by tun
I finally got around to riding on the Hudson Line yesterday. I only went as far as Croton-Harmon. I'm gonna split up my post with the northbound and southbound trips.
I got to GCT and my 6 car M-7A set was waiting on track 28 for the 12:20pm local to Croton-Harmon. I got on the 3rd car (4239) because they closed to first two cars much to my disappointment. I sat in the middle of the car in the last forward facing 3 seater (left side). The female conductor punched my round tripper and we were off.
The first thing I noticed was an inconsistency with the automated announcements. Some sounded like re-recordings that were noticeably lower in volume, while others sounded louder and clearer like the "This is the train to" recording. Can anyone confirm if some stations were re-recorded? The only analogous example I can provide to show the difference is between Mets - Willets Point and the other announcements on the LIRR. The automated announcement also did not announce Yankees - E. 153rd Street. I was looking forward to hearing that as a Yankees fan, but it was just silent when it was supposed to announce it. This was probably my only gripe on the trip, which says many good things about Metro-North. After Spuyten Duyvil, we passed by a northbound Amtrak train headed to Albany coming up from the Empire Connection. It eventually met up with us at Yonkers, and then blew by us a short while later.
As for the operation of the train, those conductors were as precise as a Swiss watch. I counted the time between opening and closing of the door and some were as quick as 5 seconds. In all cases, the door started opening a split second before the train came to a full stop. Obviously the small amount of passengers helped, but Metro-North conductors really know how to make a full local train quick and enjoyable. Our conductor also had a little fun when announcing the stops. One that stood out in particular was Irrrrrrrrrvington.
We happened to have a bit of a unique trip as well. After Greystone, the train came to a stop and the conductor said we had to switch tracks due to track work. We waited about 10 minutes for a southbound Bomb set to pass and we switched over to track 4. We rode on track 4 all the way up to Croton-Harmon. As you can imagine, there were a couple of confused looks on passengers' faces but the conductor announced the train as a northbound local to Croton-Harmon at every stop.
As for the stations themselves, I have to say they look gorgeous. Not including the upper electric stations that are currently getting rebuilt, they all look very handsome in that dark green paint. I haven't been on the Harlem line to compare, but the stations seem distinctively Hudson.
And I can't forget to mention the view of the Hudson River. I can see why the Hudson Line is considered the premier line on Metro-North. Going up on line 4 gave me a beautiful view of the river the whole way up. I'm definitely looking forward to doing the upper Hudson one day, probably in the fall.
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We got to Croton-Harmon and I bid farewell to my conductor. I walked about ten minutes to Route 9A to grab lunch. I went to Harmon Deli, but they were out of ciabatta bread, which meant no paninis. I left in disappointment and walked over to the Shop Rite shopping complex and settled on a Subway sandwich. Not that a couple of blocks is much to base an opinion, but what I saw of Croton-Harmon is pretty lifeless. Anyway, I started walking back in order to catch the 2:34pm semi-express to GCT.
I'm waiting for the train to arrive on track 1 and they announce over the PA that the train is 10 minutes late due to track work. So I sat on the platform and watched a northbound M-7A set finish its journey on track 2 as well as a Bomb set going north to Poughkeepsie.
My train finally arrived and it ended up being a 6 car Bomb set. I got on cab car 6131 and had a rather uneventful ride back down train-wise. Some teenage girls got on at Ossining, sat behind me, and were being loud and obnoxious the whole way down. When we got to Harlem - 125th Street, there were two wiggers on the platform recording a rap music video. They were wearing a bunch of ridiculous clothes and chains, which gave everyone in my car a good laugh. While we were in the Park Ave. tunnel, three conductors cornered two young guys who tried to evade the fare. One of the conductors accused them of lying to him about where they got on the train and they were hit with the on-board fare. The two guys didn't seem remorseful about it and gave him an attitude.
I didn't bother to check the number of the Gennie when we got to GCT, but by then, I was pretty tired and just wanted to go home and take a nap. Kudos to Metro-North for a great train ride.
I got to GCT and my 6 car M-7A set was waiting on track 28 for the 12:20pm local to Croton-Harmon. I got on the 3rd car (4239) because they closed to first two cars much to my disappointment. I sat in the middle of the car in the last forward facing 3 seater (left side). The female conductor punched my round tripper and we were off.
The first thing I noticed was an inconsistency with the automated announcements. Some sounded like re-recordings that were noticeably lower in volume, while others sounded louder and clearer like the "This is the train to" recording. Can anyone confirm if some stations were re-recorded? The only analogous example I can provide to show the difference is between Mets - Willets Point and the other announcements on the LIRR. The automated announcement also did not announce Yankees - E. 153rd Street. I was looking forward to hearing that as a Yankees fan, but it was just silent when it was supposed to announce it. This was probably my only gripe on the trip, which says many good things about Metro-North. After Spuyten Duyvil, we passed by a northbound Amtrak train headed to Albany coming up from the Empire Connection. It eventually met up with us at Yonkers, and then blew by us a short while later.
As for the operation of the train, those conductors were as precise as a Swiss watch. I counted the time between opening and closing of the door and some were as quick as 5 seconds. In all cases, the door started opening a split second before the train came to a full stop. Obviously the small amount of passengers helped, but Metro-North conductors really know how to make a full local train quick and enjoyable. Our conductor also had a little fun when announcing the stops. One that stood out in particular was Irrrrrrrrrvington.
We happened to have a bit of a unique trip as well. After Greystone, the train came to a stop and the conductor said we had to switch tracks due to track work. We waited about 10 minutes for a southbound Bomb set to pass and we switched over to track 4. We rode on track 4 all the way up to Croton-Harmon. As you can imagine, there were a couple of confused looks on passengers' faces but the conductor announced the train as a northbound local to Croton-Harmon at every stop.
As for the stations themselves, I have to say they look gorgeous. Not including the upper electric stations that are currently getting rebuilt, they all look very handsome in that dark green paint. I haven't been on the Harlem line to compare, but the stations seem distinctively Hudson.
And I can't forget to mention the view of the Hudson River. I can see why the Hudson Line is considered the premier line on Metro-North. Going up on line 4 gave me a beautiful view of the river the whole way up. I'm definitely looking forward to doing the upper Hudson one day, probably in the fall.
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We got to Croton-Harmon and I bid farewell to my conductor. I walked about ten minutes to Route 9A to grab lunch. I went to Harmon Deli, but they were out of ciabatta bread, which meant no paninis. I left in disappointment and walked over to the Shop Rite shopping complex and settled on a Subway sandwich. Not that a couple of blocks is much to base an opinion, but what I saw of Croton-Harmon is pretty lifeless. Anyway, I started walking back in order to catch the 2:34pm semi-express to GCT.
I'm waiting for the train to arrive on track 1 and they announce over the PA that the train is 10 minutes late due to track work. So I sat on the platform and watched a northbound M-7A set finish its journey on track 2 as well as a Bomb set going north to Poughkeepsie.
My train finally arrived and it ended up being a 6 car Bomb set. I got on cab car 6131 and had a rather uneventful ride back down train-wise. Some teenage girls got on at Ossining, sat behind me, and were being loud and obnoxious the whole way down. When we got to Harlem - 125th Street, there were two wiggers on the platform recording a rap music video. They were wearing a bunch of ridiculous clothes and chains, which gave everyone in my car a good laugh. While we were in the Park Ave. tunnel, three conductors cornered two young guys who tried to evade the fare. One of the conductors accused them of lying to him about where they got on the train and they were hit with the on-board fare. The two guys didn't seem remorseful about it and gave him an attitude.
I didn't bother to check the number of the Gennie when we got to GCT, but by then, I was pretty tired and just wanted to go home and take a nap. Kudos to Metro-North for a great train ride.
Last edited by tun on Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.