Here’s a photo gallery of some of Metro-North’s dynamic and dashing diesels, most of which were captured within the past few weeks (although a few are favorites from last year) on the Harlem, Hudson, and Port Jervis Lines of Metro-North. Enjoy!

 
  
 
   
  
 
  
   
  
   
  
 
  

Two Metro-North diesels meet near the Pleasant Ridge Road crossing in Wingdale, New York.

 
Left: An Alaska Railroad train bound for Fairbanks rounds the bend north of Nenana at sunset. Right: A Genesis pushes southbound on the Danbury Branch, kicking up leaves after departing Cannondale.

The only non-railroad photo to make the top 10, New York’s skyline as seen from the opposite side of the river in New Jersey.

  
Left: An M7 heads toward Manhattan, as seen from the Bronx. Center: A new BNSF locomotive gets some finishing touches at the GE plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Right: An M3 in rush hour service on a foggy fall morning.

A Port Jefferson train pushing west toward Huntington makes a station stop at St. James at sunset.

 
Left: An M7 on the Hudson Line, just south of Scarborough station. Right: A Thanksgiving morning Wassaic shuttle passes Towners, where the old Maybrook Line crossed over the Harlem.

Not all of my favorite photos made the cut, however. Here are some of my favorites from the year:

A PATCO train is a mere streak of light as it crosses the Ben Franklin Bridge into New Jersey.

 
Left: A photoshop edit of one of the Danbury Railway Museum’s steamers, imagining it as if it were operable. Right: A sunset in Brooklyn, from the platform of the Marcy Avenue subway station.

One of my first good photos taken with my drone camera – an aerial view of a train crossing the Moodna Viaduct.

 
Left: A sunset at Amtrak’s Hell Gate Bridge. Right: One of my favorite people shots of the year, Maria working the Upper Harlem Line at Tenmile River.

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Thank you all for a wonderful 2014!

Old station building at Scarborough. You can see the older station facilities that were recently rebuilt by Metro-North in the background. [image credit]

In the past few years, Metro-North has been doing significant upgrades on the Hudson Line, and Scarborough is no exception. The old overpass (visible in the photo above) was completely demolished. When rebuilt, elevators were added to make the station handicap accessible. The rebuilt facility, besides being much more attractive, provides more space for commuters to sit – both outside, and in the overpass, protected from the elements.

During construction on the new overpass, stained glass was installed as part of the Arts for Transit program. [image credit]

As part of the Arts for Transit program, some stained glass panels were created for Scarborough station, and installed in the new overpass. The piece, called “Untitled with Sky,” was a collaboration between artists Liliana Porter and Ana Tiscornia. The six glass panels were fabricated by Willet Hauser Architectural Glass, a company that has worked extensively with the MTA and the Arts for Transit program.

Rendering of how the glass was to look when installed in the windows of the overpass. [image credit]

Although originally intended for the overpass (and for a short time installed there), the glass panels were, at some point within the past year or so, moved to the platform. They now provide a screen from the wind for commuters at the station. Also part of the Arts for Transit installation are a few concrete shapes covered in mosaic tiles, which can be used for sitting. Both share the same attractive palette of purples and blues, and are a lovely addition to the station.

That is about it for the informational tour of Scarborough, now onto the visual tour:

 
 

 
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

My weekend was quite full with Train Day festivities, as well as my first photographic foray to the foreign territory that is the Hudson Line. At Poughkeepsie I achieved the milestone of my 100th Metro-North station photographed. When you think about it, I mostly take pictures of stations, not trains (though stations do look better when there are trains present). But there was certainly an exception to that over the weekend, as I managed to snap quite an array of trains in various places along all three lines. Want to know how my weekend was? It is far easier to show you in photographs than it is in words – so here is a little bit of randomness from the past few days.