Hobbling Through Hartsdale

Despite MTA service advisories saying that everything was fine through Chappaqua amidst yesterday’s tornado-ish weather, there was all sorts of hell to encounter on the 6:10. Of course, the one day a friend (Joey From 5D) joins us on the train for a visit, we were treated to the worst ride we’ve experienced in seven months of commuting. Trees were down on the tracks, and there was a giant train traffic jam in White Plains.

We actually got off to a decent start, then started slowing down in Scarsdale. Joey from 5D and I had finished our Sam Adams and sort of ran out of old-friends stuff to talk about (“What’s up with Kat?” “What’s up with A***hole Guy?”). Bored with our surroundings, we started looking out the window for things to stimulate us. (Yes, Joey from 5D, there is a lot of garbage along the tracks, and no, not everyone in this particular town drives a BMW or a Mini. It’s a car dealer.)

We slowed to a crawl in Hartsdale, then a complete stop. Fortunately, the Missus agreed to pick us up two stops early, in North White Plains. By the time we limped into NWP, we’d been on board for an hour and 5 minutes, a full half-hour longer than it should take.

Of course, getting off at a new station meant some sightseeing, such as the giant CVS and the lot where they keep busted cement mixers.

 

Top Secret Info For All to Hear

You had to love the doofus on the 6:10 yesterday who prefaced two of the loudest cellphone conversations I’ve ever witnessed with “THIS IS CONFIDENTIAL!” He was a bald guy in round-rim specs and a pinstriped suit, and had everyone within shouting distance listening to his “confidential” conversations, which involved trying to sell medical gear to hospitals like NYU Med and St. Vincent’s.

The weird thing was, the guy had actually moved to the standing area of the train to make the calls, as if to spare his neighbors the agita of having to listen to his business dealings. Thus liberated, he then proceeded to include close to a hundred people to his highly classified conversations. At least half of them tried hard, angry stares to get him to lower the volume, but he was too immersed in negotiations.

 

The First Annual “When Will Metro North Be On Time?” Contest

An otherwise normal trip home on the 6:10 slowed to a crawl just before Scarsdale. After several minutes of putt-putting along, we got the dreaded announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a stalled train on the track between Hartsdale and White Plains, so we’re limited to one track in both directions.”

While seeing the white Rolls Royce parked in Scarsdale was kind of cool, the slow crawl home was the very last thing I wanted to deal with following a work day that was so busy that, after some change fell through a hole in my pocket, a penny lodged inside my shoe, and it took me nearly an hour to find the time to fish it out. (True story, actually.)

This got me thinking. While tonight’s misadventures were exceptional–we ended up pulling into Hawthorne in an hour and four minutes, fully 22 minutes late–the Westchester-bound train is never, ever on time. I mean, I can think of 2-3 times since I started riding in the fall that it’s been on time. In the rare (but oh so pleasant) instance that I get a ride home from the Missus, I add two minutes to my arrival time (a practice the MTA calls “schedule padding”) so she’s not waiting long at the lot, and we’re still late more often than not. Heck, even the city-bound train, which has to navigate all sorts of track traffic to enter Grand Central, clocks in early every now and then (three minutes early this morning, in fact).

So here it is: When will be the next time my return train on the Harlem Line gets in on time–on time defined as up to 59 seconds past the scheduled minute (as in, the train due in at 6:52 is on time as long as it arrives before 6:53)?

Dear readers, shake off your March Madness pool woes and enter our humble pool. Send the exact date the return train gets in on time to trainjotting@gmail.com, and I’ll start keeping track. The winner will get a handsome prize to be determined.

 

Oh Yeah — And My Dog Ate My Train Ticket Too

Interesting hint of drama on the 6:10 last night (a train so full that I had to stand with my back to the door in the back row, as the standing room only vestibule spots were cheek to cheek).

The conductor came around near Harlem. A young man looked at him with large, baleful eyes. He was around 20, with an inch-high afro and scrubbly facial hair, and looked like Dukie from The Wire (below).

He proceeded to stammer.

“I…l-l-l-l-lost my wallet…and it…had my train pass…and I bought a gift for my mother…”

At this point he procured a silver Dolce & Gabbana box that looked like it held a watch.

“A-a-a-and I only have three dollars,” he said, barely louder than a whisper.

The conductor looked like the kid had barfed on his train belt buckle.

“Gimme the three dollars,” said the conductor. “I’ll bill you.”

His fingers protruding from gloves with the tips cut off, the kid pulled three wrinkly bills from his pocket as the conductor ripped off a ticket.

“How are you going to bill me?”

“I’ll come back,” said the conductor.

Twenty minutes later, the train shuffled into White Plains. The kid scooted off without being “billed”.

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