Ten-plus cars on Waterbury train?

Yesterday, as I was leaving a restaurant across the street from the Waterbury station (at about 2:30 PM), the Metro-North train pulled into the station. The train was led by a Genesis locomotive, but I was surprised to see the Genesis pulling ten (maybe more) passenger cars into the station. I was surprised because typically, I only see two or three passenger cars arriving/leaving the Waterbury station. For example, during Christmas week, my wife and I went to the City to see a show and it was an FL9 and two passenger cars that took us to and from Bridgeport. Were the ten+ passenger cars a fluke or is this a more common occurrence in Waterbury than I think it is?

Stan Horzepa
Wolcott, CT

Most likely it was an idle (for the weekend) consist standing in for the regular two car shuttle. The RR decided it was simpler (and it probably was) just to use the entire train.

Well, all I can say is that it would have been nice to see the long platform
in Waterbury loaded with enough passengers for a ten car train again
after all these years but a fair part of that platform is not in very good
shape anymore.
It was probably a case where the equipment of that particular train was
needed for a large group on its next or previous train.
Tom, did you go to the Palace? I remember that place when I was very
young, it was beautiful even back then and even though I was young, I
appreciated the place. Glad to see that it got preserved and restored.
Likewise for the Warner in Torrington too.
Noel Weaver

Ten cars powered by a single Genny! I thought MN gennies usually don't go above 8 cars. Yes, sometimes a long train can cover a shuttle, especially if there is a set bored in lets say, New Haven yard. Back on Oct of 04' when I went to Dover Plains, I had a six car set. Look at NJT on the NJCL, they can run six car shuttles during weekends or off peak hours in general. anyway, express trains from Hoboken and Newark run daily, so expect to see six cars. It is always a question about equipment rotation.

Someone can't count as the train consisted out of one Genesis(223) with 7 cars.

DutchRailnut wrote:Someone can't count as the train consisted out of one Genesis(223) with 7 cars.

I can count, but I could not count because my line of sight was blocked by the old SNET building on the ROW. As I exited, the restaurant, the train was pulling in and I expected the normal two passenger car shuttle. Two cars passed, than another, and another and so on. I did not count them as they passed by. After the last car passed by, it seemed like ten; it could have been more, it could have been less. All I knew it was not the normal two and I estimated ten. I apologize for not counting the rivets, I means "cars."

Stan Horzepa
Wolcott, CT

That is very interesting. The Waterbury Branch is something I know very little about, as I have never rode on it. It seems fairly limited by the amount of departures to and from Waterbury daily, and it's the only NH Branch requiring a transfer at all times.

DutchRailnut wrote:Someone can't count as the train consisted out of one Genesis(223) with 7 cars.

Easy Dutch, all Waterbury was trying to do was state that there were a FEW more cars than the normal 2.

glennk419 wrote:Easy Dutch,[...]

Yeah, really...

>>Well, all I can say is that it would have been nice to see the long platform in Waterbury loaded with enough passengers for a ten car train again after all these years but a fair part of that platform is not in very good shape anymore. <<

My memory of arriving at that station 4 and a half years ago was that there was a short platform just big enough to cover one door of the train. A very cheap type of station I thought, but common on the Shoreline. I didn't notice if there was a bigger platform somewhere. The whole area looked run down.