Today the “Cat Girl” morphed into “Rabbit Girl”. It has been so cold lately, that I figured I’d use the rabbit hat, since the long ears can be wrapped around and serve as a scarf. You really know it is cold though, when you get to the station and there isn’t a single soul standing on the platform. They are all hiding in the heated vestibules until the train arrives.

When I got into work I took this photo of my rabbit attire…

A bunch of trains were delayed this morning, my friend ended up getting in late. She said that the conductor told her a woman lost her shoe on the tracks. Anyone know if this is true? If it is, it is kind of lame. Clearly she should have gone to work barefoot. Oh that would be too funny.

On my train however, I had a delightful man that apparently felt like sticking his hand down his pants. I am of the opinion that if you are in public, you should not be doing that. Ever. It is really creepy and nasty. I did actually take a picture of the guy, but after much internal debate, I have chosen to not post that image on the blog.

Anyways, the time I spent on my train (ignoring the man with his hand down his pants) was somewhat eventful, since I decided to write a note to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, regarding the Solari board’s removal next year in New Haven. Apparently a follow up article to the one I posted a few days ago was written on the New Haven Independent site a few days ago. The DOT may consider some sort of compromise, where perhaps the Solari would be saved, but moved to a different place. Or donated to a museum. And the new LCD would make the characteristic flipping noise of the Solari. This “compromise” doesn’t seem like much of a compromise, as it still means the Solari would be moved from its location in the station. If I get any sort of response to the letter I wrote, I will certainly post it here.

Despite growing up in Connecticut, about halfway in between Waterbury and Danbury, both New Haven line branches, I’ve only been on the New Haven line once. It was always easier to cross the state border and get on in Brewster, or Southeast (then Brewster North). I’ve never been to New Haven’s Union Station, although I’ve certainly driven by it. But I can certainly relate to the current New Haven train riders that are now fighting for the last Solari departure board in use on Metro-North. I don’t quite know why, but I really loved the Solari board that used to be in Grand Central when I was very young. I remember standing under the Solari that was for Amtrak in Penn Station many years ago when I took my first ride on Amtrak, going to Florida with my grandmother. I even remember the board in use also in Penn Station for the Long Island Rail Road, under which everyone would stand waiting for the information on their trains to flip up, and when it did, would race like marathon runners to their tracks. I remember all these, but today, they are all gone.

Most unfortunately, the New Haven Independent reported yesterday of the plans to remove the Solari board from New Haven’s Union station, and replace it with an LCD at some point next year. The article is full of comments, and people that want to save the board. A commenter going by the name of Erin brings up a good point:

My two cents: if the Solari sign is hard to maintain, use the $5 million it was going to cost for LED signs as a reserve fund to fix the Solari sign if ever needed.

I really do love these boards, and I would hate to see it get one more of them taken down. It ought to be kept for its historic nature, it is the last of its kind on Metro-North, and one of the few left in the United States. If the sign is going to get removed, I would love to see someone, like the Transit Museum, acquire it and put it on display. Considering the board is in Connecticut, however, I am unsure if it would even be considered for it to go to the New York Transit Museum, even though Metro-North is represented by the museum.

Though the fight is on to save the board. A group has been made on facebook called Save Solari, and there is also a page on SeeClickFix. As for me, I do believe a photography trip is in order, especially if the unfortunate happens, and the board is taken down.

About two weeks ago there was an incident on a New Haven Line train where a train conductor was attacked. I had heard about it, but was surprised when I checked out Bobby’s blog, Derailed, where he discusses the incident. Bobby is a train conductor on the New Haven Line, and I’m a big fan of his stories. Apparently the incident actually happened on his train. Three young women attempted to ride with apparently faked tickets, and police were called. The police were to meet the train at a later stop, however, the women were preventing the train from leaving, by getting on and off, and stopping the doors from closing. When one of the female conductors approached the women, she was attacked, resulting in several broken fingers, in addition to bruises and scratches. Security camera images of the women leaving the train were released to the media, and apparently the three women were identified, and arrested last night.

Security camera images released by the MTA, the three suspects leave the train laughing after attacking a train conductor

Shaquana Minott, 18, of Bridgeport, and another girl, 17, of Stamford were charged with assault on a public transit worker, a class C felony. Jaria Hargrove, 18, of Stamford, was charged with forgery and larceny, in relation to the faked ticket. More information about their arrest can be found here.

I sincerely hope that these girls don’t merely get a slap on the wrist. All of the trains have those signs that say attacking a train conductor is a felony… and I would hope that those signs aren’t all “talk”.

The Japanese-designed M8 cars for the New Haven Line are coming… for real! The first pair will be shipped on a freighter from Kobe, Japan on Wednesday. After a month at sea, the cars will arrive in Baltimore, and from there will be shipped to New Haven. By March, another three pairs will be arriving, enough for a full eight car train. If all goes well, New Haven Line riders should be seeing M8′s by late next year. All of the cars can run on both third rail power, and from catenary wires. And of course, they are all decked out in a red color scheme: the color of the New Haven Line.

Here are some delightful pictures of the M8. There is even one of the M8′s bathroom. Because admit it, that is really what you wanted to know about.

[View with PicLens]

In other news, nobody got any free rides today on the train. I did happen to catch a glimpse of the other conductor at the back of the train, and I couldn’t help but think that with his big mustache he looked a lot like Wilford Brimley. The Quaker Oats and Liberty Medical guy. And just for good measure, here is a cat that looks like Wilford Brimley, that looks like the train conductor on my train.

I got my DIABEEEEETUS testing supplies from Liberty Medical!

One of the most amusing things I can do as an owner of a website, is look at my web search statistics. Basically, it shows me what people type into google and other search engines to find my site. Quite often there are some crazy keywords, hence the amusement of looking through this list. So I figued it might be amusing to showcase some of the gold I’ve found, answer some questions, and help some people looking for information that you can’t find at my site. Remember that I am not making any of this up, these are all things that people have typed in.

[insert station name] train station parking / is there a ticket booth at [insert station name] / are there taxis at [insert station name] / directions to [insert station name]
Anything you could possibly want to know about any Metro North train station can be found here. Parking info, fares, ticket booth information, elevator status, taxi info, addresses, etc.

[insert station name] schedules / time tables / what time is the train?
MTA has a great schedule system here. You enter in your stations and the time you want to leave/arrive, and it will tell you what trains are available, how long they will be, and whether it is a peak hour train.

Brewster North train station
You’re looking for Southeast. Brewster North was renamed to Southeast several years ago.

Is the harlem line better then the new haven line?
I found it amusing that you had to ask! Of course the Harlem Line is better! Alright, alright, perhaps I am biased. The New Haven line does have barcars, and the blogging train conductor to the stars, Bobby, but we here on the Harlem Line have some pretty cool guys too.

I saw a bus run over a pigeon 2009 / I saw a pigeon run under a bus
Ah, good old pigeons. You must have found the site after I told the story of flattened pigeon. Alas, I didn’t see the actual event, only the aftermath, so I can provide you with no further information.

What is the font used on the grand central train schedules?
This one I know! The good majority of MTA signage and such is done in Helvetica. The station name signs, for example, are in Helvetica Bold Oblique… which is what I used for some very official looking cue cards…

The swine flu is it close to harlem?
Will you begin to panic if I say yes? One silly post about the swine flu, and it looks like everybody is in panic mode. But hey, at least my prediction didn’t come true after all!

Sexy guy with hat on
Hmm… I don’t know exactly what you are looking for, sorry. Do you think train conductor’s hats are sexy? I do have a few pictures of Guy wearing his conductor’s hat… I even have a picture of my dog wearing a conductor’s hat… if you’re into that kinda thing.

Man telling amusing train story with noises
What kinds of noises were these? If they were quacking noises, that might be Curley. Whom I prefer call “The Quack Quack Man.”

Weirdos in penn station
Don’t have any of those yet… I am more of a Grand Central kind of girl. But hey, if I ever see any weirdos the next time I do go over to Penn Station, I’ll certainly let you guys know.

Metro north conductor blog
The only one I am aware of is Derailed, run by the aforementioned New Haven Line conductor,  Bobby. It is a great read, I highly reccomend it.

Mta bee line buses / bee line bus phone number / harlembeelinebus
Check out the Bee Line Bus website here for anything you want to know about them. As far as I know, they are not part of MTA, although they will accept Metro Cards.

Anybody know what happened at the north entrance of grand central
Nope, what happened?

How do you deter pigeons from building nests?
Can’t help you there, sorry. I am always amused by failure in this department, hence the Pigeons: 1, Humans: 1, post. Putting spikes and such in areas pigeons like to nest never really seems to work all that well.

Metro north conductor photos
Why do you ask? Are you feeling a bit stalkerish? To my knowledge I only have a picture of one conductor, and he was aware that it was going to go on my blog. I don’t really want to put pictures of people up without their previous knowledge. So sorry, no “MTA train conductors hot or not” or “MTA Conductors gone wild” here on this blog.

Really though, it is bad enough that I attract creepy people on the train, apparently I do on the blog as well! Whoever typed in “[insert my full name] sex” in google, go fuck yourself, thanks.

Public transportation stories / Metro north railroad blog / Funny people on rides
Well, I am glad that you find this page actually looking for what I am trying to write. I hope you enjoyed some of the craziness here, and definitely come back.

This timetable was uploaded by usroadman. Clicking it will bring you to the original image, posted on webshots.

This timetable was uploaded by usroadman. Clicking it will bring you to the original image, posted on webshots.