Hope everybody out there is enjoying this snowy Wednesday… Actually, who am I kidding? I’m sick of the snow, and I think most train riders will agree with me on that one. Let’s take your mind off of that with some photos from the squash tournament in Grand Central. The whole idea of constructing a glass cube for the purpose of playing squash in a railroad station is a bit amusing to me. But at the same time it feels like an appropriate nod to history. The tournament is sponsored by J.P. Morgan, a modern banking company originally named for John Pierpont Morgan. Morgan was a banker, as well as a financier of railroads.

The Tournament of Champions is held yearly in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall. Although tickets are sold for seats, there is standing room for visitors or commuters waiting for their trains to watch as well.

On my childhood journeys over the river and through the woods to get to my grandmother’s house, I always passed by the train station in New Milford. I never thought about stopping until more recently, where I snapped a few photos. This Housatonic Railroad station doesn’t get much action, though there have been thoughts to extend the Danbury Branch the three more miles up to New Milford. Then again there have also been suggestions of eliminating the Danbury Branch altogether. Oh wait, never mind.

Today the station serves as the New Milford Chamber of Commerce, which hosts various events. The day I was there, there was a book signing and tons of people, so I didn’t go in to take any photos. An upcoming event that may be of interest, however, is the 23rd Annual Hands On Train Display, which will be in the station from December 18th to December 31st, 12 pm to 4 pm daily. The event is free, but is closed on Christmas day.
For more information about the event, click here.

 
Photo Credits: Danbury Railway Museum Newsletter

The Danbury Railway Museum always hosts holiday events, and Christmastime is no exception. Santa’s Railway rides will be running Saturdays December 11 and 18, starting at noon, and Sundays December 5, 12, and 19, starting at 12:30. Trains are every half hour, and run until 3:30. Reserving your tickets in advance is suggested. Admission is $8, which includes the ride, a gift, and of course, a visit with the big man himself, Santa Claus.
For more information, or to reserve tickets, click here.

Did I ever mention that sometimes I wonder if I picked the wrong profession? I enjoy graphic design but advertisements? For things like Christmas? Bah humbug, I hate Christmas. Well, no, actually I hate being told that I am required to purchase extravagant gifts for a particular person. Honestly, I’d much rather give someone a for no reason other than this reminded me of you present. But yet, here I am, working on last minute ads for Black Friday…

Just this once though, just for my lovely readers, I will pretend that I enjoy the holidays, and fill you in on all the train and holiday related good stuff on the Harlem Line and in the city.

Discounts to see the Christmas Spectacular or Wintuk

In case you missed last week’s Mileposts, those interested in seeing the Rockettes in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, or Cirque du Soleil’s Wintuk can get a discounted ticket thanks to Metro-North. In addition to the discount, you also receive a free roundtrip train ticket to go see the show! When purchasing tickets for these events, use the promo code METRO in order to apply this promotion. For more information, details, restrictions and the like, check out these pages:
Tickets for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Tickets for Wintuk

Discounts on the Nutcracker in White Plains

Another holiday event with discounts is at the Westchester County Center in White Plains. The Nutcracker, performed by the Westchester Ballet Company, will have shows on the 17th, 18th and 19th of December. Coupons are available on Westchester County’s website (after completing a short survey).
For information on purchasing tickets, click here.

Grand Central Holiday Fair

Every Christmas season Vanderbilt Hall is filled with various vendors selling their wares, and this year is no exception. The fair will run until December 24th, and is closed on Thanksgiving. For more information about hours, and a vendor map, check out this event page.

Holiday Train Show in Grand Central

The Transit Museum will again be hosting their Holiday Train show in their annex in Grand Central Terminal. Hours are as follows:
Monday – Friday 8:00 AM to 8 :00 PM
Saturday & Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
The show will run until January 17th.

Video from last year’s Holiday Train Show

Holiday Train Show at the Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden will be having its annual Holiday Train Show, which starts this Saturday. The garden is easily accessible via the Harlem Line, very close to, you guessed it, Botanical Garden station. The show will run until January 9th. Train and holiday related events will be happening throughout that run – from gingerbread houses to Thomas the Tank Engine visits – so be sure to check the schedule.

Lionel Pop-Up Train Stores

For anybody interested in purchasing some Lionel trains for themselves or friends, Lionel has a few pop up stores in the area. Supposedly these stores will have limited edition products not sold anywhere else. You can find the stores in Manhattan and White Plains:

Lionel New York
1095 Avenue of the Americas (41st St), New York, NY [map]

Lionel at the Westchester Mall
125 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY [map]

Holiday Events at the Westchester Italian Cultural Center

The presepio is the most popular traditional Christmas decoration in Italy, and the Westchester Italian Cultural Center, not far from Tuckahoe station, will have theirs on display for the season. Events start on November 30th with Christmas Through the Ages, and the opening of the presepio exhibit. The exhibit will continue until January 1st. For more information click here.

Mount Kisco: Tree Lighting

Not far from Mount Kisco’s train station the town will host its tree lighting ceremony, on Friday December 3rd at 6PM. Cookies and cocoa will be served, and for the young ones there will be visits with Santa Claus afterward.
104 Main Street, Mount Kisco: [map]

Brewster: Tree Lighting & Putnam Chorale Holiday Concert

Christmas events in Brewster will commence at 4:30 on December 4th at the Southeast Museum, down the street from the train station. A holiday ornament-making workshop will be held for children, followed by caroling and the village’s tree lighting.
For more information about that click here.

Afterward, the Putnam Chorale and Brass Quintet will be performing a holiday concert, which is a free event. The show will be held at the United Methodist Church, which again is not far from Brewster station. The concert starts at 7:30 PM.
For more information, go here.

Great Westchester Toy & Train Show

In time for Christmas gift-giving is the largest toy/train show in the northeast – and within easy walking distance from White Plains station. The show will be held on December 12th at the Westchester County Center, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
For more information and a coupon for a dollar off admission, click here.

Annual IRideTheHarlemLine.com Holiday Card

Did I mention I hate cards too? They’re so impersonal sometimes, just grabbing something at Hallmark and running off. I’d much rather somebody draw me a picture, even if it is shitty. And every holiday that is exactly what I do, though I do hope you don’t think my drawing is shitty. Be sure to find me on the train and I’ll be happy to give you one of this year’s card (which is much better than last years). If I don’t see you or you don’t live in the area, you are welcome to email me your mailing address and I will send you one through the mail. (It will even have a Conductor Dog stamp on it!)

Perhaps you have a pair of shoes you’ve never worn collecting dust in your closet. Or a pair that you’ve worn only once, but don’t really like anymore. Or maybe you’d just like to purchase a pair of shoes for a good cause… Either way, be sure to bring a pair of shoes to Grand Central this Tuesday! There will be a collection of shoes in Grand Central on Tuesday in Vanderbilt Hall to benefit Soles4Souls. Soles4Souls is a charity based in Tennessee, and distributes shoes to the needy. The charity has donated more than ten million pairs of shoes to people in more than 125 different countries. So if you have an extra pair of unwanted shoes, take them with you to Grand Central Tuesday – the collection will run from 7am to 5pm. The first 500 people to donate will also get a gift bag, sponsored by various Grand Central retailers. If you’re a fan of Dancing With the Stars, you may enjoy this event even more – professional dancer and two time champion of the show Cheryl Burke will be making appearances throughout the day.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can still donate shoes at other locations. Check out the Soles4Souls website for more information.

There is this sentiment in the news today, with the internet and all “competing” with the “real” news. That sentiment is “who cares about the facts, as long as I report it first”. And this sentiment sickens me. Seriously.

I have been having issues with my laptop charger, so I haven’t been on my computer quite as much this week. So I totally missed the other day’s story about the person getting killed by the 6 train at 77th Street. Maybe it was good I missed it. Maybe because the story was complete and utter bullshit. Check out the story on The New York Times‘ website, and read the comments. You will see something drastically different than what the story reports. Why? Because the story was changed as the “real” information came in.

Apparently the original story reported that a young girl was struck by the train. Not only that, witnesses report that the girl was possibly pushed off the platform, as students were horsing around. That is pretty fucked up. A person getting pushed? That is murder on the subway! But hey, guess what, that story was completely false. It is now reported that the person that was struck was not a child, but a forty-eight-year-old woman named Rose M. Mankos. And not only was she NOT pushed, the story now reports that she dropped her bag on the tracks, and JUMPED DOWN TO RETRIEVE IT. That on the other hand is NOT murder. That is complete and utter stupidity. I am so sorry, but that woman got what she deserved. You may call me heartless, but if you jump down on the tracks, you are an idiot.

People, never, never, NEVER go down on those damn tracks. Just don’t do it. Losing something on the tracks does happen. New York City Transit estimates that it happens perhaps twelve to fifteen times per day. If you do lose an item, you need to report it to a police officer or employee. There is an Emergency Response and Track Lubrication Division, and they respond to these events. Once the call is made, a track specialist responds and will retrieve the item. It may not happen instantaneously, and you may have to return later to pick up the item, but at least you will be safe. Life is worth more than whatever stupid possessions you may have dropped. You can buy a new iPod. But your poor family members (whom I am truly sorry for… having to identify that mangled mess of your daughter / sister in the morgue) can’t buy another you.

Note: This post has been edited, because I am a moron and wrote that this happened Friday, when in reality it occurred on Thursday. Talk about criticizing the “media,” hah! It has also been updated to reflect the response I got from NYCTSubwayScoop on Twitter regarding the procedure for retrieving a lost item.

If I haven’t said it before, I think it is pretty cool that MTA has been embracing social media, and the various agencies have twitter accounts. There’s MTA, Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, New York City Buses, New York City Subways, MetroCard Promotions, and the NY Transit Museum. The Transit Museum seems to be the newest of the bunch. A little less than a month ago, the museum sent a tweet, giving a little sneak preview of the new exhibit opening in the Annex in Grand Central, which has been closed since January:

How long does it take to make exhibit mounts for 100 ceramic sherds? Our preparators will know soon.

Why exactly were they making exhibit mounts for ceramic sherds? It doesn’t much sound like something transit-related. But in fact, all of the objects on display in the new exhibit do in fact relate to public transit… they were all excavated from under the South Ferry subway station. I’ll let the museum take it from here:

Construction in New York City is always complex, but it raises particular concerns when it cuts through the most archeologically rich section of town. In February 2009 a new South Ferry subway station opened on the southernmost tip of Manhattan, a place where environmental, historical, and commercial interests collide. In order to build the station, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) was required to conduct an archeological review and excavation. This provided an extraordinary glimpse into the very place that the modern city has its roots, and the basis of an exciting new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum. Where New York Began: Archeology at the South Ferry Terminal will be on view at the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex and Store from March 18 – July 5, 2010.

In addition to unearthing portions of the city’s early infrastructure, excavations yielded over 65,000 artifacts, including ceramic sherds, shells, coins, tobacco pipes, and architectural materials. These pieces document 400 years of city life and embody the cycle of building, razing, and rebuilding that is a hallmark of New York City. Over 100 of these objects will be on view along with historic maps and photographs, and field images and video of the archeologists at work.

This also marks the grand reopening of the museum’s retail store, which features a dynamic new design, new fixtures and lighting to better showcase the Museum’s unique product mix.

The museum is going to have an opening for members on the 18th, which I will be attending. I’ll be sure to take lots of photographs, and post them up!

By now you’ve probably heard of the awesome little utility called Metro-North Train Time. If you are unfamiliar with it, Train Time allows you to view in real time selected train stations, with their current train status and delays. It launched a few weeks ago with MTA’s redesigned website. In order to spread the word out and provide demonstrations, representatives from Metro North will be visiting stations on all three lines to show off Train Time this month. The dates are as follows:

Hudson Line: Hastings on Tuesday, February 9th, 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m
Harlem Line: Brewster on Tuesday, February 16th, 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m
New Haven Line: Port Chester on Tuesday, February 23rd, 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m

You can find out more information about the demonstrations on MTA’s site.

Starting on January 19th, and continuing into March, the Transit Museum’s Annex in Grand Central Terminal will be closed for renovations. New fixtures and lights will be added in that time, a redesigned store, as well as a new exhibit. The reopening date in March has not been announced yet. When I hear anything about the reopening of the Annex, I will let you all know.

If you need to purchase any transportation items or gifts from the museum, you can either visit the museum’s main location in Brooklyn, or purchase items online at transitmuseumstore.com.

Anyone who normally uses the museum to redeem a TransitChek, or a Commuter Check for a MetroCard, there are several alternate locations you can use during this time period:

TransitChek

Commuter Check

In regards to TransitCheks for Metro-North, some people have written in saying that the additional ticket window closures will make it difficult to cash their TransitCheks. Now I have never done this, but a few friends of mine have, and claim this is acceptable. Use your monthly ticket from the previous month on the morning of the first day of the new month. Tell the Conductor that when you arrive at your destination (Grand Central) you will be purchasing a new monthly ticket, since you need to purchase the ticket from an actual person. My friends insist that you are able to use your old monthly on the first day of the new month, only for the morning ride. Has anyone else done this before? Is doing that considered acceptable?

This evening several folks braved the cold and stood outside White Plains Train Station in support of the Gaza Freedom March. Some held banners and signs, while others passed out leaflets. The event was set up by WESPAC. Their site briefly explains the purpose of the event:

One year after Operation Cast Lead, under the horrific Blockade/Siege imposed by Israel, Palestinians in Gaza continue to be killed — farmers working in their fields near the borders, fishermen trying to pull some food out of the sea, and people in the smuggling tunnels struggling to bring cooking gas, food, and other of life’s necessities into Gaza. And now we hear that babies are being born half dead from their mothers’ exposure to the only water available, contaminated water.

On Dec. 31, over 1300 people from 42 countries around the world will join an expected 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza in a nonviolent march to the Israeli border to END THE SIEGE OF GAZA. A number of our friends from the Westchester and Rockland Peace and Justice Community and beyond will be part of this historic march… COME DEMONSTRATE YOUR SOLIDARITY WITH THE GAZA FREEDOM MARCH!

When I took a picture of this guy, he asked me if I had an opinion on the situation in Gaza. I partially lied saying that I’m not really sure, and said it is a politically tense subject that I tend to steer clear from. I think if I really had “no opinion” at all on the matter, it wouldn’t be nearly as hard to write this post. And I am certainly having difficulty, partially due to me attempting to write neutrally here.

My opinion aside, I think it is a good thing when people come together for a cause, and bring it to our attention. Especially at a place like a train station. We just run back and forth so consumed in our own lives. We worry about the train being late, MTA’s cuts in service, and what we plan on having for dinner… while there are others in the world that wonder if they will have dinner at all. And that is if they were lucky enough not to get killed that day. And perhaps it gave train riders something to think about on the ride home.

Riding along the Harlem Line this morning and yesterday, I still see a bit of snow all around. So in honor of our first real snowfall this year, I’ve changed the header image of the site to reflect the change in season. Gone are the following leaves, and big fat snowflakes are their replacements. Just to ask in general, but do you find that trains get more delayed in the fall, with the leaves on the track, than in the winter due to snow? I’ve taken the train in some of the biggest snowstorms with no delays. Anyone else have experience with this?

In other news, I am posting up my pictures that I took at the Holiday Fair in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall. Not the highest quality, since they were taken with my cell phone, but you get the idea of what the fair looks like. It is certainly something cool to browse around if you have a minute waiting for your train, or are in Grand Central already. I’m not the most wealthy person on the planet, so a lot of the things are rather high priced for a person like me. But I must admit, last year I had been eyeing this hooded sweatshirt with a cat face and ears, but I couldn’t afford it. Conveniently the people selling the shirt last year are back again this year, and I bought it. What do you think?

The one thing really cool about the fair is how diverse it is. African art, prints of New York and other New York themed crafts, Christmas ornaments, Dog-themed items (the “Fleas Navidad” Dog bandana cracked me up), gorgeous hand-crafted books, jewelry, clothing, hand-blown glass, and lots of other interesting items. Plus, there may be entertainment as well. When I was there a trio of young women were playing strings, and they were pretty damn good. I filmed a brief portion of their performance, and will be posting that later on this week. For now, enjoy the pictures of the Holiday Fair!