{"id":21577,"date":"2017-04-30T21:09:44","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T01:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=21577"},"modified":"2024-09-07T13:56:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T17:56:27","slug":"2024-ridin-the-rails-for-free-part-2-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=21577","title":{"rendered":"2024 \u2013 Ridin\u2019 the Rails for Free! (Part 2 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

…………………………………………….<\/span>(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date \u2013 this was published on September 7, 2024)<\/p>\n

(NOTE: whenever you see the word \u201cPANO\u201d, click the image once or twice to fully-enlarge it)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You may recall this Pascack Valley Line map from the end of Part 1:<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2026and that – after that trip, I got the urge to do it again, but go a little bit further this time.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had gone as far south as Secaucus Junction and was under the impression that to take it to the very end – Hoboken Terminal – a change of trains would be necessary and that – going both ways – would have added too much time to the whole trip.<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that the train DOES go straight through to Hoboken and if you want to continue to Manhattan, THAT\u2019S where the change of trains occurs.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the last day of NJ Transit\u2019s Freebie Week, I decided to go to Hoboken, take some pictures and come right back. Despite Hoboken\u2019s great music scene back in the day, I never really went there because shooting in clubs is a pain (and so was parking in Hoboken)\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/span><\/p>\n

(Actually, I DID shoot a video for a band at Boo-Boo\u2019s Bar in Hoboken in 1992:<\/span>
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\n\u201cDirty Deed\u201d on the bottom is an AC\/DC reference because the song the band played was one of theirs.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026..but my point is that I was pretty unfamiliar with Hoboken and it might be nice to do a photo-walk there while I wait for the return train home.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had also never been to Hoboken Terminal before, so maybe there\u2019d be something interesting there to shoot.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking of which – and jumping ahead of myself – there WAS something later on that caught my eye that was large, but a little too distant to make out any details, so I shot it blindly and never got to see what it actually was until I got home and downloaded the images.<\/span><\/p>\n

OK – quick guess\u2026\u2026.what is this?:<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nIt wasn\u2019t this dark, but if I lightened it here, it would be highly identifiable because it\u2019s zoomed in. All I saw was this shape, albeit much lighter and much farther away.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll come back to this later.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I\u2019m on the southbound train and it\u2019s as jammed as the one in Part 1:<\/span>
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And almost all of the windows are just as useless – visibility-wise – as the ones on the previous trip:<\/span>
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\n(are all NJ Transit train windows this bad?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, I had my choice of almost every window on this car.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019re now approaching the terminal:<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNear the middle in the distance is the Empire State Building.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still within view of the ESB, we passed by this colorful TGIV train car, but it\u2019s hard to read what those letters stand for:<\/span>
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Fortunately, I got a better shot of it on the way home (PANO):<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Look at all the wires and tracks\u2026\u2026.this must be some major-league station:<\/span>
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 <\/p>\n

The ESB gets closer:<\/span>
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 <\/p>\n

Speaking of closer\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n