Gladstone Line: No need for electrification?

If the Gladstone line has only four MidTOWN Direct trains and the rest are aging Arrow IIIs, whats the point of keeping the Gladstone electrified? Electricity is getting expensive and is not getting cheaper so why not remove the catenaries? It would cost NJ Transit less. Tell me what you think if it's a good idea to tear down the catenaries.

Price diesel fuel lately?

Aren't electric trains cheaper to run?

cobra30689 wrote:Price diesel fuel lately?

The Gladstone is one of the shortest NJT lines. The trains could fuel at Hoboken, thus no need for fueling centers on the line.

Catenary is not plural.

Regarding removing the electrification on the Gladstone Line, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

NJT4115 wrote:If the Gladstone line has only four MidTOWN Direct trains and the rest are aging Arrow IIIs, whats the point of keeping the Gladstone electrified?

Why wouldn't you keep it electrified? MU's are quick and suited perfectly to the short distance between station running that the Gladstone and M&E lines have. Electric running is quieter and more popular with the surrounding towns.

NJT4115 wrote:Electricity is getting expensive and is not getting cheaper so why not remove the catenaries? It would cost NJ Transit less.

How do you figure diesel powered trains cost less? What factual information do you have to support this claim? Electricity is not getting more expensive. It is keeping up with the current rate of inflation. Have you noticed the price of gas lately? Seen those diesel pumps? The price of diesel is well above gasoline right now. Idling electric trains cost far less than idling diesel trains. Each diesel engine has two fuel consumers, the prime mover and the HEP power plant. There is absolutely no reason to remove a perfectly functioning system such as the catenary system.

NJT4115 wrote:The Gladstone is one of the shortest NJT lines. The trains could fuel at Hoboken, thus no need for fueling centers on the line.

Where on the entire transit system do you see online fueling centers? Trains are generally fueled once a day depending on their cycle. The Gladstone is not one of the shortest NJT lines when you consider you have to ride 20 miles on the M&E to get to the Gladstone Branch. I am not quite sure where all of your facts came from but you don't really have any correct information here.

There is a reason that NJT electrified part of the Boonton Line. There is a reason NJT is spending all kinds of money on dual mode engines. Those engines will be powered from the catenary whenever possible. Electric power is just a far better way to power a railroad.

NJT4115 wrote:If the Gladstone line has only four MidTOWN Direct trains and the rest are aging Arrow IIIs, whats the point of keeping the Gladstone electrified? Electricity is getting expensive and is not getting cheaper so why not remove the catenaries? It would cost NJ Transit less. Tell me what you think if it's a good idea to tear down the catenaries (sic).

Sounds like someone wants what meager Midtown Direct service exists on this branch to go away or be replaced by ALP-45DP operation, as well as have operating costs go up and average speeds go down. Electricity rates may be going up, but so is the price of diesel fuel, and thermodynamically as well as economically speaking, electrification will always have the edge.

NJT4115 wrote:If the Gladstone line has only four MidTOWN Direct trains and the rest are aging Arrow IIIs, whats the point of keeping the Gladstone electrified? Electricity is getting expensive and is not getting cheaper so why not remove the catenaries? It would cost NJ Transit less. Tell me what you think if it's a good idea to tear down the catenaries.

So your idea to save NJT money is for them to pay to have the current infrastructure demolished, acquire new rolling stock to cover the service, pay more for the diesel fuel to power the new trains; oh, and pay to redo the yard or else lose capacity (since adding a locomotive to the train sets will mean shortening the consists in order to fit in the tight yard). Keep on smoking the good stuff dude but make sure you're able to pass a piss test before posting here again please.

I see NJT4115's point now. This guy gave me a wierd looking pill the other day so I just took it. I am laying criling the floor staring at the floor with Iron butterfly "In agadda da vita" playing and it all makes sense. The only question I have is how did I get on the ceiling? The NJT disco stripes on my feet look really cool right now!

Hey, are you related to Fred Ossanna by chance? He loved removing overhead wire and using diesel instead.

cruiser939 wrote: So your idea to save NJT money is for them to pay to have the current infrastructure demolished

That is a key statement. The rest of the lunacy aside, do you know how much time and money it takes to dismantle this system? Do you know how labor intensive this is? Those wires are under an enormous amount of tension! Do you think they just go up there with wire cutters and snip, snip, snip?

cruiser939 wrote:

NJT4115 wrote:If the Gladstone line has only four MidTOWN Direct trains and the rest are aging Arrow IIIs, whats the point of keeping the Gladstone electrified? Electricity is getting expensive and is not getting cheaper so why not remove the catenaries? It would cost NJ Transit less. Tell me what you think if it's a good idea to tear down the catenaries.

Dude, have you been hanging out with TRE/HBLR/25Hz recently? This has got to be the stupidest thread I've seen posted here in a really long time. So your idea to save NJT money is for them to pay to have the current infrastructure demolished, acquire new rolling stock to cover the service, pay more for the diesel fuel to power the new trains; oh, and pay to redo the yard or else lose capacity (since adding a locomotive to the train sets will mean shortening the consists in order to fit in the tight yard). Keep on smoking the good stuff dude but make sure you're able to pass a piss test before posting here again please.

Guess he hasn't noticed that the price of electricity has been declining in the last year or two because of the cheap natural gas prices. The natural gas generators are setting the electric wholesale market prices.

I'm going to keep my cool. Delete this thread. Don't hurt my feelings again.
Thanks

Uzi-Cat wrote:I see NJT4115's point now. This guy gave me a wierd looking pill the other day so I just took it. I am laying criling the floor staring at the floor with Iron butterfly "In agadda da vita" playing and it all makes sense. The only question I have is how did I get on the ceiling? The NJT disco stripes on my feet look really cool right now!

By the way, who are you? I never met you in my whole life. By the way, I like the way you see my point, you seem like a good person to me. By the way, who was that guy?

First Marilyn Manson and bullying get blamed for high school shootings, but I'm pretty sure we're all next to get the blame.