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A Recap of Events: Grand Central’s Centennial Events Museums History Photos

Last Friday the MTA held a celebration for Grand Central’s Centennial, which expectedly turned out to be a widely attended day-long event. One of the main events was a rededication ceremony for the Terminal, held that morning. There were a wide array of speakers at the ceremony, including Mayor Bloomberg, Cynthia Nixon and Caroline Kennedy. Peter Stangl, the first president of Metro-North also spoke, as did Howard Permut, current president of Metro-North.       The West Point Brass and Percussion Band also performed, which seemed quite appropriate. According to historical accounts of Grand Central’s opening, the first song to ever...

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The Mystery of Grand Central’s Suburban Concourse History Photos

Every evening, steady streams of people race into Grand Central to get on a train and head home. They look up at the departure board, scouring it for their train, and then make their way to that track. As any astute commuter knows, Grand Central’s gates are made up of two and three digit numbers – double digits signify upper-level tracks, and triple digits for lower-level tracks. But what if I told you this wasn’t always the case – that the lower level once had single digit numbers? You probably wouldn’t believe me… The photo that started the “mystery.” This...

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Best of 2012, a year-end review Trains

2012 has been an interesting year here at I Ride the Harlem Line… we finished up touring the stations on the New Haven, Port Jervis, Pascack Valley, and Hudson lines, as well as visited some places far outside Metro-North’s territory. As if that wasn’t enough, we also began our Grand Central 100 for 100 Project, posting one image every day for 100 days, all to celebrate Grand Central Terminal’s centennial. As is customary around the end of the year, let’s take a look back at what was most popular on the site this year, based on the number of reads…...

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Grand Central: The hoax in the Information Booth Trains

As the saying goes, if it is too good to be true, it probably is. Hoaxters are everywhere, looking to sell anyone gulliable enough the Brooklyn Bridge. But if you’re truly lucky, you might get an offer to buy Grand Central’s Information Booth! Too good to be true? Most definitely! Over its nearly 100 year existence, Grand Central Terminal has quite a lore – including several hoaxes and complete fabrications – from ghost horses, to FDR’s secret platform, and even an expensive whopper regarding the sale of the famous Information Booth. As the story goes, two wealthy Italian entrepreneurs –...

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