I Haz a Choo Choo Train Problem

Since I was a little kid I've loved trains - and it's a family trait, my grandfather loves them too. I'm a self-proclaimed train nerd, and I have a particular affinity for the New York City Subway system, and MTA/CDOT's Metro North Commuter Railroad - just because it's nearby and easy to access for rail fanning. PS: I like hearing from people who enjoy the blog. Leave a comment by clicking the speech bubble under a post or click here to send me a message! var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-30115876-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[fuckyeahchoochoos]

How many foamers does it take to change a lightbulb?

“No, NO!!! Not until I get a picture of the old one!!!”

[jagneta]

Ahahahaha! That’s fantastic!

[sd60macintosh2748-deactivated20]

Don’t forget the foamer who buys it for 600 bucks because it’s a 1917 Westinghouse design and adds it to their collection, even though it doesn’t work!

[ourdestinyisinexplicable-deacti]

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Going to shoot this thing today before they rip it down in a few weeks.

Farewell Solari <3

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Guess what? I Haz a Choo Choo Train Problem has an actual website now @ ihazachoochootrainproblem.com!

All the action's gonna be going down there from now on - although, I may pop in here from time to time to reblog some cool, semi-relevant stuff that we all know Tumblr is good for.

Also, be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed :)

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Yes, I'm a dork that takes a picture. Of a picture. Of a train. Or I'm just sitting in my car bored as shit. You decide.

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Spotted at Whole Foods. Of course I bought it.

I originally saw the Boston one, and was like "WTF, why no New York one?"

Upon digging deeper on the shelf - which was an easy to miss end cap, I found it! Anything above 103rd St in Manhattan is chopped off, as is anything south of Brooklyn Heights. Half of Queens and all of the Bronx are missing...but I had to have it. $15 for a metal water bottle - sure. I'll actually use it at work, and it will give me something to stare at when bored at work/plotting some sort of New York adventure at work. (Trust me, my job is repetitive enough to do on auto pilot - and my mind wanders freely...m'kay?)

They have bottles for several transit systems - Boston, DC, San Francisco, New York (obviously), and so on. They're sold at this link - and like I said, I found mine at Whole Foods in West Hartford, CT so maybe give your local Whole Foods a try.

And unlike the flimsy $7 aluminum water bottle I used to have - this sucker is thick walled. Which is nice.

[gifriends]

Going to work 2 (Valhalla NY)

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

A GIF of Valhalla station on the Harlem Line - pretty cool.

[worldwiderails]

Railroad Crossing Fireworks (by TucsonRailfan - phasing back on to flickr!)

Happy 4th of July!

[britishrailways]

UK Snow Day - Surbiton Station by draml on Flickr.

[mtaartsdesign]

Happy 4th of July!! Hope your holiday is filled with the bright light of sunshine and fireworks!

Above: Ingo Fast, On and Off the Boardwalk, 2011, Beach 67 Street Station, Rocakway, Queens

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Housekeeping...and reminders.

I fixed the Disqus comment system after breaking it many moons ago. If you click the arrow next to posts - or "comments and reactions" on a specific post - you can leave comments.

Yay! BTW that's supposed to be a huge hint to, ya know...do it.

Also - if you hate Tumblr (and I know a lot of people do, I'm too lazy to set up a legitimate blog - plus being on the platform does at least help drive readers here...so sue me), do feel free to click here and add the feed to your feed reader of choice. I'm a Google Reader addict myself.

Anyhoo: new readers, be you Tumblr followers or otherwise...thanks for humoring me and looking at my train-related drivel :)

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Friday, I broke down and bought the camera I was long overdue for getting. It came yesterday - pretty damn awesome considering Amazon told me this upcoming Thursday-Saturday was the expected window for its' arrival. And to think I actually, for a second, considered paying for next day shipping. Good thing I didn't. It only came from New Jersey - so I got next day service with free shipping.

Today after I worked a few hours, I put my new camera through its paces in North Haven at CSX's Cedar Hill yard, where they're sending the M2's to await shipment to be scrapped, and at New Haven Union Station. These pictures are my favorites of the bunch, the one of Amtrak P42 207 being my absolute favorite. The rest of the pics can be found here.

Not a bad camera for $117, eh? It's a Kodak Easyshare Z5010 if you were wondering. Nothing exceptionally fancy, but it does have a good zoom on it!

[supertrainstationh]

Railfest 10th June 2012 by andy43167 on Flickr.

Two preserved London Undergrond locomotives. One is electric, and the other is steam. The New York City subway NEVER at any point in its history hauled its trains using locomotives, so I’m abnormally fascinated by this.

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

All I have to say is "LOLWUT?" A steam engine. FOR A SUBWAY?!

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

That ain't right.

I mean, we are no stranger to Waterbury departures - they never creep like this. Between the creeping and the awkward pause sorta under the Mixmaster (the highway thing you see, for the uninitiated. (It sucks. Hardcore. Please note, that in the linked MS Paint monstrosity image, I didn't have the "pleasure" of driving that stretch of highway on a daily basis for work) I was pretty convinced that the engine was donezo. I guess I'm out $20 - I didn't see any service advisories last night.

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Could we be belching anymore black smoke? This is a screencap from the video I shot on my phone (love this thing - in video screencaps ftw.) yesterday of Metro North train 1981 creeping out of Waterbury station. Besides the creeping, the engine did not sound right. Surprisingly...NOT a busted BL20 pulling either.

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

This is a video of the return trip to the station in Thomaston on Flagg Coal 75 last Sunday.

Keep your eyes peeled - there's some cool old stuff to be seen when we go by the RMNE shop.

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

I kid you not. This is how Norfolk Southern severs a train line when it suspends freight service on it. This is the dirt/plant mound that severs active from inactive on that line I briefly mentioned when I was down visiting my parents.

The line beyond the mound (farthest away from you in this picture) is still "active", although movements are pretty rare according to my dad.

I have to say though, at least they haven't ripped out the line - the line remains, as do the crossing signals, although they're covered over. The Wikipedia article I read about the Saluda Grade, which this line is part of - states that rails to trails or a tourist railroad were things being talked about as alternate uses for the "suspended" parts, but apparently such discussions haven't gone anywhere.

I wouldn't mind seeing a tourist railroad there - at least the rails would remain intact for any future restoration of service...PLUS, it would give me another thing to do while visiting my parents.

[ihazachoochootrainproblem]

Yes, I know, I still haven't written a legit post about Steam on the Naugy, like I promised. However, while I continue to procrastinate, watch this video about the steam engine, the people who restored it...and a little bit about the Naugatuck Railroad.

Stupid me didn't see that this was posted to YouTube about three months ago - I watched it to see if I was in it, as there were filming notices taped up everywhere last weekend. Obviously the footage from this was shot last year.