A Splash of Bold Colors on a Drab Winter Afternoon - A Metro-North Moment

A Splash of Bold Colors on a Drab Winter Afternoon - A Metro-North Moment

In the fading light of a drab December afternoon, a welcome splash of bold colors for this train enthusiast...

While shooting Metro North Hudson Line activity at Spuyten Duyvil Station, as well as Amtrak Empire Service trains crossing the nearby Spuyten Duyvil Swing Bridge, (*) I was happy to catch this New Haven heritage livery P32 AC-DM Dual-Mode diesel-electric locomotive powering a Grand Central Terminal bound express. The Dual-Mode Genesis locomotives are equiped with third rail pick-up shoes to allow electric operation through the long Park Avenue Tunnel, for the fifty-odd block sprint from 97th Street into GCT.

The train is moving away from the camera as the engineer is operating the locomotive from a cab-controls coach at the inbound end of the train of Shoreliner commuter cars. Such trains operate push-pull with the locomotive always at the outbound end of the consist at GCT.

Typically, the locomotive-powered trains run express to Poughkeepsie, bypassing stations such as this one, and do not make their first stop until Croton-Harmon, the end point of the third-rail power. Meantime, the many stations enroute from GCT are served by either limited-stop or local trains of electric multiple unit (EMU) stock.

As the Genesis roars through the station, the calm waters of Spuyten Duyvil reflect buildings along Muscota Marsh in the Inwood section of northern Manhattan.

©2024 Steve Ember
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