Midwest Railway Preservation Society

Visited on December 27, 2012 by Emily

It was too snowy the day after Christmas and most of the local businesses closed early. So I emailed my Midwest Railway Preservation Society contact to say, “how about tomorrow?”

The ground was still covered in several inches of snow that next day as my dad and I headed to the society in an industrial part of downtown Cleveland. Though I was a member of the organization, joining after reading an inspiring article about their preservation work, I’d never been to their headquarters. So we set out with my trusty talking smartphone GPS to guide us. Continue reading →

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Happy birthday, blog!

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Emily

Train birthday cake drawing in header above by my talented friend.

Today, September 24, 2012, marks the two year anniversary of this blog. It all started with the Spuyten Duyvil train station on September 24, 2010, and ever since I’ve been hooked on going on excursions, photographing, writing, and sharing them with you.

In celebration, I’ve given my dear blog several gifts. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog news | 6 Comments

New York’s Other Islands boat tour

Visited on August 22, 2012 by Emily

I love Open House New York for their weekend, but also for their programs all year long. When I saw in their email newsletter that they’d be doing a boat tour of “New York’s Other Islands” I thought it’d be perfect. I checked my calendar, confirmed I was free, and bought a ticket right away.

When the day of the tour arrived, I was less excited. I’d been sick the couple of days before, and summer colds are the worst. I even thought about going home to sleep after work instead of going on the boat. But by the mid-afternoon I gathered my strength and got ready to leave work early and head down to South Street Seaport’s pier 16. Continue reading →

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Cliff Street substation

Visited on August 5, 2012 by Emily

This Sunday morning I was off to a New York Transit Museum tour of the Cliff Street substation and surrounding neighborhood. This wasn’t my first substation tour, but my fourth! Someday I’ll catch up and write about all of them.

Somehow I thought it wouldn’t be that hot outside, maybe because thunderstorms were in the forecast, but boy was I wrong. It was humid and sticky already on my combination drive-and-train trip down to the financial district. Despite the heat I walked swiftly from the nearest subway stop to the location my smartphone mapped out for me, just down the street from South Street Seaport on a now-pedestrian-only plaza. I quickly checked in with museum workers then tried to find a shady spot as I waited for the tour to begin. Continue reading →

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Bridge span openings

Visited on July 17, 2012 by Emily

I first heard on a tip from friend on Twitter that the RFK Triboro Bridge Harlem River lift span was to have a scheduled opening. This was supposed to happen Monday, but checking the MTA’s site that day revealed one of the openings was postponed until Tuesday. So I wrote my boss a timid email asking to be excused to go watch that afternoon. I have the best boss; not only did he agree to this, but he showed no signs of thinking I was weird for wanting to go see such a thing! Continue reading →

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Abandoned Essex Street Trolley Terminal

Visited on July 12, 2012 by Emily

Note: I know I took a poll about what the next entry should be, but I’m overruling the vote since I visited an amazing place last week. Your choice, “Flushing Meadow Park and the New York Panorama” is coming up soon!

All day at work I couldn’t keep still in anticipation of the evening’s excursion. I ate lunch at my desk and took off super early, just to be sure to be on time. I headed downtown on my usual route, I-87 to the FDR Drive. It was cool in the car, and the clear, bright sky suggested a 70 degree rather than the hot 85+ degree day it was. I love this drive, and as much as I could I looked up and around at the structures on either side of me. I exited at Grand Street (though I realized in hindsight Houston may have been the better choice) and started to wind my way through stoplights and traffic to find a suitable parking spot. Continue reading →

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Updates: New posts coming, you can participate, a new page

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Emily

We’re in the midst of summer, so what better time to really try to catch up on those blog posts? I’ll be concentrating on that over the next month or two. That means you should subscribe either via RSS or by email using the box at the right there. If you haven’t gotten an email confirming your subscription (I’ve seen this happen especially to those using Yahoo! Mail or some variation), do check your spam folder for that. You won’t get the emails from this blog unless you confirm!

I have so many posts to catch up on, you get to help me decide which to write first. A few choices are below; go ahead and vote for your favorite!

What should my next blog entry be?

  • Flushing Meadow Park and the New York Panorama (36%, 5 Votes)
  • Behind the scenes tour of The Standard hotel (which sits over the High Line) (21%, 3 Votes)
  • Downtown Albany (21%, 3 Votes)
  • Circumnavigating Manhattan (22%, 3 Votes)

Total Voters: 14

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Finally, I got a new page up. It’s called Equipment and it talks about what I bring on excursions and my different pieces of camera equipment. Check it out!

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Lo-V Nostalgia Train to Brooklyn

Visited on July 1, 2012 by Emily

It should come as no surprise that when I received the Transit Museum’s mailing about the summer tours I signed up as quickly as possible for all three nostalgia trains. These started much later than last year’s, the first one being on July 1 rather than May 22.

Though I got up plenty early the morning of this trip, I was somewhat scatterbrained as I got ready. It seemed like such a long time since I’d done a nostalgia train or any type of all-day excursion like this, I’d almost forgotten what to pack and how to prepare. Leaving the house later than I wanted, I still managed to catch the Metro North to Grand Central where the Lo-V train was to meet us.  Continue reading →

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Roosevelt Island Tram at night

Visited on February 13, 2012 by Emily

After a lovely weeknight dinner, my (twin) cousin and I didn’t want to part ways just yet. We pondered what to do. It was frigid outside, so taking a walk through the city streets wouldn’t do. We were full, so dessert wouldn’t work. Budgeting was important, so shopping was out too. I racked my brain for a few minutes, trying to think of something that would fit our criteria, and then it hit me: What about one of my favorite things, riding the Roosevelt Island Tram? Continue reading →

Posted in Mini-scursions, Quartet of infrastructure videos | Tagged , | 2 Comments

New Willis Avenue Bridge I-87 Ramp

Visited on January 14, 2012 by Emily

As some readers may remember, I closely followed the installation of the new Willis Avenue Bridge in late 2010. The sight of the two bridges next to each other was striking, but I also had a meaningful connection to the spot as I had been driving over the older of the bridges ever since I’ve lived in New York – probably first in a college van to a field trip and then so many times in my own car. Continue reading →

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