Tuesday afternoon the 2:45 PM train from Montauk to Jamaica was late. The EMD DE30AC locomotive crawls into the station of the dual standard gauge tracks stopping on Gate 1, as it does every day, although rarely on time. The locomotive was built between 1997–1999 by Electro-Motive Division in the Super Steel Plant in Schenectady, New York. No trains have been purchased since then and the locomotives are serviced by Progress Rail, a division of Caterpillar. The 2:45 departed at 3:15 and slogged across the pine barrens westward towards Jamaica. The locomotive broke down east of Easthampton. Add another hour to the three hour trip plus the thirty-minute delay. It was daytime. I had nowhere to go and the train was not in a hurry.
There was been no track improvements on the LIRR other than basic maintenance for ages and I felt like I was in the age of Steam, although I suspect the the journey was faster in the 19th Century.
China invested nearly a trillion dollars to upgrade the national rail line. It is losing billions. America has to do with a decrepit system and as explained by Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner to Fortune magazine, “It’s not because we lack the technical know-how to build high-speed rail, but because politicians lack the will to fund it. It’s a financial conversation, not a technical one,”
America
Ever looking backward.
I finally arrived at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn at 6:30PM.
At least it wasn’t the Jitney.
ps – the conductor never asked for a ticket.
Most excellent.