Farewell to FL9 trip- your thoughts?

And the one MN Supervisor told me that due to the delay of the train due to the ATC Cab Signal Failure in 2024 which delayed us 20 minutes into Stamford, we flew at fast speeds through 138th(Melrose) interlocking. And luckilly with that, I was able to make my 9:14 train from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma with about 8 minutes to spare. But the ride on the train was fun, and we all had a good time never the less. Even the passing of the Danbury Shuttle had a nice rattling feeling as it passed by our train. 840 ran very well. Now if only those can be purchased by CDOT, and repainted into the New Haven colors. The FL9M's ran very well, and Metro North took very good care of the pair. Too bad for the destruction of Canaan Station House, but seeing lots of the old New Haven Stations on the Housatonic intact, had a very nice feeling. Hope more trips like this either using Amtrak equipment like the leased ones, or even the P32's like the ones used for the Beacon trip are done. This one was the best one that I was on yet. ACMU was fun, but this was a blast. M1 trip may be coming shortly as to one of the supervisors told me, so keep your ears out.

Much has been said about the so called LOUDMOUTH at West Cornwall.
I did not witness the incident but I heard plenty about it and would like to offer a different point of view.
First of all, TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT.
O.K. enough of badmouthing Mr. Loudmouth.
How about observing another rule of etiquette?.
Try to NEVER stand or even walk in front of somebody with a camera trying to take a picture. If you MUST step in front of somebody taking a picture, do so as quickly as possible. Don't stand there picking your nose for the entire duration of the photo stop!
My parents were not railfans or anything, but I was taught that when I was 5 or 6 years old. That applies ANYWHERE. You don't have to have a PhD in Ferroequinology or Emily Post to figure that out.
If someone travels from Florida, or California or England to ride a fan trip with an XYZ type locomotive, they should be able to get a picture of the train and the XYZ type locomotive, NOT your BUTT or your ELBOW.
That being said, some of the gratest photos I've seen have been at photo stops with the photo line INCORPORATED into the photograph, however, the close up of someone's anatomy OBSTRUCTING an otherwise good photo is somethingg else indeed.
Bottom line:
If someone is aiming a camera, Try to stay out of the way.
If someone accidentally steps into your picture, control your rage.
If someone who obviously should know better is showing obvious disregard for an established photo lline (paying or not) THEN yell att him if neccesary, but above all: NO PROFANITY.

Always say excuse me if you want to get by someone. If you can step out of someones view, that is good. Overreacting when someone steps in your picture or vis versa isn't going to answer the solution. A photo line is what it is as well as manners. Some people were acting like some of the everyday commuters you see. The main issue here is compromise, not mobsceses. safety always comes first.

With 150 railfans, and a very limited amount of time, chaos at the photo stop was inevitable. It could be organized, but that would require a longer stop. From what I have seen, some of the best photos of this excursion were taken by those crazy train chasers, and are available on several railfan websites. As to the problem of overflowing toilets, that could be avoided by following the old rule, "If it's brown, flush it down, if it's yellow, let it mellow" ! This was a fabulous trip. Let's hope they do it again next year - maybe in the summer, when there are more daylight hours.

This trip took a lot of effort on the part of both Metro-North and the Housatonic Railroad. Everything did not go as planned, which is not unusual, but from most accounts I have heard, it was a great trip. One poster asked about the possibility of another FL9 trip. That's unlikely, but the F10s are still operating and #413 will celebrate an anniversary next year. It *could* be used on a similar excursion.

It is impossible to manage 300 people on a photo line but Metro-North does offer the opportunity for unobstructed shots. Not everyone gets the word at first, but the use of profanity to educate someone blocking a view is never acceptable.

It is no secret that Metro-North officials are lurking here and if suggestions for future trips are presented in a positive manner, there is a good chance we will have more excursions in the future. Where would you like to go?

I fail to see where MN promised railfan's in their advertising for this trip an "unobstructed" photo vantage.

"My parents were not railfans or anything, but I was taught that when I was 5 or 6 years old."

5 or 6 years old? That's right around the mentality of those who made an ass out of themselves on this trip, and previous trips.

B&M E7 wrote:Much has been said about the so called LOUDMOUTH at West Cornwall.
I did not witness the incident but I heard plenty about it and would like to offer a different point of view.
First of all, TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT.
O.K. enough of badmouthing Mr. Loudmouth.
How about observing another rule of etiquette?.Try to NEVER stand or even walk in front of somebody with a camera trying to take a picture. If you MUST step in front of somebody taking a picture, do so as quickly as possible. Don't stand there picking your nose for the entire duration of the photo stop!
My parents were not railfans or anything, but I was taught that when I was 5 or 6 years old. That applies ANYWHERE. You don't have to have a PhD in Ferroequinology or Emily Post to figure that out.
If someone travels from Florida, or California or England to ride a fan trip with an XYZ type locomotive, they should be able to get a picture of the train and the XYZ type locomotive, NOT your BUTT or your ELBOW.
That being said, some of the gratest photos I've seen have been at photo stops with the photo line INCORPORATED into the photograph, however, the close up of someone's anatomy OBSTRUCTING an otherwise good photo is somethingg else indeed.
Bottom line:
If someone is aiming a camera, Try to stay out of the way.
If someone accidentally steps into your picture, control your rage.
If someone who obviously should know better is showing obvious disregard for an established photo lline (paying or not) THEN yell att him if neccesary, but above all: NO PROFANITY.

I hear what you are saying but is screaming at someone for standing in front of a shot etiquette? It's just a picture.

It's not "just a picture" just like the FL9 Excursion was not "just a train ride." MN staff should have been keeping people out of the shot at West Cornwall, and we could have been in and out of there much quicker. Instead, I noticed some staff were more concerned with getting their own photos rather than trying to help everyone get a good shot. S'all I'm sayin. Everything worked out in the end, nobody died. But some people who were not railfans were oblivious to the fact there was an organized photo line, and with a precious 38 seconds of sunlight, yes, this was a VERY BIG DEAL. I didn't pay $75 to get a picture of your Aunt Gertrude and her fourteen neices and nephews, no did I want a picture of you posed besides the pilot. Was I screaming? You better believe it. If the on-board staff helped herd people in the right direction from the get-go (around the depot instead of alongside it), there would have been less/no screaming.

I think we've beat the photo line issue to death here now. Let's just agree to disagree and move on. I want to emphasize how much I enjoyed the trip and appreciated all of the planning an detail and hard work from both railroad companies to make this happen.

How were 2024 and 2027 picked for the assignment, anyway? I only say this because 2024 has the stenciled road number and the screwed up engineer's side numberboard... I could think of "prettier" engines I would have run, but maybe this was a mechanical decision?

**I would LOVE** a farewell to the F10 excursion in 2006- Start at North White Plains, run up to Wassaic, down to Dykemans and across the Beacon Line to Beacon, south to MO, around the wye and up to North White Plains again.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote: **I would LOVE** a farewell to the F10 excursion in 2006- Start at North White Plains, run up to Wassaic, down to Dykemans and across the Beacon Line to Beacon, south to MO, around the wye and up to North White Plains again.

If the Beacon line has a 10mph speed limit, then no for me.

Otto Vondrak wrote:I didn't pay $75 to get a picture of your Aunt Gertrude and her fourteen neices and nephews, no did I want a picture of you posed besides the pilot. Was I screaming? You better believe it. If the on-board staff helped herd people in the right direction from the get-go (around the depot instead of alongside it), there would have been less/no screaming.

I was going to ignore this complaint when it was first made, but now I don't feel right letting it go.

First, it isn't a depot, it's a private house, and "Aunt Gertrude" was the owner of that house. That was made clear to everyone on the train before the stop was made, as was our request that you respect the owner and their property & privacy. That you all screamed at the owner of the house who had NO OBLIGATION to let us stop there, is disgraceful. And if you were one of the screamers, Otto, I'm disappointed. I had expected better of you.

The car hosts had many priorities at that location, not the least of which was detraining over 300 people as quickly and SAFELY as possible, with very little time available and a very short platform on which to do it. I'm not saying we couldn't do better, but the location wasn't optimal for 300 people to be jostling around, and given the tight quarters, I doubt you could have done much better, no matter how much the bullhorn might have been used. The owner of the pottery shop flatly refused to give us exclusive use of his parking lot, so yellow tape was not permissible. Be glad it wasn't sunny, or his lot would have been filled with automobiles, and you would have had to make do with a head-on shot and nothing else. And not for nothing, I've seen several shots from that photo stop, online and elsewhere, that were people-free - so it wasn't impossible. Patience goes a long way.

In the end, everyone is responsible for his/her own actions. You can blame us all you want, but the screamers are the ones who exhibited the boorish behavior. This is the second time it's happened on one of our trips, and I hope it doesn't happen a third time, because I will advise that either we stop doing trips, or we don't do photo stops on them. I'm embarassed by the bad behavior of a few of my fellow railfans.

<stepping off my soap [Erie step] box>

Jim

Otto,

I consider myself a railfan and I am appalled at the lack of discipline and uncalled for childish,conceited, immature screams that come from people so they can get their premiere railroad shot! Come on man it is just a picture!! If you really wanted the picture so badly why couldn't you take a minute out of your time to go over and let the poor fellow move cause he was in your shot?? There are way too many other things in life to worry about!! I'm just happy that I even got a picture!!! Otto and anyone else that screamed at the owners to get out of their shot, shame on you!!! And you could ruin it all for the rest of us if you do it again on the next trip... !!

Jim, I really appreciate Metro-North and the supurb trips they are putting together! The FL-9 one had to be one of my favorite and I hope to be a part of the next trip!!....God willing, that is if nonone else ruins it for the rest of us!!!


Steve
Denville, NJ

It takes a few people to ruin a trip. The important thing is the trip itself. Not to brag, I got plenty of shots without people, especially at W. Cornwall. What's even better is I said excuse me everytime I wanted someone to move. Just because a person is in a rush doesn't mean they can be rude. Enjoy the fact that MN is doing these trips because you don't get this in NJT land.

*Applauds the four posts above me*

First, it isn't a depot, it's a private house, and "Aunt Gertrude" was the owner of that house.

You misunderstood. I wasn't referring to the owner of the house. It would have been nice if the MN staffer with the bullhorn had introduced the owners of the house to the group so we could have thanked them for letting us use their residence as a photo stop. That would have been great.

That you all screamed at the owner of the house who had NO OBLIGATION to let us stop there, is disgraceful. And if you were one of the screamers, Otto, I'm disappointed. I had expected better of you.

I expected better of the MN people to have the situation in hand. Again, would have been nice to knwo who the owners were so we could have thanked them. I guarantee they would have gotten rousing applause and thank you's from the crowd. Not to mention a shot with owners of said depot would have been totally cool!

The car hosts had many priorities at that location, not the least of which was detraining over 300 people as quickly and SAFELY as possible, with very little time available and a very short platform on which to do it.

This was handled extremely well. That is no small feat.

The owner of the pottery shop flatly refused to give us exclusive use of his parking lot, so yellow tape was not permissible.

No yellow tape needed, just one person stationed at the train to keep people from walking into the shot.

And not for nothing, I've seen several shots from that photo stop, online and elsewhere, that were people-free - so it wasn't impossible. Patience goes a long way.

Done and done. Good shots were possible from the photo line once everything calmed down.

In the end, everyone is responsible for his/her own actions. You can blame us all you want, but the screamers are the ones who exhibited the boorish behavior. This is the second time it's happened on one of our trips, and I hope it doesn't happen a third time, because I will advise that either we stop doing trips, or we don't do photo stops on them. I'm embarassed by the bad behavior of a few of my fellow railfans.

Good luck with that. No photo stops on a fan trip means no ticket sales. Hey Jim, you're taking this all wrong- the FL9 Trip was a complete success. If boorish people are going to walk in front of a photo line, well then, boorish behavior may be exhibited right back at them. Tell ya what. Instead of me complaining here, I'll offer to help organize the next photo line, and then people can blame me for poor organization. Does that sound fair?

To 4Express, njt4172- it's obvious you are not a photographer. And that is totally fine. But don't go judging/blaming me becuase you don't fully understand the situation.

To everyone else, well shucks, sorry I let you down. ;-) Hope you all can still look me in the eye when we meet again. Nothing x-rated came outta my mouth (I can tell you that some of the foulest stuff came from the CHASERS who CRASHED the line)... doesn't matter and let's not try to figure out who was more at fault, who was more offensive, and who we can blame. I was trying to look out for everyone else's firing line as much as my own. At one point, I was lying on my stomach for another angle, but then I was pinned to the ground as shutters clicked above me! I was afraid to stand up! We can all just get along- I promise I won't scream at you if you want to say hello next time we meet.

-otto-

Seems to me that the problem really was
too little time. Train was in and out of
Canaan pretty quickly. There were no
shots available in front of the station for
riders. I did not ride the train but realized
what was happening. I suppose the
only thing that could have been done
was to start the trip at Danbury or
Norwalk or Samford. The trip
was just too tightly scheduled. I
am not blaming anyone, it was
the best that could be done.

Now if you are thinking of a
F10 trip, fine, but perhaps the
route might be shorter with
more stops.

You guys sure had a LONG day!