Kudos to NJT Conductors

wpdj61 wrote:Train 6647 5:18PM to Dover is my regular train so here goes with the patterns.


Convent - Whao, this is the one that gets me. The grade crossing to cross over to the parking lot is on the East end of the platform. Everybody on the train walks back to exit at the last car (on the east end right at the crossing). The result is a 5 minute station stop as everybody trickles out the last door on the east end. 10 minute station stops on rainy days because everybody takes time to open the umbrella on the stairs. If people would utilize more doors we would be out of there faster and they would be in their cars more quickly.

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Convent has been a problem since the center fence was installed 15 years ago. Prior to that time you could cross over to the parking lot by the old freight house, so people who parked at the west end of the lots could go that way.

Now, with the fence, everybody has to circle behind the train to access the parking lots, especially the big one behind the old post office by the crossing (that little stucco building). Some engineers will plant the last car on the crossing, especially if an east or deadheader is coming thru on the opposite track. Good idea, IMHO.

Madison and Chatham have a huge number of people who walk to the station. I'd guess it's among the highest % other than little places like Mountain Avenue

wpdj61 wrote:Train 6647 5:18PM to Dover is my regular train so here goes with the patterns.

Scott

Guess that means I need to be on my best behavior from now on.

Secaucus- people sit anywhere (actually stand is more likely)

This does appear to be a very popular Secaucus train. There is quite a mob getting off there.

I am constantly amazed at how many people get off at Millburn. I can only imagine what that parking lot is like when people start trying to leave in their cars!

It can back up. The worst problem is that there are only 2 exits and both are to the west end (one due west one northwest) of the lot and both have a significant number of people making a left turn with no traffic light.

Usually on Mondays I don't even attempt to collect fares until we let the secaucus people off

I have a monthly pass. Please don't wake me if i'm sleeping by the time we pass Secaucus!

Guess that means I need to be on my best behavior from now on.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing. I only have 6647 Montday through Wednesday so you can let loose on Thursday and Friday.

I have gotten pretty good at remembering faces with passes so if you are sleeping I wouldn't worry too much. At least you are safe if you are in the head 3 cars.

I love coming down to track 3 for that train. The regulars are always there before me and are just waiting to get on the train. It is pretty nasty down there at track level so I try to get the doors open pretty early. Come to think of it, my crew gets in at 4:55PM and turns quickly for 6647. Mark, since you are down there already, I am going to give you a coach key and have you set the train up for us. :D :D

wpdj61 wrote:" Mark, since you are down there already, I am going to give you a coach key and have you set the train up for us. :D :D

Many a day I flip the seats.

I love coming down to track 3 for that train. The regulars are always there before me and are just waiting to get on the train.

It is good that they have gotten it to a point where the train is mostly on track 3. I hate those days I think that the train will be on track 3 and then, with me standing on track 3 with the other regulars, they announce the train for track 6 or something. Just NJT keeping us passengers on our toes.

Sometimes I ride the 5:20 Gladstone MidTown train. And a couple of times, I remember racing the 5:18 Dover. The Dover train would be on Track 2 and we'd be on Track 1. And I think we'd make some of the stops at the same time! That was a lot of fun. :D

Some days if there is no coach cleaner in sight and time is short, the doors open and seats are facing the wrong way. We then have to rely on passengers to decide which way they want to face on the ride home. More often than not, we get a coach cleaner on the train doing the chore.
The 5:20PM to Gladstone is always a problem for us. We get a lot of people trying to go to Brick Church, Newark, S. Orange or Maplewood on our train. The days that we are on the same platform are horrible. Fortunately, there is an eastbound local in 5 minutes after we arrive in Millburn.
See you on track 3.
Scott

nick11a wrote:Sometimes I ride the 5:20 Gladstone MidTown train. And a couple of times, I remember racing the 5:18 Dover. The Dover train would be on Track 2 and we'd be on Track 1. And I think we'd make some of the stops at the same time! That was a lot of fun. :D

In the infinite wisdom of the schedule makers at NJT I think these 2 trains play leapfrog twice (correct me if I am wrong). The Dover train leaves NYP first but then stops at Secaucus where it is passed by the Gladstone train which does not stop at Secaucus. Sometimes the Dover train needs to stop or do a slowdown after Secaucus to (I think unneccessarily) let the Gladstone train pass. I say unnecessarily because the Dover train is express to Millburn while the Gladstone train makes all regular Midtown Direct stops (meaning no East Orange, Highland Avenue or Mountain Station) through Maplewood then skips Millburn and Short Hills. So the Dover train passes the Gladstone train somewhere in the Oranges anyway. Therefore, why does it need to wait to be passed by the Gladstone train at or just after Secaucus if the Gladstone train is delayed? Why not just let it continue behind the Dover train since it will be passed anyway?

The trains only have Summit in common so they do not make any stops at the same time.

wpdj61 wrote:The 5:20PM to Gladstone is always a problem for us. We get a lot of people trying to go to Brick Church, Newark, S. Orange or Maplewood on our train. The days that we are on the same platform are horrible. Fortunately, there is an eastbound local in 5 minutes after we arrive in Millburn.
See you on track 3.
Scott

Fortunately for who? I was on that e/b for 15 months and it got old fast having four or five imbeciles every night who can't read a schedule or won't listen to announcements. And I had to watch those Maplewood "misroutes" like a hawk to ensure that a pattern wasn't being established. But the cure was simple: run like hell to Millburn to eliminate the "connection". Make 'em wait for 40 minutes and maybe they'll pay attention next time. Again, maybe.

thebigc wrote: Make 'em wait for 40 minutes and maybe they'll pay attention next time. Again, maybe.

Most conductors read off the destinations on the train's PA in NYP before the train shoves off. If people won't listen, that's their problem.

Erie-Lackawanna had a series of lights on the platforms in HOB which visually showed which train was going where. This color to Greenwood Lake, that color to Carlton Hill, Summit local was another. Made sense when you were rushing...

Lackawanna484 wrote: Most conductors read off the destinations on the train's PA in NYP before the train shoves off. If people won't listen, that's their problem.

Sometimes it's not the people's fault. Unfortunately with the large number of PA problems in the CVs (and CIIMs) sometimes people just don't hear the announcements.

Anyway, people being on the wrong train happens on all of the lines. As a regular on the NEC 5:43 Trenton Express I see a number of people on the train who mistakenly think the train is going to stop at New Brunswick or Jersey Avenue (most Trenton Expresses do stop at NB/JA, except for the 5:43). Fortunately the conductor gets most of them before we hit Newark. When I board the train I also keep on eye on the non-regulars. If I spy a NB/JA ticket in their hand I tell them to get on the JA express.

Lackawanna484 wrote:

thebigc wrote: Make 'em wait for 40 minutes and maybe they'll pay attention next time. Again, maybe.

Most conductors read off the destinations on the train's PA in NYP before the train shoves off. If people won't listen, that's their problem.

Erie-Lackawanna had a series of lights on the platforms in HOB which visually showed which train was going where. This color to Greenwood Lake, that color to Carlton Hill, Summit local was another. Made sense when you were rushing...

I bet you if those colored position lights were still in operation today nobody would know how to read them! Unfortunately the NJ commuters have gotten that dumb! Hell some can't even read the Solari boards.....

Steve

The 5:20 Gladstone is actually an express but makes a few stops such as South Orange etc. And also, the 5:20 Gladstone actually doesn't stop at Summit Mark (I know, it seems stupid but it don't.) They do call it an express train though. I do know that one time when I rode it (with arrow actually) there was a train on track 2 making the same stops as us. Thought it was the 5:18 Dover but I guess it wasn't.

And Scott, had a free day today and was at Summit photographing. Saw 6654 pull in with cab 5022 and a 46 pushing. Didn't have time to come on over and say hi though if you were on it. That train later on turned around as the 5:20 Gladstone.

nick11a wrote:The 5:20 Gladstone is actually an express but makes a few stops such as South Orange etc. And also, the 5:20 Gladstone actually doesn't stop at Summit Mark (I know, it seems stupid but it don't.) They do call it an express train though. I do know that one time when I rode it (with arrow actually) there was a train on track 2 making the same stops as us. Thought it was the 5:18 Dover but I guess it wasn't.

I just assumed the 5:20 Gladstone stopped at Summit. Almost no Midtown Direct trains during the week stop at East Orange, Highland Avenue or Mountain Station (there are a couple of exceptions for trains that terminate in Summit such as the 4:43, a train I sometimes take but do not like because of the extra stops). However, any train that does not stop at those stops is called an EXPRESS. So, with very few exceptions EVERY Dover or Gladstone Midtown Direct during the week is called an express train. To me the train really is an express only if it does not stop at one or more of the "normal" Midtown direct stops of Newark Broad, Brick Church, Orange, South Orange, Maplewood, Milburn, Short Hills and Summit.

Nick, apparently, you are everywhere. That was me on 6654. I love having a comet 4 cab car on the head end. Did the cops ever come, I called in a report of a terrorist at Summit taking pictures of trains. Just kidding there Nick.

Mark, you are correct, we pass the 5:20 to Gladstone twice. We leave NY first, stop at Secaucus and get passed by the 5:20. After our Secaucus stop we usually catch a stop signal at Portal. We then follow the 5:20 to Newark where we take track 1 and they are on track 3. We usually pass the 5:20 somewhere between Roseville Ave and Brick Church. It is a lot of unnecessary movement if you ask me.

I learned that simply saying "express from Secaucus to Millburn" is not enough. I now say, " this train express between Secaucus and millburn, we do NOT stop at Newark, we do NOT stop at Brick Church, we do NOT stop at Orange, we do NOT stop at South Orange and we do NOT stop at Maplewood". That has been the most effective announcement. There is usually a small flock of people fleeing the train after the announcement. And yes, sometimes the PA doesn't work. Tonight, our PA worked only part of the time.

njt4172 wrote:I bet you if those colored position lights were still in operation today nobody would know how to read them! Unfortunately the NJ commuters have gotten that dumb! Hell some can't even read the Solari boards.....

Steve

Again, Bingo!! And nothing is ever their fault.

And all the announcements on Earth mean nothing if your running your mouth on your wireless.