Friday, November 23, 2012

Trip to Poughkeepsie (aka My First Blog) Part 2

After passing Spuyten Duyvil, Amtrak's Empire Service from New York Penn Station joins the Hudson Line. The Empire Service consists of Amtrak services heading to Albany, Chicago, Montreal, and Toronto.

We now arrive in the city of Yonkers, located in Westchester County. It is home to the Kawasaki Plant, where brand new rail and subway cars from the Kawasaki company are stored. One time I passed through the plant and I saw one of those new MBTA double deckers sitting there.

Yonkers have a lot of nice buildings, including a tower north of the station.






Yonkers is also home to many old factories, many of which are abandoned. One of them is the Yonkers Power station which was formerly operated by the New York Central.

Coming up next, more views of the mighty Hudson!





Trip to Poughkeepsie (aka My First Blog) Part 1

I enjoy traveling on the MTA Metro North Railroad, which connects New York City to the lower Hudson Valley and the southwestern parts of Connecticut. Also, this is the first time I've ever blogged. Today I took the Hudson Line to Poughkeepsie, a city in Dutchess county.

Our journey begins at Grand Central Terminal, one of the world's if not the world's grandest train station. It was opened in 1913 and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2013. I took 2 photos of the terminal; one before the trip and one after the trip.
The main concourse of the Terminal before the trip

Grand Central Terminal was named by the New York Central, the predecessor of Metro North. Rail traffic saw its heavy usage during World War II. But by the 1950's, rail traffic began to decline in favor of airlines, automobiles, and interstate highways. The station was nearly demolished but was saved in 1978 when it was declared a landmark. In the late 1990's, the terminal underwent extensive renovations which restored it to its former glory. The terminal remains as a popular tourist attraction.

A we leave the station, we go through the Park Avenue tunnel and rise up to the viaduct. After several stops, we finally get a view of the Hudson River.






Coming up in Part 2, the city of Yonkers!