Hurricane Sandy

srock1028 wrote:

pumpers wrote:To get full NEC NJT service going again, I presume we need to get the out-of-service Hudson Tunnel and the OOS East river tunnels (1 or 2 of 4 for the East River OOS?) up again. Anyone know the status/estimates on these? JS
Are there any other major bottlenecks we know of to NEC recovery, like the NY Penn West side yard, Sunnyside, NJT rolling stock, etc?

One MAJOR bottleneck is the power substation in Kearney being OOS without an estimation of repair. Less catnery power = lest trains able to operate. Even if NJT gets all of rail lines cleared and repaired, not a full "weekday" schedule of trains can operate into New York without that substation being fixed. People need to understand that! Amtrak has cancelled some of their trains and Keystones only running between Philly and Harrisburg.

Keystones were back to NYP as of Sunday, the 4th.

Silverliner II wrote:

srock1028 wrote:

pumpers wrote:To get full NEC NJT service going again, I presume we need to get the out-of-service Hudson Tunnel and the OOS East river tunnels (1 or 2 of 4 for the East River OOS?) up again. Anyone know the status/estimates on these? JS
Are there any other major bottlenecks we know of to NEC recovery, like the NY Penn West side yard, Sunnyside, NJT rolling stock, etc?

One MAJOR bottleneck is the power substation in Kearney being OOS without an estimation of repair. Less catnery power = lest trains able to operate. Even if NJT gets all of rail lines cleared and repaired, not a full "weekday" schedule of trains can operate into New York without that substation being fixed. People need to understand that! Amtrak has cancelled some of their trains and Keystones only running between Philly and Harrisburg.

Keystones were back to NYP as of Sunday, the 4th.

And then all but two were being turned at Philidelphia on Monday, the 5th.

Silverliner II wrote:A few pages ago, somebody asked how bad the damage at the MMC was. I can give you a report...

I could have just simply said: It's a complete mess. In any event, it is not looking like a quick or easy cleanup job.

SLII, that was me who asked so thanks for the update. That does not sound good at all, especially because MMC is so vitally important to NJT's operations.

Unfortunately, it seems as if all retired/OOS equipment that could be used in the interim as the regular stuff is either stranded or damaged as well.

-Comet III's in Bay Head likely experienced significant flood damage AND are stranded
-Arrow III's OOS at MMC likely experienced flood damage
-F40's OOS at MMC likely experienced flood damage
-GP40FH's OOS at MMC likely experienced flood damage
-ALP-44's at MMC (if any left) likely experienced flood damage
-ALP-44's at Port Morris most likely did not experienced flood damage, but are stranded anyway.

Not to mention that there's not really any railroads in the area that have equipment to spare, either...

pumpers wrote:The NJT site now (under HBLR alerts) now says (dated Nov 6, 8:09 AM) "light rail train shuttle service from Hoboken Terminal to Marin Blvd. stop in Jersey City", so you could ride Hoboken to Newport. But they are running only every 20 minutes, so walking might still be best. JS

25Hz wrote:Could you not take HBLR from hoboken to newport & hop on PATH there?

you seem to have missed pumpers's prior post. 20 minute headway vs google advertised 18 minute walk.

ns3010 wrote:

CComMack wrote: I presume those trains turning at Jersey Ave; if so, are they not actually serving the station or was the omission just a mistake?

Jersey Ave. is not being served.

so where do they turn those New Brunswick trains? And if they turn them at Jersey Ave why don't they also serve the station?

25Hz wrote:Could you not take HBLR from hoboken to newport & hop on PATH there?

Yes, that was my point -- HBLR running south from Hoboken (as far as Marin Blvd) is up as of 8:00 AM today (if not earlier), although on 20 minute intervals. It didn't sound like it was up when when LIRR posted earlier. JS

nomis wrote:Just curious, how did the ALP 44's fare out in long term storage ?

Assuming they suffered no damage from falling trees and other debris, they should be fine, as the yard should not have experienced flooding. However, they are trapped because of washouts in Netcong and Kearny, as well as all the downed trees on the rest of the M&E and M-B.

ns3010 wrote:

nomis wrote:Just curious, how did the ALP 44's fare out in long term storage ?

Assuming they suffered no damage from falling trees and other debris, they should be fine, as the yard should not have experienced flooding. However, they are trapped because of washouts in Netcong and Kearny, as well as all the downed trees on the rest of the M&E and M-B.

They could truck them in, if absolutely nescescary, right?

And if you look at some photos I posted from NJTransit's Flickr after the storm, it doesn't look like the Comet III's sustained too much damage: (they could be trucked on too)

lirr42 wrote:Bay Head (with bonus Comet III photo!)



(Photos credit: NJ Transit Flickr)

lirr42 wrote:

ns3010 wrote:

nomis wrote:Just curious, how did the ALP 44's fare out in long term storage ?

Assuming they suffered no damage from falling trees and other debris, they should be fine, as the yard should not have experienced flooding. However, they are trapped because of washouts in Netcong and Kearny, as well as all the downed trees on the rest of the M&E and M-B.

They could truck them in, if absolutely nescescary, right?

Assuming they could clear wires & traffic lights on Center St, Lakeside Blvd, and Landing Road and bridges on 80, then I don't see why not.

lirr42 wrote:And if you look at some photos I posted from NJTransit's Flickr after the storm, it doesn't look like the Comet III's sustained too much damage: (they could be trucked on too)

Although there appears to be no visible damage, they likely suffered serious damage to the electrical and brake systems. Not to mention any interior damage if water got inside the cars.

lirr42 wrote:And if you look at some photos I posted from NJTransit's Flickr after the storm, it doesn't look like the Comet III's sustained too much damage: (they could be trucked on too)

Oh great, thanks! Because the photos that were clearly taken in the days after the record storm surge very accurately portray what the situations were like during the height of the storm and allow you (in all your professional railroading experience garnered from reading this board) to diagnose the status of damage to equipment...

In all seriousness, it's situations like these that I think I miss Cruiser the most. If you nincompoops hadn't driven him off, he would probably be one of the only people here who actually had real news to report and he would definitely be keeping you other posters in line who misinterpreted this title thread as "b!tch about anything you want regardless of how stupid you sound"

Just my two cents. I hope all the resident NJT employees who do still share their knowledge make a speedy recovery and best of luck getting the system up and running in the wake of this monumental storm.

Silverliner II wrote:

srock1028 wrote:

pumpers wrote:To get full NEC NJT service going again, I presume we need to get the out-of-service Hudson Tunnel and the OOS East river tunnels (1 or 2 of 4 for the East River OOS?) up again. Anyone know the status/estimates on these? JS
Are there any other major bottlenecks we know of to NEC recovery, like the NY Penn West side yard, Sunnyside, NJT rolling stock, etc?

One MAJOR bottleneck is the power substation in Kearney being OOS without an estimation of repair. Less catnery power = lest trains able to operate. Even if NJT gets all of rail lines cleared and repaired, not a full "weekday" schedule of trains can operate into New York without that substation being fixed. People need to understand that! Amtrak has cancelled some of their trains and Keystones only running between Philly and Harrisburg.

Keystones were back to NYP as of Sunday, the 4th.

Lirr42 backed me up on this one. All Keystone trains are cancelled between NYP and PHL, except for train 656. Train 639 runs normal between NYP and PHL.

Thanks for sharing your information about the recovery efforts and outstanding issues. It sounds like NJT is fighting multiple battles on multiple fronts, and with limited staff.

It sounds like we will be lucky to have service on Montclair Boonton and Morris Essex by December.

Anyone know how M & E is doing, was anything cleared, is electrical working? I saw a diesel train with multilevel cars going by very very very slowly around Morristown station last night. Is this a sign of reopening of the line soon? Maybe they can have diesel running from dover to hooboken until electrical is back (assuming track is clear of trees).

In case if this question was not brought up , were any multi level cars storm damaged ?