for my shuttle launch photos in a few weeks!

When you carry thousands of people together in a tin can, you are inevitably going to have some that don’t exactly know what to do with themselves. Some people read, some people mess around on their iPads, or even listen to music. But then there are also some idiots that can’t help writing things on the advertisements. Metro-North is usually really good about defaced advertisements, somebody usually takes them down after a short time. But every time I see one, I usually snap a photo. Here is a little collection of randomness, of stupid things people have done to posters on the train, and other stuff. I do claim responsibility for the dog in the Conductor’s cab, but all the rest are things I just happened to see while riding the train…

Bob the builder needs a beer after riding all day on the crazy train.

This dog was found hiding inside a conductor’s cab

This reporter says, “I like turtles.”

Maurice Adolf DuBois

Dont trip over skulls, fall in the gap.

This train is the Tinkerbell Express, making stops in Never Never Land.

You should always trust Emily.

I love Emergency Parking Brake Release

Mike is quite the enterprising fellow. Free massages for all the ladies!

Dog on the side of a newspaper stand

When people ask me to donate a dollar, I write the site on there instead of my name.

Where oh where is my Kyle?

Brooke Burke, before makeup

I have a new favorite bit of graffiti that I absolutely had to post photos of. Although the piece in between Valhalla and North White Plains I mentioned a while back is still my favorite on the Harlem Line, it certainly pales in scope to this graffiti I just discovered along the tracks in Danbury. Well, I shouldn’t say “just discovered” – I had noticed it in the car for quite a long time, probably even a year or more. I kept thinking to myself, one of these days I have to come back with my camera. Over the weekend I did just that. From the road, however, it is impossible to notice how grand this piece really is. It is quite immense, taking up a huge wall. I keep looking back at the pictures I took, thinking that this wall is just so amazingly gorgeous (and one of these photos is currently my desktop background).

The graffiti is located just off of Main Street in Danbury, not far from the Metro-North station, and the Danbury Railway Museum (it is not alongside actual Metro-North Danbury Line tracks). The most noticeable portion is the portion closest to the road, depicting Danbury Police Officer Robert DiNardo, who died of cancer in 2009. However, the wall is extremely long and continues far beyond what is visible from the road. If you ever have the time to check it out, I highly recommend it. The entire wall was a collaborative effort by the DF Crew, who are active in the New York City area. The portrait of DiNardo was done by Jick, who grew up in Danbury and now lives in the Bronx.

Ever since we shifted the clocks for Daylight Savings Time, I’ve had difficulties waking up in the morning. Instead of my usual train reading, I’ve been doing more train sleeping. And of course, coming back from the weekend, that is the hardest part. But if I had some good things to look forward to on a Monday morning, well, maybe that would make it a bit easier – like a good collection of historical photos from the Harlem Line. Here is part 3 of our Monday Morning old photos… as previously mentioned, these are all images that I’ve acquired from various places, often by purchase online, or have been sent to me by other people. I’m not sure of who the photographers are, and it is pretty much a mixed bag of year and location. But I do think some of you have enjoyed the challenge of attempting to figure out where the photos were taken. Anyways, enjoy the pictures, I’m going to try and do these posts as many Mondays as I can, or at least until I exhaust my collection of old photos.

If you missed our previous posts of old photos, be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, and another collection of old photos from the 80′s.

A few weeks (months!) ago I began going through all of my yet-unposted photographs, and presented some shots from the old roundhouse in Toronto. That roundhouse is currently occupied by three different organizations, the brewery which I previously featured, a furniture store, and the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. The TRHC is a relatively young organization, and the first part of their museum proper, in Roundhouse Park, opened in May of last year. I got a chance to visit the place at the start of their opening season, and took a ride on their mini railway. I also took lots of pictures – and procrastinated in posting them. So a few months shy of a year, here they are.

Volunteers are still working hard to make Roundhouse Park a great museum devoted to rail history in Canada. The significant feature of the park, the John Street Roundhouse, was completed in 1931, and used by the Canadian Pacific Railway up until 1986. It was eventually donated to the city of Toronto. A 60,000-gallon water tower exists in its original location (the water tower had to be moved during construction of the parking garage for the Convention Centre, which is underneath Roundhouse Park. Portions of the roundhouse were also dismantled and then reconstructed), now painted with the Steamwhistle Brewing logo.

Also located in the park are Don Station and Cabin D. Don Station was constructed in 1896 and was originally located alongside the Don River. The station was relocated to Roundhouse Park, and serves as a point to purchase tickets for the 7.25″ gauge miniature railway. Cabin D was also originally built in 1896, by the Grand Trunk Railway, and it coordinated track switches and signal lights. It was also relocated to Roundhouse Park.

All of these facilities in the park are beginning to look amazing, and the miniature railway serves as a fun way to tour the grounds. Don Station once again serves as a station, as opposed to the boarded up shell it once was before being moved to the park. Writing about places like the Railway Heritage Centre, the Milton on Hudson station, and even the Danbury Railway Museum, I’m always amazed by the sheer determination of rail-interested volunteers. The Toronto Railway Heritage Centre is certainly shaping up to be quite a wonderful place, and if you ever happen to be in the Toronto area, I highly recommend it.

Yes, it is that time again… one of the worst commuting days of the year. The day that some Metro-North employees avoid like the plague. One of the only days where alcohol is banned on the train. Yes, tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, where the drunk and crazy are out in full force, until you find them later hungover and passed out after leaving you a few presents.

For those of you interested in taking the train to see the parade in the city, Metro-North will be having some extra trains running tomorrow. If you’re on the Harlem Line, be sure to read this information carefully, as there have been changes because of the continuing power issue in Katonah due to flooding (which personally, I don’t believe Metro-North is explaining enough to its customers, but that is another story entirely. Floods can’t be helped, but a better informed customer would be more understanding than the ones who believe they have been kicked off their trains for no apparent reason 3 days in a row).

As previously mentioned, the MTA PD has decreed that there shall not be any alcohol on trains or Metro-North property. That, of course, won’t stop people from putting their alcohol in coffee mugs or gatorade bottles – but beware, the MTA PD K9′s might be present to sniff you out!

And speaking of canines, Metro-North’s unofficial mascot, Conductor Dog, has a message for you all:

As promised, here are some more old Harlem Division photos to start off your week. There are some photos in this bunch that I really like, including a shot at the old State Hospital station, which along with the Wingdale station, was removed and replaced by Harlem Valley-Wingdale.

If you liked these old photos, be sure to check out Part 1 from last Monday, and this collection of photos from the 80′s. More old photos are definitely on the way….

From my experience riding the trains, it seems that Metro-North has quite the diverse assortment of employees. The people they employ can claim heritage from many different countries and backgrounds. There are some old railroaders that can tell stories of working out of Selkirk many years ago, and there are many fresher faces. Folks that have served their country in Afghanistan. A former member of the Secret Service (whom I secretly think is badass). Today, however, I must mention a rather unique individual (and my surrogate big brother) that many years ago had wanted a finance-related job with the railroad, but after much time was offered a position as an assistant conductor. In reality, he totally missed his calling as an artist. Some mornings I would find notes he left on my seat, as I always sit in the same seat on my morning train. I would sit down and burst out laughing when I saw the note, I’m pretty sure that everyone else on that train thinks I’m nuts.

The first note. Not really necessary, since nobody ever wants this seat.

He told me he read on the internet that the Bronx River Parkway was built so Babe Ruth could get to baseball games. I told him I didn’t believe him.

I’m not really sure what animal that is supposed to be…

Best part is the mouse in the corner that says, “Sucker, get a dog.”

I don’t think we’ll be seeing any seeing-eye cats anytime soon.

Unfortunately there will be no more Cat Facts for an indeterminate amount of time, as the artist has changed jobs and is no longer on my train.

Have a case of the Mondays? Need something to cheer you up on this crappy weather day? Hopefully some old Harlem Division photos will do the trick. People are always selling old slides and photos on eBay, and I have a little bit of a collection. I don’t always know the location (though they are on the Harlem Division), date, or even the photographer, but I love looking back at the trains of yesteryear – and even the old cars in some of the photos. The next few Mondays I’ll be posting my collection of old eBay-acquired photos… enjoy a little look into the past on the Harlem Division.