#Delaware and Hudson

[coolthingsguyslike]

[collinthenychudson]

I bet some of you should've expected me to build Norfolk Southern's Delaware & Hudson heritage unit. And on top of that, this is my first time using Vibrant Visuals for anything Minecraft related.

Credits to CraftyFoxe for the SD70ACe design

[aryburn-trains]

MNCR 5043, Katonah, NY, 1983

Metro-North's early days were not easy, A southbound Harlem Line train approaches Katonah the morning after a blizzard dumped more than two feet on the area on February 13, 1983. A former New Haven FL9 leads a set of coaches originally rebuilt for Delaware & Hudson/Amtrak Adirondack service.

Art Deeks photo

[20th-century-railroading]

DH 49

A bit of a sad sight, U33Cs 757 and 754 wasting away out behind the main shop building at Colonie in May of 1987.

[lonestarbattleship]

USS Delaware (BB-28) during the Fleet Review on the Hudson River, New York.

Photographed on October 3, 1911.

NARA: 55167376

[saddlebums]

Proper British Bikes at Bikes and Breakfast... ...and Proper British behavior at Van Sant Historic Airfield

It was all unofficial of course, but a plethora of British iron some how (cheeky!) made its way to Bikes & Breakfast in Palisades, New York this past Sunday. After that I rode my imitation Brit bike (Kawasaki W800 Cafe) to the Van Sant Historic Airfield in Erwinna, Pennsylvania. Still on a high from seeing British front drum brakes I channeled the naughty Benny Hill -- and got away with it without being given what for.

Music: God Save the King performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hilary Davan Wetton, conductor, and Mr. Airplane Man by Howlin' Wolf (yes, I combined them indeed)

[fuckinuhhh]

Take a Walk 09/22/24 - Albany, NY Special Edition

Just a note to the 3 day-one fans/followers of my take a walk commentary series, I have a few posts to catch up on that are dated and slated to be put together as soon as I find the time. But I just wanted to get this special edition out as soon as I could because its fresh and I have the motivation to and this one is short. (And because this is my blog, and I make the rules, and were doing this one first!!)

While I was visiting my friends in Albany, a place I called home for a number of years, I had some time to kill so my old friend and I decided to take a long walk and shoot some photos. :)

First off we have the Hinckel Brewery building originally built as just the right-most building in 1855, with additions made in subsequent years as the business began to grow to be one of the biggest beer distributors in the Northeast even rivaling Anheuser-Busch and Samuel Adams during the early 1900's.

The original architect is unknown, but to the best of my understanding many of the building's interiors as well as the surrounding building complex have been modernized and incorporated into the @HudsonPark apartment scheme. I wasn't able to find a lot of info on the apartments that exist therein within the apartment complex, and they don't exactly have rave reviews on sites like google and apartments.com.

When we walked into the small inner concrete courtyard underneath the old docking bay in the office building, the vibe was very vacant aside from being locked and then this strange noise I caught of one of the seemingly-annoyed tenants who wasn't happy we were all up in their business. (either that or it was a ghost, give the sound a listen in the last 5 seconds of this video and let me know lol).

-

Then we walked past some of my favorites, that I neglected to get pictures of -_- bc I didn't think I would be making this post, BUT that I'll def be able to get pictures of from my archives/google. I'll throw together a short run through of those real quick and then get to the main event.

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The Van Ostrande-Radliff House at 48 Hudson Ave, a must see (even if you cant see much) in Albany. This is the oldest standing building in the city, originally built in 1728. Preservation efforts are ongoing to restore it to its former charm, but it remains covered for the time being so as to not fall into further disrepair. I recommend checking out the sick pictures that Historic Albany Foundation has on their website of the current interior.

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Down the street is the SUNY Headquarters Building, an old railroad building that served the state capitol under the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Co. Architect Marcus T. Reynolds designed this one, it was originally built as six separate buildings from 1915 on and connected to form one continuous structure, this imposingly beautiful Flemish Gothic building is one of my personal favorites in downtown Albany.

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Turning around we see this beautifully ornate neo-classical building at the corner of State St. & Broadway. Originally built as the Albany Trust Company building in 1902, also by architect Marcus T. Reynolds! This building has such a striking facade and the renaissance revival dome is truly an architectural masterpiece (if not bordering on a little gaudy). I was so lucky to find out they had just given it a fresh spruced up paint job when I walked by it! Today it operates as the SUNY Research Foundation building.

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Then juuuust up the street 2 buildings away is BY FAR my favorite little guy in the city (I would treat her so right, please god give me a chance).

This is 63 State St. Being built originally by one of my favorite architects, Russell Sturgis in 1876 for the Mechanics & Farmers Bank. For such a small sliver of a property footprint this building just does so much right with its balance of form and ornament. The turret on the corner is stunningly delicate, as well as the bright red brick to complement the light sandy stone. Not to mention that beautifully ornate third floor circle window. This building changed hands a couple times throughout the centuries but retains the old vault door in the basement as well as the brass fixtures and marble floorings inside that give it quite the stately presence upon entering.

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How could I not include the most imposingly large, ornate, stately, balanced (every other adjective I've ever used on this blog...) building in Albany, the state capitol building!? Main architect: Henry Hobson Richardson, along with Leopold Eidlitz, Thomas Fuller, and Isaac G. Perry. Finished in 1899 after 32 years!

I'm going to keep this very brief because we only stopped here briefly on our walk and this building deserves it's own deep dive post at some point anyway. Plus it isn't even the aforementioned "Main Event" of our walk. But the detail in the scrolling on the columns here is absolutely insane. My friend and I were discussing it's architectural style/influences and we weren't completely convinced it falls into any one, Italianate/Neoclassical/Victorian/Georgian/Flemish/Gothic/Spanish influences... the confluence of styles in this design is absolutely masterful. As well as whether one would consider the columns corinthian or not, maybe composite? But just take a look at these bad boys, I would sit and take a full semester's course just on the symbolism sprinkled in and throughout this structure.

The scrolling is unique on EVERY column and sprinkled with tons of historical imagery and symbolism but they all have the same visual weight and if you weren't paying attention you'd never notice.

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If you think nothing could compete with the capital building's insanely intricate detail look across the street for it's closest competitor, The State Education Department building and Chancellor Hall at 89 Washington Ave. I think I remember thinking for a long time this was my favorite Albany building for years before discovering the charming old gothic bank building on lower State St.

Spanning a whole city block (a long one) is this building's imposing Greek-revival corinthian colonnade with 36 massive columns along it! Another scale-defying building joining the capitol building at you-have-to-see-it-in-person scale, the columns on this bad boy are comparable to the width of a redwood tree (see the picture of my legs as I lay down between them to get shots of the ceiling).

Originally Built in 1911 by architect Henry Hornbostel, this building has retained it's integrity and intention by functioning as the base of operations for the NY state education system since its completion. Its structure and facade, including the intricate brass lighting fixtures and the beautiful tiling along its exterior, has been kept in immaculate condition and is incredible to look at in person. This is another architectural feat with such minute detailing that I could sit there with an expert for probably weeks just in awe of it's symbols and attention to detail. I sat there for about 20 minutes when we visited it just looking at it and taking its beauty in. This is the type of building that just transports you somewhere else when you really take it in, it could've easily been cherry picked from the acropolis and plopped in upstate New York and you wouldn't question it thats how beautifully true to form it feels in person.

I didn't know I would be making this post in the moment while taking the walk so I don't have a dishonorable mention, but if you've ever been to Albany, NY you know there are far too many of those to ever pick from so I'm going to give myself a pass this time.

[autotrails]

American Auto Trail-Delaware & Hudson Canal (Kerhonkson to Cuddebackville NY)

American Auto Trail-Delaware & Hudson Canal (Kerhonkson to Cuddebackville NY) https://youtu.be/rjWLWJQ9ZkU This American auto trail explores the path of the Delaware & Hudson Canal in southeastern New York State.

[todays-xkcd]

Running for office in Minnesota on the single-issue platform 'dig a permanent channel through the Traverse Gap because it will make this map more satisfying.'

Dubious Islands [Explained]

Transcript Under the Cut

[Title:] Dubious Islands of North America [Subtitle:] And the waterways that separate them

[A map of mainland North America, down to the Panama isthmus. It is internally separated by various waterways, given labels or otherwise.]

[Separating land approximating Nunavut (with some Northern Territories) from neighbouring Canada:] Mackenzie Athabasca Churchill

[Comprising the much of the remainder of Canada, much of the northern United States (including Alaska), additionally separated by:] Columbia Snake Madison Missouri Chicago

[Unlabelled, some of the Great Lakes and the channel past Quebec] [An incursive gap near the central point, from the north:] Nelson Red [An internal label, with arrow:] Traverse Gap [An incursive gap near the central point, from the south:] Mississippi [A separate fragment of land south of the Madison, in the western half of the land-mass, bordered to its south by:] Yellowstone [A small fragment off the southen part of the western edge, an arrow and a label:] Chehalis/Black Lake

[Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and parts of the adjacent US, disconnected by:] Champlain Hudson [Label with an arrow on the east coast:] Cape Cod Canal

[A small triangle of territory, further isolated by:] Erie

[Most of the Eastern Seaboard of the US, additionally divided off by:] Tombigbee

[Fragment of land shorn from the northern part of the eastern edge, label with arrow:] Chesapeake and Delaware Canal [Fragment of land shorn from the tip of Florida, label with arrow:] Okeechobee Waterway

[Strip of land west of the Tombigbee, bounded also to its west by:] Mississippi [Fragment of land immediately to its south, with a nearby label and arrow:] Atchafalaya

[The remainder of the continent; comprising much of the US, all of Mexico and various central American territories, with a final tip of the eastwards-bending isthmus:] Panama Canal

[emo-batboy]

Tbh I was always under the impression Metropolis is NYC and Gotham is Boston. Like iirc Arkham is based on an asylum that was in Danvers MA? The east coast city rivalry vibes feel pretty identical to me. Gotham's organized crime has big whitey bulger energy to me idk.

Gotham has always been adjacent to NYC.

Before DC decided NYC was a real place in their universe, Gotham and Metropolis were considered to be the light and dark side of the same Bay Area, taking up residence where NYC would be. Afterwards, Gotham has always been placed squarely across the Hudson River from NYC in North NJ. Until they couldn’t decide where Metropolis is.

Metropolis is a child of divorce.

The first time DC claimed it was in Delaware was the 70’s. (I don’t know why. They just did.) I think DC realized that making NYC a part of the universe meant they couldn’t make Gotham and Metropolis twin cities anymore so now, whenever they want to bring that dynamic back, they either ignore NYC altogether or move Gotham to the Delaware Bay and claim Metropolis is in Delaware.

But ever since Metropolis was a city, it’s been in NY. It’s been in NY since the 30’s. Usually, it’s placed somewhere above Manhattan, particularly near Westchester or just outside of the NY Metropolitan Area. So in my head, it’s about an hour above NYC but still west of Connecticut.

I like the concept of them being twin cities, but they have such different vibes that I can’t imagine them being right beside one another, and I think a lot of comic writers know that too. So I always place Metropolis in NY. Maybe it’s further upstate like DC sometimes claims, but Gotham and Metropolis are always within three hours of each other without fail.

But yeah, the more you know :) toodles

[zponds]

What-If: American Railroads — Maps

I deeply apologize for not coming back to this alternate railroad history topic in over a year, I’ve had a lot of other things to do and i merely scratched the surface of this railroad history topic. and therefore, I’ve thought long and hard about this whole thing.

Aside from that apology, i thought to myself since I have Procreate, why not make maps of the 20 American railroads in my alternate history about said American railroads? And that’s what I did. Each map below shows the 20 railroads after they absorbed the smaller railroads as well as some of them expanding their networks in the 1980s wherever possible.

New York Central — this map shows the New York Central after the road to the future absorbed Boston & Maine, New Haven , Delaware & Hudson, Rutland Railroad, Bangor & Aroostook, Central Vermont And Maine Central railroads.

2. Pennsylvania Railroad — This map shows the size of the Pennsylvania Railroad after it absorbed Lehigh New England, Reading Lines/Railroad, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, Lehigh Valley, Lehigh and Hudson River, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Grand Trunk Western and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines railroads.

3. Chesapeake & Ohio — This map shows the Chesapeake & Ohio after it acquired the Erie Railroad, Lackawanna Railroad and New York, Ontario & Western Railway, plus the northern section of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad throughout the 50s and 60s, as well as expanding its network in the 80s.

4. Baltimore & Ohio — This map shows how big the Baltimore & Ohio got after America’s first railroad absorbed Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, Western Maryland, Wabash, Ann Arbor, Virginian railroads.

5. Union Pacific — Here, this is how big Union Pacific got after absorbing the Western Pacific and Rio Grande railroads, as well as adding more mainlines in the eighties.

6. Southern Pacific — This map shows the Southern Pacific after adding more mainlines to its network in the eighties.

7. Northern Pacific — For this map, it shows how big the Northern Pacific Railway got after absorbing the Chicago Great Western and Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range railroads, as well as adding more mainlines to its network in the eighties.

8. Milwaukee Road — This map shows how big the Milwaukee Road got after the “Route of the Hiawatha” expanded its network by widening its existing mainlines and adding more mainlines (wherever possible) and expanding to northeastern Minnesota throughout the eighties.

9. Burlington Route — This map shows the Burlington Route after it absorbed the Kansas City Southern in the early 1960s and later expanded its network in the eighties.

10. Chicago & NorthWestern — This map shows the size of Union Pacific’s ancient partner; the Chicago & NorthWestern, after it absorbed the Wisconsin Central and the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroads in the 60s plus expanding its network in the 80s.

11. Illinois Central — This network map shows how big the Illinois Central got after acquiring the Cotton Bell Route in the 60s plus expanding its network in the 80s.

12. Gulf Mobile & Ohio — This map shows the size of the arch rival of the Illinois Central; the Gulf Mobile & Ohio, after it acquired the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and Missorui-Kansas-Texas railroads

13. Norfolk & Western — Here, the map of the Norfolk & Western shows how big the N&W got after absorbing Nickel Plate Road and the (original) Norfolk Southern in throughout the 50s and 60s.

14. Southern Railway — This map of the Southern Railway shows how big the Southern got after absorbing Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railroad and the central section of the Louisville & Nashville railroad in the 50s and 60s, as well as expanding its network in the 80s.

15. Seaboard Air Line — here, the Seaboard Air Line is shown how big it got after acquiring the Central of Georgia and West Point Route railroads plus the southern section of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.

16. Atlantic Coast Line — This map shows how big Atlantic Coast Line after it absorbed Clinchfield Railroad, Oneida and Western and Florida East Coast railroads throughout the late 50s to late 60s.

17. Santa Fe — This map shows the Santa Fe Railway after it absorbed half of the Frisco railroad in the early sixties and later expanded its network in the eighties.

18. Missouri Pacific — This map shows the size of the Missouri Pacific after it absorbed the other half of the Frisco railroad and the Texas & Pacific Railroad in the early to late sixties.

19. Great Northern — This map shows the size that Great northern Railway underwent after absorbing the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway and adding more mainlines.

20. Rock Island — This map right here shows how big the Chicago Rock island and Pacific Railroad, or the Rock Island Railroad for short, has gotten after absorbing the Colorado and Southern Railroad and adding more mainlines and connecting to other mainlines order Rock Island ownership.

And with that, these maps show how big the railroads above have gotten. And since I’ve just returned to this topic, I’ll dig deeper into my thoughts and ideas about how things would go in this alternate timeline, which includes more posts talking about the history and posts talking about the locomotives and liveries on said locomotives, so stay tuned for all that.

[guerrerense]

Shark Attack por James Belmont Por Flickr: John F. Bjorklund Photo • Doug Harrop Collection • July 23, 1975 A pair of Baldwin RF-16A "shark" locomotives idle in the Delaware & Hudson yard in Binghamton, New York. The streamlined diesels, built for the New York Central in January 1952, were acquired by the D&H from a scrap dealer in 1974, in exchange for an equal value of scrap steel. The "sharks" were used in both freight and passenger excursion service until retirement in April 1978. Apparently No. 1216 still exists,

[bellobambino]

Hard Left at Liberty

Part 8 of Fugitive!Luigi Series 1,917w Action/Adventure!

Summary: Ben, Mateo, and Luigi cross the Hudson to join the New York City resistance group. Or whatever is left of it.

Warnings: bbbboat, boat

A/N: boat

Febuary 13, 2025

The boat was about the size of a bathtub. I don’t know how six of us got into it, but maybe we’re working with clown car magic. I'd never been particularly afraid of water, but then again, I'd never voluntarily paddled into the Hudson River at midnight before tonight, either.

“Mateo,” I whispered harshly, “did you know this boat was this fucking small?”

Mateo’s smile caught the moonlight, a crooked, mad gleam in the darkness. He shrugged casually, like we were about to go catch some waves in Maui.

"I didn't bring my tape measure, Luigi," he said, making a show of patting down his jacket. "you want dimensions, next time ask in advance."

I want to strangle him.

Ben, next to me, chuckled softly, though it felt forced. He’d been unusually quiet ever since we'd stepped off the pier into this glorified piece of driftwood. Maybe because he had the common sense the rest of us lacked. Or maybe he was worried we'd forgotten something essential—like common sense itself.

In front of me, Antony steered us expertly through the currents, looking impossibly comfortable for someone risking death by hypothermia or drowning or whatever else the Hudson decided to throw at us. He'd turned up breathless in Newark days earlier with news of Adams’s ambush. Now here we were, following him straight back into trouble.

Behind us, cramped but quiet, were the two guys from the Newark Resistance—Jack and Saul, I think. Jack was stocky, wore glasses, and carried a bag full of nodes to plant along the way. Saul was older, the silent type who probably had a dark backstory or at least a crippling caffeine addiction. I never got around to asking, and now wasn't exactly the time for bonding.

As we rowed steadily through the water, Mateo leaned toward me again. “Did you ever think you'd be sailing toward revolution, cousin? Like fucking Washington crossing the Delaware, but with much better hair.”

I rolled my eyes. “First, we're rowing. Second, no wigs involved. Third, just... shut the fuck up, Mateo.”

Ben coughed to mask another laugh, and Mateo’s eyes gleamed brighter. He was enjoying this far too much. But then again, Mateo enjoyed anything that had the remote possibility of ending catastrophically.

“Hard left at the statue,” Antony whispered suddenly, like we were casually making a turn off a highway exit. "And keep it quiet."

Lady Liberty loomed ahead, her torch raised against a sky that seemed too dark, too empty. Skyscrapers sit empty, becoming ever more looming as we get closer. In movies, this would’ve felt inspiring—heroic even. Instead, my gut clenched, reminding me exactly how fragile we were. Six idiots in a boat barely designed to cross a backyard pond, trying to topple a tyrant who had turned New York into a hellscape.

As we turned past Liberty Island, Jack handed me one of the mesh nodes. It was small and metallic, deceptively simple-looking for something carrying our best hope at rebuilding communications.

“Plant it high and out of sight,” Jack whispered, his glasses fogging slightly in the night air. 

"Yeah, I've done this before," I muttered, sounding confident only because I had to. The mesh network was my idea, after all. Didn't mean I wasn't sweating bullets at the thought of screwing it up.

We reached a half-submerged dock jutting from the edge of Governor’s Island. Ben jumped out first, silent and nimble, tethering the boat while Mateo sprang onto the dock like he'd spent his life as a pirate. Antony nodded to me, his face serious beneath the moonlight.

“You good, Luigi?”

I nodded back, swallowing nerves and trying to look capable. "Born ready."

Mateo snickered, dropping his voice into a mock-action-movie growl. "Careful now, our little revolutionary is feeling himself!"

Ignoring him, I scrambled out onto the dock, feeling the unstable wood sag beneath my feet. I glanced back at Saul, who remained in the boat, his eyes fixed calmly ahead, scanning the shadows for threats none of us wanted to imagine yet.

Jack, Antony, Mateo, Ben, and I slipped through the deserted streets, sticking to shadows, moving quickly and quietly. New York was unsettlingly quiet now, not even sirens or car horns—just empty echoes of lives evacuated or lost. It felt haunted, a city suspended in the eerie quiet of waiting for something worse.

We found our first node location quickly. A dark corner near an abandoned ferry terminal. Ben hoisted me onto his shoulders, giving me just enough height to wedge the device discreetly beneath a rusty fire escape.

“One down,” I whispered, climbing down quickly and landing on shaky legs.

We continued weaving quietly through alleyways, placing nodes carefully, always cautious. Antony guided us with quick nods and short gestures—he knew these streets intimately. He knew where militias patrolled, where snipers perched, where the enemy waited. If not for his eerie familiarity, we'd have probably walked straight into a trap.

We finally reached a spot overlooking the Lower East Side. Antony paused, eyes scanning intently. He turned to face us, his voice even quieter than before.

“Resistance rendezvous is three blocks north, old tenement building. But this next node—it goes right there.” He pointed to a billboard high above street level, a gaudy relic advertising Broadway shows.

Mateo raised an eyebrow, grinning widely, dangerously. "That's my kind of stage."

“Shit,” Ben murmured, catching my eye with clear concern. "That's exposed as hell."

But we all knew the node had to go there. Antony nodded gravely. “It’s high enough to connect most of lower Manhattan. Without it, the network breaks."

Mateo cracked his knuckles theatrically, shooting me that crazed grin. “Showtime, cousin."

I sighed, feeling adrenaline jolt through me. “Fine. But Mateo—if you get shot, I'm leaving you.”

He smirked, already striding boldly toward the ladder. "Love you too, Luigi."

As he ascended rapidly, silhouette clear against the night sky, I held my breath, waiting for a shot to ring out. Seconds stretched painfully until, at last, Mateo waved frantically from above—node installed. Relief flooded through me. The cugino is safe.

Back on the ground, Mateo slapped my shoulder, eyes gleaming madly. “See, Luigi? Change the world or die trying. Preferably not the second part.”

We slipped away quickly, heading toward the rendezvous, hearts pounding, alive with nervous triumph. But even as we moved, I couldn’t shake the creeping sensation that everything was still just hanging by a thread.

Mateo caught my eye one last time, reading my expression with uncomfortable ease.

“Relax, Luigi,” he whispered, voice manic and steady. “We’ve only just started lighting the fires.”

I nodded, pretending his madness was comforting. But deep down, I knew Mateo was right—this was the beginning. And this city was waiting, full of shadows and blood, ready to remind us exactly how fragile revolution could be.

Antony led us through the hollowed-out streets of Lower Manhattan like a ghost retracing the steps of its past life. The city wasn’t dead, not exactly, but it was in some kind of permanent twilight. Every building, every alley, every overturned car seemed to be holding its breath.

No one spoke. No one needed to. It was clear this wasn’t the New York I knew. The one with late-night halal carts and the buzz of subway stations and the occasional rat dragging an entire pizza slice down the stairs. No, this was something else—something picked clean and left to rot.

We moved quickly, Antony in front, us following close behind, heads low, boots soft against cracked pavement. He navigated with an ease that only came from having done this a hundred times before. He was different here—quieter, tenser, shoulders drawn up like he was waiting to be shot at.

Ben was right next to me, scanning everything, his hand never straying far from the pistol at his hip. Mateo, on the other hand, looked excited. He always did when things felt vaguely life-threatening.

We reached an old tenement building, six stories of busted-out windows and graffiti-covered walls, and Antony gave a quick, rhythmic knock against the metal door.

Nothing.

I shifted uneasily, the weight of my bag pressing against my shoulders. Inside it, I had what we’d come here for—a node, a tiny piece of tech that might be the first real lifeline these people had gotten in months. But standing here, outside a door that might never open, it all felt suddenly fragile.

Then—scrape.

The lock slid back. The door cracked open.

A gaunt face peered through the gap. The man behind it had deep-set eyes and the kind of look that said he hadn’t slept in a long time. He froze when he saw Antony.

“Holy shit,” he whispered.

Antony nodded, giving the guy a half-smile, half-grimace. “Yeah. I know.”

The door opened wider, revealing a dimly lit hallway filled with bodies—people crammed together, leaning against walls, sitting on the floor. Their heads turned toward us, the weight of their gazes pressing down like bricks. Some were whispering. Some just stared.

“Antony,” a voice called from deeper inside. A woman pushed her way forward, her face sharp and serious, her hair tied back in a tight bun. She stopped in front of him, arms crossed, not blinking.

“We thought you were dead,” she said.

Antony shrugged. “Yeah, well. Got distracted.”

The woman exhaled sharply, shaking her head. She didn’t look relieved. More like exhausted.

“Who are they?” she asked, jerking her chin toward us.

Antony turned to me, giving me the kind of nod that meant, Go ahead, tell them.

I cleared my throat.

“My name’s Luigi,” I said. “That’s Mateo, that’s Ben. We came from Newark.”

That word—Newark—sent a ripple through the room. People straightened. Murmurs passed between them.

I adjusted my bag, trying not to overthink the fact that I now had every single pair of eyes in the room locked on me. “We saw what happened from across the river,” I continued carefully. “We know the attack took out a lot of your infrastructure. We know comms went down. That’s why we’re here.”

I reached into my bag, pulled out the node, and held it up. It caught the dim light, a small, unassuming thing, just metal and wires and possibility.

“We’re setting up a mesh network,” I said. “No reliance on cell towers. No satellites. Just us. This connects you to Newark. It connects you to the rest of the resistance. It means you don’t have to fight blind anymore.”

Silence.

Then—movement.

People surged forward, pressing closer, eyes fixed on the node like it was a miracle.

The woman—the one who had confronted Antony—reached out, took it from my hand. She turned it over, examining it, her fingers running over the metal edges. When she looked up at me again, her expression had shifted.

“This works?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. And we’ll help you set it up.”

For the first time, her face softened.

Behind me, Mateo let out a low whistle. “Damn,” he muttered. “Almost feels like hope, Luigi.” He mocks some tears like an asshole.

Ben elbows him in the ribs.

The woman turns to the crowd. “Get Ray,” she calls out.

Someone disappeared deeper into the building. The air in the room changed. People looked at one another, the weight of their exhaustion still heavy, but now, just beneath it, something else was breaking through.

Hope.

It was a stupid thing to hope. We weren’t saving the world. We weren’t fixing everything. But we’d given them something they hadn’t had before.

A voice to the outside world.

[aryburn-trains]

First car is former D&H diner. Chappaqua, NY April 27, 1982

[20th-century-railroading]

Fresh Lightning Stripes by Erie Limited Via Flickr: Somewhat fresh from rebuilding at M-K in Mountaintop, PA, D&H 7401 poses for a portrait at Kenwood Yard in Albany. 7401 was outshopped about a month prior to this photo. In that time it acquired a bit of grime on the long hood. The following year it would be sold to CSX where it still operates today as CSXT 4309.

DH 7401 GP39-2 (ex-RDG 3401) July 17, 1990

[kyistell]

May we please have some NY hc’s? 👁️👁️

*not forcing*

I am so sorry for this being literal DAYS late, things happen but I still feel bad, anyway I shall deliver as it is better late than never!!

Doesn’t like planes (feel like it obvious why)

Can figure skate, likes to do so for 30 minutes as a warm up before hockey

He has a lot of scars, pretty much all on his chest and arms though he does have a good few on his legs

Met Delaware when he visited Netherlands home for the first time, he continued to visit every weekend until Netherland had to leave

Actually likes Netherland, way better than England that’s for sure

He found out that there was a another New state when he found New Mexico going through his kitchen, he still doesn’t have a single idea how NM had gotten there and neither does NM

Friendship bracelets, specifically Loom (the rubber bands)

He has some problems with his own humanity because while yes he is a state personification, he also had parents and has grandparents, something that pretty much every state except for a few have,  swimming in the Hudson didn’t help at all seeing as now he’s all sorts of something

While he and Jersey seem attached at the hip, they actually don’t spend nearly as much time together as the other states thing, yeah they are slightly attached at the hip but they will go weeks without a single hello at times

Hates change, he went through so much of it as a child that he can’t stand it now

Spinny chair go brrrrr

“I’m not autistic, I just don’t like you”

He can’t really drive, like he has his license but is terrified to use it in his own state, he prefers public transport in the city rather than driving and always lets Jersey drive whenever they are in a car

He doesn’t like fireworks, they are pretty much way to loud for him to be okay

Used to have a pet duck