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  • Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.
Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

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 #1467988  by R&DB
 
I would like to relate a little story about an event that happened yesterday.
We decided to take our 5 year old grandson for his first real train ride, (He had been on the Pine Creek Railroad last year, but that doesn't count) We drove to our nearest NJT station at Belmar and took the train to Long Branch. During our layover in the Long Branch station the other passengers were nice and seemed entertained by our grandson. On arrival back in Belmar we unfortunately had a mishap. We are not as fast or agile as we once were and on disembarking the train we were too slow. My wife went down the steps first to help the little guy get over the gap between the last step and the ground. At that point the door closed leaving my grandson and I on the train.
We got off the the train in Spring Lake. The next train north wasn't for more than an hour, so some other solution was necessary. Having no cell phone (I almost never need one), we went to Joseph's Delicatessen and asked them to call a cab and inquire the fare to Belmar as I only had $6 cash with me. They called the cab and offered to ring up whatever I needed to pay the taxi company on my debit card. When they found out the cab fare would be $7, they gave me $2 out of the register so I could pay the fare and tip the driver $1. Awesome! We were soon back at the Belmar station.
Meanwhile my wife was stuck in Belmar with no wallet, money or shelter as I had the car keys. Having arrived in Belmar after the little coffee shop (Hooked) at the station had closed, (2:00pm) she went to the Dollar General store to ask for piece of paper and a pen to write a note. The clerk there gave her a piece of register tape and directed her to Don's Pizza for a warm place to sit and wait for our return. She left the note on the car windshield. She explained her predicament to the people at Don's and they had no problem allowing her to wait there without making a purchase. Upon arrival back in Belmar my grandson and I searched the station a area for Grandma and finally found the note directing us to Don's.
So I would like to thank the passengers at Joseph's, Dollar General and Don's for helping us get through what could have been a very stressful situation. It only delayed our day by about 1/2 hour. The only long-term drawback is my wife says she is now done with trains, so my planned June trip to Atlanta (Amtrak) to visit my brother will be solo.
 #1468053  by andrewjw
 
Some important life lessons here
  • * The cell phone isn't for every day, it's for the emergencies
    * Be aware of your surroundings and be prepared to disembark the train promptly
    * Carry enough cash to cover a mishap on you at all times
 #1468103  by South Jersey Budd
 
Nice to hear about all the good people you and your wife encountered and that your trip ended with the good parts adding up to make up for the one not so good part. Your grandson is lucky to have grandparents that both worked together, albeit separately, to fix their problem rather than panic.

A joy ride on a weekday commuter train can be a tough environment, as it’s usually all business during the day. Luckily we have many nice tourist train rides in the NJ/NY/PA area to enjoy a relaxed family oriented experience. Although Pine Creek is nice for a short ride, Black River Western, Wilmington Western, Lehigh Gorge, Strasburg, WK&S, Allentown Auburn, to name a few, all do a very good job providing a quality railroad ride.
 #1468109  by R&DB
 
andrewjw » Fri Apr 06, 2018 5:19 pm

Some important life lessons here
* The cell phone isn't for every day, it's for the emergencies
* Be aware of your surroundings and be prepared to disembark the train promptly
Andrew,
My wife had the cell phone. As far a disembarking promptly, we are 68 & 66. We don't move as quickly as we used to. The conductor was on the platform 2 cars away and didn't see our difficulty or I believe he would have held the train until we were all off.
South Jersey Budd » Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:27 am
Very little business passenger traffic on the Long Branch - Bay Head shuttle in the early afternoon. As far as tourist trains, the closest to us would be BR&W, a 1 - 1/2 hour ride each way and not open weekdays. And our round trip on NJT for 2 seniors and 1 child was less than $10. Total adventure was 3 hours including auto travel time.

Thank you both for your replies.
 #1468323  by ryanov
 
I have seen people be left on the train, and the reason has always been waiting for the train to stop before starting to gather belongings and head to the door. Lots of other people on a train or bus are trying to get somewhere. It behooves everyone to be ready to go, rather than attempting to hold up a train. This is a particular problem at Newark Airport. “Yes, they really did mean ‘gather your belongings and get to a door.’”

EDIT: Happened this morning, just now. Guy decides not to even get his suitcase down from the overhead rack until like 10-15 seconds after we stopped. Getting off, he ended up having to force the door back open, which delayed hundreds of people for a few seconds (eventually adds up).
 #1469856  by trainbrain
 
On the Port Jervis Line with the Comet 5's they have the center doors that don't open at low level stations. There are no high level platforms beyond Ramsey Route 17 and many trains don't even stop there. I've saved so many people who tried to get off through those doors at a low level station not realizing they weren't going to open. I've also seen people stay on the train too long before I could help. I assume this is the most common reason for people missing their stop on the lines with that equipment.
 #1470026  by SecaucusJunction
 
Do I have to be the one to say that this should have been prevented?

Conductor generally closes all other doors, then gives a look to make sure there are no problems down the platform before closing his own. If no one had gotten off, then I could see it happening, but if someone is on the platform helping a child get off the train, that's a problem.