A special St. Patrick’s Day parade timetable printed by Metro-North in 1996.
When it comes to the worst day to ride Metro-North Railroad, it is usually a tossup between New Year’s and St. Patrick’s Day. Both involve large crowds of people that have imbibed a bit too much. Most years I think St. Patrick’s is the clear winner (or loser, perhaps?), because when it falls on a work day you have a combination between the regular commmuters and the drunks, and it usually isn’t very fun. After all, I’d rather not step over passed out revelers, or in pools of vomit while heading home after a long day at work, thank you very much.
Thankfully, St. Patrick’s Day falls on a weekend this year, so there will be no clashes between commuters and partiers. Though if you’re feeling brave and looking to go to the parade, Metro-North will be offering extra trains, sans adult beverages. Alas we’re not cool enough to get a special holiday timetable like the one above, but oh well. Either way, we wish all the Irish… and the people pretending to be Irish a happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Erin go bragh. I came across your blog because of a mention in Railfan & Railroad Magazine. You do wonderful stuff. Thank you for sharing so much. I’m still digging through your postings on the Grand Central Terminal centennial.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you too!
Question: That bagpiper from ’96 looks very much like the cartoon figures that used to appear on NYCTA subway posters back in the early 60s. At first I thought that was absurd — they couldn’t possibly still be using the same artist — but then I noticed the silhouettes are all wearing hats. Do you have any idea if they dug an old TA cartoon out of the archives for this?