Growing up in and around New York City all my life I have rode many trains but always of the electric variety, from electric subway trains to electric commuter trains. This Thanksgiving all that changed as I got to ride on a diesel train for the very first time in my life. I was heading upstate a little ways to my brothers house for the holiday. I boarded an electric commuter train at my usual local stop heading north. A few stops later I had to change trains to a train that heads all the way up to where my brother lives. A few minutes later a train pulled by a diesel locomotive pulls in and the conductor tells me its my connecting train. Even though the line is electrified all the way up to my brothers stop the line further north is not electrified and runs on diesel. As I rode I got to thinking... this is a first time experience for me. For the first time in my entire life I was actually riding on a train pulled by a real diesel locomotive.