Derailment at NY 8/9/2011

I'm surprised at all the dissent towards the MLs. NJT's major incidents have occurred with various types of equipment - it was a Comet consist that derailed last October, some years ago (2002 or 03) I remember a major derailment of Arrow III equipment near Secaucus. Last summer it was the ALP46s shutting down due to the heat. I don't recall any abnormal number of incidents on revenue trains with MLs.

While NJT deserves a lot of blame for some of its problems, I think buying the ML equipment was one of the smarter moves in increasing capacity (and comfort) with no other immediate options.

Back to the derailment, on 880 this morning (8:30) it was reported that both tunnels were back in service this morning, but due to lingering signal problems affecting tracks used heavily by NJT, only Amtrak was making use of the north tunnel.

Well, at least Midtown Direct service has resumed operating to/from PSNY, and WCBS 880 has said the delays are starting to ease.

Well PATH was an absoluet zoo this morning in Hoboken because of all of this cross honoring. They really needed to employ train packers as in Japan. I missed two trains and miraculously managed to squeze in to the third train through the miserable, sweaty mass of humanity suffering in that sweltering platform. Any word when thing will be back to normal? Why is there no detailed communication from NJT about the statyus of teh derailment? Their site is just empty this morning.

Defiant wrote:Well PATH was an absoluet zoo this morning in Hoboken because of all of this cross honoring. .

LOL, that is how it was back in the "good ol days", pre 1996!

JamesRR wrote:I'm surprised at all the dissent towards the MLs. NJT's major incidents have occurred with various types of equipment - it was a Comet consist that derailed last October, some years ago (2002 or 03) I remember a major derailment of Arrow III equipment near Secaucus. Last summer it was the ALP46s shutting down due to the heat. I don't recall any abnormal number of incidents on revenue trains with MLs.

While NJT deserves a lot of blame for some of its problems, I think buying the ML equipment was one of the smarter moves in increasing capacity (and comfort) with no other immediate options.

Back to the derailment, on 880 this morning (8:30) it was reported that both tunnels were back in service this morning, but due to lingering signal problems affecting tracks used heavily by NJT, only Amtrak was making use of the north tunnel.

The ML's have derailed in New York, Hoboken, Bay Head, and Summit. Much more often than other equipment.

Passaic River Rat wrote:So here is what I know:

An Amtrak train derailed seven cars while operating east from station track 1 to Sunnyside yard. THis happened around 5:00 AM. Long Island trains have been using station track two all day.

Trust me. I know. My brother works for a shortline.

(Since I really have no idea what happened, but want to know, I am blatantly baiting Cruiser to jump all over me so I can find out.)

Nice strategy but you should know that if something major is going on I'm usually waste deep in it, so it'll still take some time to get around to dealing with rr.net.

Here is the extent of what I will be sharing with the board about what happened. Train 3823 had 2 cars go to ground on 4x around 8am yesterday morning. The two cars on the ground were 7015 and 7225 which were the eastern most cars of a 10 ML consist being operated from the cab car. The 4622, which was coupled to the 7015 stayed on the rails. 7225 had all wheels on the ground while 7015 had all wheels on the A-truck on the ground. 7015 was re-railed at 2:29 this morning and 7225 was re-railed at 3:48am.

cruiser939 wrote:The two cars on the ground were 7015 and 7225

Hmm, both cars are equipped with toilets. Obviously the problem is the toilets. No more toilets for anyone.

Uzi-Cat wrote:

cruiser939 wrote:The two cars on the ground were 7015 and 7225

Hmm, both cars are equipped with toilets. Obviously the problem is the toilets. No more toilets for anyone.

I second that. There are more toilet car multis than there ever was before with any previous equipment. The added weight must be whats tipping them too far.

While I'm sure it was a nightmare for transit employees. It was kind of nostalgic seeing all of the hustle return to Hoboken if only for one morning. It was cool seeing long arrow sets on low numbered tracks and the yard & station at complete capacity.

cruiser939 wrote:Nice strategy ...

Thank you. I am especially proud of the "station track 1 to SSY" assertion.

Hawaiitiki wrote:While I'm sure it was a nightmare for transit employees. It was kind of nostalgic seeing all of the hustle return to Hoboken if only for one morning. It was cool seeing long arrow sets on low numbered tracks and the yard & station at complete capacity.

I mean, if you consider 4 car outfit long then... ok. Also, I'm pretty sure the MU's were still kept on the higher tracks. Don't recall seeing one past track 11 actually.

Uzi-Cat wrote:

cruiser939 wrote:The two cars on the ground were 7015 and 7225

Hmm, both cars are equipped with toilets. Obviously the problem is the toilets. No more toilets for anyone.

It has been established that 99 percent of all mass murderers have eaten mashed potatoes at some point in their lives. No more mashed potatoes for anyone!

Now it's Amtrak's turn to mess things up:

NEC, NJCL and Midtwn Dirct trains may experience 20-30 min delays out of New York due to an Amtrak derailment in Sunnyside Yard. May CANCEL/COMBINE some trains.

keyboardkat wrote: It has been established that 99 percent of all mass murderers have eaten mashed potatoes at some point in their lives. No more mashed potatoes for anyone!

Instant or the real deal? I think that is the heart of the matter.

Serious question as this thread spins toward non-seriousness...

Would it be the tipping of the MLs that would cause a derailment?

I've been on some MLs which sway a lot when we round the curve out of South Amboy toward the bridge. I get that the center of gravity on the ML is different, but would the counter-forces be enough to have the train jump the tracks?