Bonus Post, for the model railroaders here... Rapido Trains was in attendance at the event, showcasing some of their Metro-North related items (EMD FL9s and a new run of Bombardier Shoreliner cars), but most importantly... teasing us with GE P32AC-DMs in HO Scale.

...thru the Hudson Highlands and past Storm King and Bannerman Castle/Pollepel Island, before arriving into Beacon. Here we waited for some northbound traffic to pass us before heading back to Croton-Harmon. All in all, a great day out! 🚂

...up past the Citadel that is West Point, and the Constitution Island Marsh. The stretch between Peekskill and Beacon is the most fjord-like part of the Hudson Valley. Do you get points if you catch another Heritage unit on a passing train? This was Metro-North's Conrail Heritage Unit.

More shots from the Fall Foliage Train. Still pretty green, so I estimate peak color by the middle-to-late part of the month. As I often go to Mine Dock Park to railfan, it was neat seeing it from a different perspective.

Unlike last years, this was a time-ticketed event, and after 80 minutes, we were back at Croton-Harmon Station. But like other years, there was a free fall-foliage train ride up the Hudson River! The leaves are just staring to change, so not a lot of color just yet. Still, you have great views!

Returning to Harmon was Metro Man! The mascot of Metro-North's safety program, originally built in-house at Harmon and modeled on the M1/M3 EMUs. What a friendly looking guy! Also about was the 2nd Metro Man, modeled on the M7 EMUs. He was slightly more goofy-looking then I remember as a child.

The Croton Shop Open Houses allow the public to get an idea of things they never get to see, and how the railroad is run and maintained by different departments.

Here's a closer look at Metro-North's "Tribute to Metro North Employees" unit. Both sides of the locomotive feature graphics that is actually a mosaic of Metro-North Employee photographs. I personally love the fact that Cornelius Vanderbilt is part of this too.

Here's Metro North 5010, the "Laser Train"! This is a Bombardier Comet III cab car converted in 2022 to a special purpose rail-cleaner car tat removes leaves off the track by laser! Yes, that is a cat and a shark with laser-beam eyes. One of the proposed wrap designs incorporated them.

For someone that models a tangentially related railroad, the Ex-DL&W Phoebe Snow Tavern Lounge cars 789 and 790 were on display and a great treat. Today, they are used as Metro-North Inspection Cars MN1 and MN2. I love the little MTA logo above the door on MN1!