I Was Dreaming...

What a difference a day makes...

This morning I grabbed an early train into Grand Central and got my first surprise as we headed into East Norwalk. For those of you who regularly ride the New Haven line... you know East Norwalk... the station with a platform that's too short for the average train. Each train, the conductor warns passengers on which cars will open and which won't. Sometimes the front, sometimes the back, sometimes the middle. Usually it's an announcement well in advance, like "Next station is East Norwalk. The front 2 cars will not platform. Walk back from the front 2 cars if you want to get off at East Norwalk." Today? They announce it after we stop, and it's "Norwalk. First four cars to exit. East Norwalk"... nice warning. Glad I wasn't the guy hustling to move forward from my ninth car.

When we got to Grand Central, I departed my car 8924 and found that sticker you see above. Now, I don't mind that an old car door breaks down. What gets me is that they have no intention of fixing it any time soon, so much confidence that they won't fix it, that Metro North can put a sticker on the door and feel comfortable that they've done something.

And the ride home?

Took the 4:35 out of GCT (hey, it's Friday) and boarded car 8449... big mistake. The stench hit as I walked through the doors... like something died in the bathroom. How long had it been rotting there? People were taking seats right near the smell. Either their ability to smell burned out long ago or they were so desperate to not have anyone nearby that they would suffer for the ride. Had to move to the other end of the car to escape it...

Today's pics from the morning train:

1. Here comes the train...
   
2. Birds? Must mean spring's arriving
   
3. Crossing into Manhatten
   
4. Uh - oh... death of a dream
   
5. The 'out of order' door from the outside
   
6. Not going to be fixing this anytime soon