grumpyff

Observation Car "Babbling Brook" built in 1949 for the New York Central's 'New England States' train

Example of railroad china inside of the Ohio River, which can also be chartered http://www.mepassenger.com/railcars

NYC Dining Car 448, can seat 48 people. The kitchen on the 448

One of the double bedrooms on the Hickory Creek. This car can be chartered for private trips. http://www.luxuryrailvacation.com/

Not that I know of. AFAIK it is staffed by the fire brigade on an as needed basis

Officer Ivan Marcano of the NYPD's Transit District 12 was promoted to Detective this morning in a bedside promotion ceremony with Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. PO Marcano was off duty when he observed 3 males robbing a man on street an took action. Officer Marcano was shot once in the chest, but was still able to pursue the perpetrators, firing his weapon weak handed, while his strong hand was applying pressure to his wounds. I work in the same command with Ivan, he is resting comfortably in the hospital, and is expected to make a complete recovery. He should be released from the hospital shortly. Watching the video and hearing him talk about the action first hand is incredible. You can see in the video how he reverted to the training we have received to take cover, change positions if needed, and never give up the fight even if injured. Great Job Ivan, I am sure the Firearms and Tactics Section will use your story and video to help train future officers. http://www.nypost.co...OCVBYo4jCeHOtvI surveillance video of the shooting EmtBravo incident alert: http://www.emtbravo....er-shot-102412/

the GCT FIre/EMS cart was out and pre-staged at Track 36.

That will probably be it for tonight, and give others a chance to post their photos..

Red Carpet treatment The Hickory Creek, a 1947 observation car for the 20th Century Limited

the Tonawanda Valley built in 1928 for the New York Central Parts of Metro North's Inspection train, which were buil;t in 1949 for the Erie Lackawanna "Phoebe Snow" train

BL14 built by Brookville in 2008 fro Metro North for use in yard and work service. It uses several smaller more efficient gen-sets as opposed to one large engine

RS-3m built in 1952 for the Delaware Lackawanna & Western in 1952. It was retired in 2001, and donated to the Danbury Railway Museum Controls Long hood

Detective Marcano was recognized by President Obama as one the nations top police officers. http://bronx.news12.com/news/bronx-detective-ivan-marcano-honored-with-top-cop-award-from-obama-1.5243153?firstfree=yes

This weekend the celebration of Grand Central Terminal's 100th Anniversary continues with a 'Parade of trains' on tracks 37 to 34. Vintage train cars and locomotives with be on display from various groups. Per the website and flyers handed out "NO BACKPACKS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE DISPLAY AREAS". Also no storage of bags will be provided. Here is a link to schedule of events, and a list of equipment to be displayed to the public. http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/centennial/event.cfm?eventid=2145406609

Just got back, It was packed. I got to Grand Central just before 10 am. They had everyone who was attending load onto trains on tracks 39 and 40 so you could sit in air conditioned cars, and wait to be walked over to track 37 (entrance to the exhibit). I waited almost 45 minutes to get into the exhibit, and once inside they was a ton of people. The Metro North employees and volunteers working the exhibit we great! I know they had a rough day with the number of people trying to get in. Lots to see. I got out of the exhibit almost around noon. There was so much to see that I started to get tired, and ended up skipping some of the exhibits (after awhile the interiors of the different sleepers started to look alike.). IF you skip waiting for the interiors, i would a lot quicker, but for some, it was worth it. I know when I left, they we lining people up on the ramp to the lower level, and then bringing them into the exhibits. Vanderbilt Hall was packed to the point that I skipped it. I will try to post some photos later on.

I am going to go tomorrow, just not sure of the times yet. I found these photos of equipment at Stamford waiting to be brought down to Grand Central: http://www.subchat.com/read.asp?Id=1221037 Almost forgot, the Transit Authority will be running some of its Museum cars on the Times Square shuttle as well. Seth, as or the M3, best time to get one is during rush hour either from or to North White Plains. Very rare to see one venture up to Southeast these days.

I am not sure how strict they will be with the camera bags. With that said, I will probably wear cargo pants/shorts and tuck an extra lens into a pocket, and tough if out with the camera around my neck for the day.

Probably a limited number, so that the Chinese factories have something to copy

Then why bother getting vest, to keep it for certain calls. Guaranteed to be useless then. The calls where fire/EMS were ambushed were called in as regular everyday calls. Most of the ambush calls, a regular bullet resistant best would have done nothing to protect the crews, either due to the size of the weapon being used, or the close proximity. At close range a vest may stop a round, but the shooter, if intent to kill people, has a greater chance to hit vital unprotected areas of the body. A level III best will not stop a rifle round, unless you add additional armor plating to it, which adds weight, retains heat and moisture (sweat). As for the vests that advertise as lighter weight, or more flexible, I am personally more questioning of their claims. There was one vest a few years ago that had to recalled when it was found the fibers were degrading faster than designed, offering less protection

Then why bother getting vest, to keep it for certain calls. Guaranteed to be useless then. The calls where fire/EMS were ambushed were called in as regular everyday calls. Most of the ambush calls, a regular bullet resistant best would have done nothing to protect the crews, either due to the size of the weapon being used, or the close proximity. At close range a vest may stop a round, but the shooter, if intent to kill people, has a greater chance to hit vital unprotected areas of the body. A level III best will not stop a rifle round, unless you add additional armor plating to it, which adds weight, retains heat and moisture (sweat). As for the vests that advertise as lighter weight, or more flexible, I and personally more questioning of their claims. There was one vest a few years ago that had to recalled when it was found the fibers were degrading faster than designed, offering less protection

It does not have to be an AK or AR style rifle to defeat a vest. Any hunting rifle, weather it is a bolt action or a semi automatic rifle, it will defeat a bullet resistant vest. It is the size and speed of the ammo. Lets be fair, in the rural area you are more likely to encounter rifles and shotguns than handguns as more people hunt. The vests that stop these rounds are too bulky and restrictive to wear all the time. Urban areas are more likely to encounter handguns (legal or not) which, a vest would have a chance to stop, again dependent on the size and speed of the ammunition being fired at it.

Here is a video on how the KO Fire Curtain works

Thanks, working in the Bronx I mostly interact with Stations 15 and 20 (White Plains Rd and Jacobi Hospital). The Dodges a few and far between from what I have seen.

As usual, work interfered with buffing a fire, and I got there around 0820, almost 2 hours into the fire. Looking north from the Gun Hill Road #2 subway platform

Here is a pretty good link that explains the different levels of vets protection and why it will stop a bullet, but not a knife. http://www.safeguardarmor.com/body-armor-levels/ They do sell ballistic inserts for the vests that can defeat knifes, but they are niot that large, and mostly cover teh center of the chest, not the entire coverage area of the vest. I am not totally against EMS wearing vest, but I often get the impression that "we need these, so lets buy a couple and put them on every rig." If you are going to do it, do it right. Have the vest professionally sized, and purchased for each member that rides. Assign it to only that person. No sharing. Make them wear it every call, regardless if grandma fell and broke her hip, inter hospital transports, or it is an assault call with weapons involved. We do not share turnout gear or stethoscopes do we?. It will do you no good sitting in a compartment of an ambulance when the fecal matter hits the fan. YOU WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO PUT IT ON THEN. I also find it funny that the quieter suburban and rural areas always seem to push for this, when the guys running around the busy urban areas, who often have vest assigned to them and it never leaves their locker in the station. The argument that our PD doesn't get dispatched to our EMS runs is the same in both. Yes, the NYPD will be dispatched to a lot of the aided calls, but when they are short handed, or extremely busy, the PD is not going to get there until everything is over most times. Is there really a need for the vests, or is this a "this is the latest greatest thing, we need to be the best" nonsense that wastes tons or resources to never be used.