A Late Afternoon Meet at Westport

A Late Afternoon Meet at Westport

It's 5:20 as sunset nears on this late October afternoon at the Metro North Railroad's New Haven Line
station at Westport, Connecticut. At left, a New Haven bound train of Kawasaki M8 electric multiple unit
(EMU) railcars is departing Westport and entering the Saugatuck River Bridge, as a New York bound Amtrak
Northeast Regional passes by on one of the center tracks of the four-track Northeast Corridor. Amtrak does not
stop here, Westport being served only by M-N's New Haven Line services out of New York's Grand Central Terminal.

M8 trains are unique among Metro North EMU trains in that they are dual-mode, operating on third rail
direct current from Grand Central to Pelham in Westchester County, where their pantographs rise in unison
to meet the high-voltage AC supplied by overhead catenary for the rest of their journey to points in Connecticut,
the power transition being smoothly accomplished on the fly.

The platform across the tracks, part of the Westport station building, serves
passengers bound for Grand Central and intermediate points to the west.

From a railfan-pleasing afternoon-into-evening last October on the Saugatuck River Bridge, which also afforded
inviting views of rowing, waterside homes ... and crawling rush-hour traffic on Interstate 95 while endless processions
of Metro North and Amtrak trains glided by with precision high frequency on this parallel span.

This is the photo's first appearance.

©2025 Steve Ember
Also at Westport, earlier that afternoon...