Train Watching....

Go to 96th st & Park ave & watch the Trains going in and out of Grand Central Station. Only don't go at night.

Go to New Rochelle Junction and watch where the train split. One line go to Grand Central ( under Park Ave) & the other ( over the Hellgate)to Penn Station

Thanks Eddie

If you are willing to venture up to Rockland County, there are 2 nice spots at Bear Mountain.  One is at Iona Island and the other at the old Bear Mountain dock.  The Dock is a nice place because you can watch both the CSX freight trains and the Amtrak and Metro North trains across the river.  I must warn you that it gets very chilly up there this time of the year, especially on the dock!   If you want to go to Bergen County NJ for NJ Transit, Ridgewood is one of my favorite spots!

~Jeffrey

I'll second Iona Island. When I lived on LI, my son and I would go up there 2-3 times a year. It is a nature preserve just south of the Bear Mountain bridge on the west side of the Hudson River. 

 The scenery is excellent and you will likely meet other railfans there. The best route up from LI is (assuming you aren't crazy enough to do the trip during rush hour) Cross Bronx to GW bridge, get in right lane and jump on to Palisades Parkway to its end which is at a traffic circle. Leave the circle to go south on 9W and keep watching on the left side for the small sign that says Iona Island. Drive in and you will come to a RR crossing. Don't go across, park on either side before the crossing. Best times to see trains are early morning and late afternoon. If you get back on 9W North there is a deli not far past the traffic circle where the Palisades Pkwy meets 9W.

We would leave about 5-6 AM, see the morning trains, then go up to the deli for lunch and return for the afternoon trains. To beat rush hour you either leave by 2 PM or leave after 7 PM. The longer daylight in the summer works better than the shorter winter days.

Searching Iona Island will get you lots more information. You can probably "drive" the route on Google Earth. The street level view will show you exactly where the left turn for Iona Island is.

Thanks gents!!! Great idea. Going to plan a day real soon.

Right across the turnpike from Newark airport is the busiest container terminal around  CSX and NS fuel their engines there too.  At the border of Bayonne and Jersey City you can watch the arrival of the Tropicana juice train everyday.  The neighborhood is called Greenville.  The yard is shared by NY/NJ Rail and Jersey Shore.   Both of these are small short lines  NY/NJ rail is the last car float operation in NY harbor

There are four clubs on Long Island that have awesome layouts.  NLOE is on hempstead Tpke , TrainMasters of Babylon TMB, Central Operating lines in Ronkonkama, and there is also a club in Garden City that I forget the name of.