#3926 Derailment at NYP

A New Jersey Transit train has derailed entering New York's Penn Station. The train was heading for track 9, according to the local news. There's no online link yet. NYP shut down (again!).

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Pe ... 53303.html

Local TV (NBC) news report.

This morning, my train (3926 NEC from Trenton to NYP) derailed as it was pulling into Track 9 at New York Penn. Was lead by an ALP-46 pulling a consist of multi-levels.

We were already about ten minutes late, doing the usual crawl into Penn in the morning. The platforms were in sight, and we were only going a few MPH and I suddenly began to feel a series of forward and backward jerks. The train slowed, then moved some more - and more back and forth jerking. Finally it stopped with two cars on the platform of 9/10. About five minutes passed, and crew announced that due to a problem everyone would have to walk forward to exit.

I was in the second car, so I got off quickly. Looking back, I could see a car towards the rear at a very awkward angle over a switch. Mild acrid smoke smell. Apparently some customers had to navigate between the derailed cars through a rather tight squeeze in the doorways. Police and crew were hustling against us across the platform immediately after we got off.

The derailment was just west of tracks 9/10 - so in the "area" of where the derailment a week and half ago occurred - but didn't appear to be on the exact location.

I was on the train - NJT 3926.

I posted about it over in NJT forum:
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=165085" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

News report including photos: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/0 ... o_new.html

Directing the focus to Amtrak operations, as of a few moments ago, Train Status shows only minor delays, i.e. 10-15 min, for NYP arrivals.

The Local NBC reporter implied to me that the entire station had been shut down, which conflicts with Train Status.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Directing the focus to Amtrak operations, as of a few moments ago, Train Status shows only minor delays, i.e. 10-15 min, for NYP arrivals.

The Local NBC reporter implied to me that the entire station had been shut down, which conflicts with Train Status.

NJ Transit's departure board (which includes Amtrak Northeast Regionals) indicates that not much is getting through. I tried to get train status for 141 from amtrak.com and it says "Status currently unavailable due to a service disruption."

I was on Keystone Service train 600 with a ticket to New York. Train 600 terminated at Newark. PATH cross-honored
Amtrak and NJ Transit tickets. However, I missed my reason for going to NY, so I changed my NY return ticket for a Newark to Philly ticket and went home.

How many cars actually derailed? Wonder if there were cars fouling the ladder track?
This derailment did not stop Empire service in its tracks like the 3/24 accident did.
Andy

I was on the train - but I'm not sure the exact number derailed. I read three cars had derailed towards the middle of the train today on one of the news sites (from my vantage point at car two it appeared around the fourth car and beyond. Was a 10 car train of multi-levels.

It was on the approach to track 9/10, so it is fouling up a significant number of tracks. Also - the multi-levels are heavy, large cars, so I'm sure with the tight clearances getting them out of there will be a challenge - not to mention the damage to the track.

From the acrid electrical burning smell it seemed like it might have hit the third rail.

JamesRR wrote:I was on the train - but I'm not sure the exact number derailed. I read three cars had derailed towards the middle of the train today on one of the news sites (from my vantage point at car two it appeared around the fourth car and beyond. Was a 10 car train of multi-levels.

It was on the approach to track 9/10, so it is fouling up a significant number of tracks. Also - the multi-levels are heavy, large cars, so I'm sure with the tight clearances getting them out of there will be a challenge - not to mention the damage to the track.

From the acrid electrical burning smell it seemed like it might have hit the third rail.

The approach of 9/10 going into track 9 means a good chunk of tracks are cut out from access:

• The closest two switches on the west end of Track 9 provide access to tracks 1 through 7.
• Depending on where the trains are, track 8 may be accessible... but it's highly likely they're going to consider it fouled anyway.
• Track 10 can be worked around, but I bet the caternary power is shut off on that entire track.
• Empire Service I think can do track 8, 7, and 6.
• NJ Transit needs caternary line, so that'll be tracks 11 on to 17... but some of those are shared by LIRR trains, so dropping service or not going into NYP is the best choice. The LIRR is also dropping 10 trains in the morning and turning some back at Jamaica to give some room.

It's not going to be very fun to get into NYP...

Santoro can't get a break! Crashes and derailments are stacking up faster than NJT can clear the hurdles. Perhaps a sign of a tragic level of government funding? A low speed derailment in Penn Station is one thing. A high speed derailment on the M&E going through one of the downtown stations could take out half the town. The disinvestment gamble is rearing it's ugly head.

Disclaimers for trolls: I realize these events are not interconnected, since Penn Station tracks involve more than one transit. These are my own opinions, not statements of fact or suggestions of fact. I realize that even a high level of investment would not protect against some incidents.

This - the most recent NJT and Amtrak derailments should serve as a wake-up call for NJT and Amtrak. Derailments and the myriad of other, less serious delays are only going to be increasing as time moves forward. The Hudson river tunnels, and NY Penn station trackage is deteriorating at an increasing rate, and will continue to do so until the entire segment of the NEC is rebuilt. And the only way that can happen, is if Amtrak's "Gateway" project is put of the fast track, so the old tunnels and station trackage can be replaced.

If we are really going to "make America great again", we need to start with its infrastructure, and especially its transit systems. We are far behind all the other developed countries in this respect. I find this to be embarrassing, and unacceptable.

CP

Can we please keep the discussion around the incident?

Most station tracks are back in service, though there's some severe restrictions in A interlocking which is causing all the service reductions.

LIRR is using 10-12 at peak hours while NJT/Amtrak have taken over 13-16.