{"id":115229,"date":"2020-11-19T04:23:46","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T01:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-metro-north-conductor-has-seen-it-all\/"},"modified":"2020-11-19T04:23:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T01:23:46","slug":"this-metro-north-conductor-has-seen-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-metro-north-conductor-has-seen-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"#This Metro-North conductor has seen it all"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#This Metro-North conductor has seen it all<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Fisticuffs, drunks throwing up, not-so-sneaky sex and the ritual scalping of rule-breakers on the quiet car \u2014 Metro-North conductor Michael Shaw saw it all during his 36 years working the New Haven line into Grand Central Terminal.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the wise-cracking 55-year-old, who retired in September, was devoted to the passengers he got to know so well during the typical two-hour journey between the two cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a special bond among commuters and conductors on Metro-North,\u201d he told The Post. \u201cIt\u2019s not like the subway, where you\u2019re travel<\/a>ing with a million different people every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, you can ride the same train for five years, sit next to the same person every day and banter with the regular employees. After a while, you become friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Shaw is celebrating his affection for his former job with the publication of a hilarious, frequently touching memoir called: \u201cMy Rail Life: Stories of a Railroad Conductor.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In it, the North Haven, Connecticut resident explains how he followed in the footsteps of his late conductor father, Robert, by starting first as a porter at the age of 18 in 1984 and then being promoted to the ticket-collecting position eight months later. In total, six of Robert\u2019s eight children wound up working for Metro-North at various times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe railroad is in our blood,\u201d said Shaw. \u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine having any other career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Conductor
Conductor Michael Shaw has penned a memoir, titled \u201cMy Rail Life: Stories of a Railroad Conductor.\u201d<\/span>Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was fairly green in the beginning: getting stations mixed up and mispronouncing stops such as Mamaroneck. But his confidence grew at a similar rate to his trademark mischief-making.<\/p>\n

Three weeks into the job, he took revenge on a drunken male model who boarded the train without a ticket or cash, then mocked Shaw for earning \u201cpennies\u201d while he pocketed \u201cmillions.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the scofflaw kicked off his pricey brogues and passed out, an angry Shaw quietly picked up one of the shoes, walked back to his train cab and hurled it out of the window. \u201cI\u2019d never done anything like this before or after that day,\u201d he assured readers of his self-published book.<\/p>\n

Most altercations involved passengers. One Monday morning, Shaw broke up a fight between a diminutive attorney and a burly businessman, both in their 40s. The pair \u2014 who habitually sat in the same seats \u2014 had gotten into a steaming row after the lawyer rested her injured, cast-encased foot on his chosen seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were plenty of other places to sit and the man was rude, but he wasn\u2019t wrong to tell her to remove her foot,\u201d recalled the conductor. \u201cThe tiny attorney jumped up and punched the big guy in the face. There was blood pouring down his nose and his glasses were broke.\u201d Transit cops arrived and each party pressed charges.<\/p>\n

\u2018I couldn\u2019t imagine having any other career.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, to keep up morale and entertain, Shaw used the public address system to make witty announcements. On the day Pope Francis visited New York in 2015, he rewrote the lyrics to \u201cHallelujah\u201d with a Metro-North theme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other times, he launched a contest asking commuters to wear clothes in the same color as the new monthly pass, punched tickets with a baby kangaroo under his arm \u2014 \u201cA young man got on at Bridgeport with a joey,\u201d he explained \u2014 and insisted that a railway-obsessed boy with autism take over the microphone to list the stations. \u201cThe delight on his face spoke volumes,\u201d said Shaw.<\/p>\n

But his well-meaning nature got him into trouble in 2014. On a freezing cold Friday afternoon, he mistakenly told folks waiting on packed platforms not to worry because there was another train right behind. And so on the following Monday,\u00a0 the then-48-year-old placed 500 unauthorized apology letters on passengers\u2019 seats.<\/p>\n

The very personal mea culpa<\/em> made headlines, but incensed his bosses. He escaped disciplinary action on that occasion but wasn\u2019t as fortunate two years later when, as president of the Association of Commuter Rail Employees Local 1, he was suspended for 60 days. According to Shaw, his offense was sending an off-color text to a trainer administering a test for prospective conductors, jokingly asking for the answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a huge mistake that I was very embarrassed by,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

The irrepressible Shaw soon bounced back. He returned to his gig advising over-amorous lovers to \u201cput your clothes back on,\u201d policing the quiet car and placing bets with other staff over which plastered passenger staggering toward the train would puke first.<\/p>\n

Although he retired to spend more time with his wife, Tina, 52, and daughters, Chelsea, 28, and 26-year-old Caitlyn, he misses the daily routine, much like the hordes of commuters who no longer travel into Manhattan because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing beats the camaraderie and friendship I found on the New Haven line,\u201d concluded Shaw. \u201cAs soon as things settle down, New Yorkers need to get back on their trains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Shaw
Shaw developed a \u201ccamaraderie and friendship\u201d with his regular passengers.<\/span>Stefano Giovannini<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#This Metro-North conductor has seen it all” Fisticuffs, drunks throwing up, not-so-sneaky sex and the ritual scalping of rule-breakers on the quiet car \u2014 Metro-North conductor Michael Shaw saw it all during his 36 years working the New Haven line into Grand Central Terminal. Nonetheless, the wise-cracking 55-year-old, who retired in September, was devoted to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/metro-north-conductor-michael-shar-3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[80418,70649,80583,71562,72454,54556],"class_list":["post-115229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-18-20","tag-commuting","tag-conductor","tag-memoirs","tag-metro-north","tag-trains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}