Penn Station from Farmingdale via Babylon

Did it today, the scenic route if you will. Dual Modes and C-3s did the honors.

However on the morning trip to Penn, the only time we ran on diesel, was on the Central Branch. But in the evening, the only time we ran electric was from Penn station and through the East River tubes. Engineer preference ?

Also, does one engineer run the train from Penn to Ronkonkoma or does a relief get on at Babylon ? I noticed we pulled into Babylon station both times today.

An engineer boards at Babylon and gets off at Farmingdale on eastbound runs, and vice versa for westbound. Going eastbound, he/she boards the west engine. Westbound he/she boards the east engine.

I took the 8:39 train from Port Washington(left off track 5) to NYP(arrived track 19). I rode the 10:01 from NYP(left track 20) to Farmingdale. It was a pretty rocky ride over the switches at NYP. I got hassled for taking pictures on the platform on the 10:01. We went NYP, Jamaica, Babylon. At Babylon, the engineer to take it up the central to Beth interlocking boarded. We went to Beth, then forward to Farmingdale.

We got to Fdale 7 minutes early, where the westbound pulled in next to it 15 minutes late. I got a few pictures of the trains next to each other.

Then 7285 and I drove to Pinelawn, where we caught pictures/video the train I just got off of. Then we drove over to Emfinites house for a little visit.

After that, we went over to the central crossing at Main St, where 7285 and I found some remnants of the old station, and then got pictures/video of one of the Ronkonkoma-NYP trains passing.

From there I did a lot of busfanning, including Trailways.

While waiting in Massapequa for my Trailways connection, I saw 7 trains go by:
Eastbound to Ronkonkoma
Westbound from Ronkonkoma to NYP
Westbound M7 local from Babylon
Eastbound M3/M1 local to Babylon
Westbound M7 local from Babylon
Eastbound to Ronkonkoma
Westbound from Ronkonkoma to NYP

Got pictures of all of them except for that last eastbound Ronkonkoma train.

"on the morning trip to Penn, the only time we ran on diesel, was on the Central Branch."

The train ran electric to Beth, then diesel to Babylon, then electric?

Tonite I was at Lynbrook watching some trains, and i noticed that the set with "517" west was going to NYP in E-mode but when he came back it clearly sounded to be in D-mode.

Engineers Preference, probly esplains that.

timz wrote: "The train ran electric to Beth, then diesel to Babylon, then electric?"

Correct.

Actually, it was pretty much our choice when we wanted to change modes. I know some guys had it only in diesel when they had to for the Central Branch, while some, like myself, that ran it mostly in diesel. According to Special Instructions your are required to make the transition at Nassau or Port going west and going east upon arriving Harold Interlocking. Eastbound I turned my engines on after clearing the tunnel but left it in 'E' mode until I was somewhere past Woodside. Westbound, I switched right after leaving Babylon for 'D' to 'E' but left the engines running until about Jamaica in case something went wrong. When you shut the engines down, when you restart them it takes a few minutes to have the ability to change, between getting the engines to start and the transition from mode to mode. Also, I was late at Babylon so I went to 'E' Mode which they say is faster, I dont know if that it true but maybe it is, but the ride sure does suck up front! Oh, the sacrfices we make to make the passengers on time

I took some photos at Massapequa station. However I don't know how to put the videos on the web. Does any one know what site to host my videos on?

Yep, and there goes the last Sunday of DM operations out to Ronkonkoma. Sunday was a very long day indeed. Besides having to start earlier for work than usual, the trip to KO lasted over 2 hours, breaks in between runs were cut in half, and having to go up to the east end to give brake tests on top of collecting and explaining to passengers what we were doing, I was ready to pass out by the time we started train 8071 which was the first electric out of Ronkonkoma last night. The DM's are interesting to work with, but by having to go down to Babylon, down the central branch and then east to KO, that just makes things longer and more hectic. But it was an experience to tell. A lot of the people seem to prefer riding on the C-3's as opposed to the MU's. I even had a couple who took pictures like crazy, they have never seen a double decker train before, I think they were from Iowa or something like that. My engineer made sure to switch to electric around Freeport on the westbounds, just in case things were to screw up before we arrived at Jamaica. Overall, everything went well yesterday. There is word being passed around at work that this operation will again take place sometime in the fall when heavier work will begin to take place at Roslyn road. be on the look out this Friday afternoon for the elusive 12-car train Cannon Ball. This will be the first Friday with the summer schedule in place.

Hmmm......I'm off from school on Friday. Will the Cannonball be running via the main(nassau) or Babylon(port)?

The Cannon Ball usually runs via the Montauk branch through Babylon. Unless something stupid happens between Jamaica and Babylon at the time the Cannon Ball is scheduled to leave, it should run through the Montauk branch.

I usally always see it when im at the right place at righit time, usally always on the montauk crusing at MAS