Amtrak Empire Service (New York State)

Maybe a problem with the Duel Mode Diesels? If the other trains originating in SSYD are unaffected that's probably the most likely conclusion...

could it have been issues with lirr power problems, after all the dual modes run off their third rail.

Onboard a 2:30" late 237. Conductors had no explanation, heard several passengers ask for cause of delay mostly just greeted with a shrug.

Dutch, LIRR didn't appear to be having any service issues so just appears isolated to Empire trains.

Stopped by ALB today and managed to get good shot of all the ties being delivered (and see 3-4 trucks dropping off more).

I had a chance to ride into/out of ALB today, so finally got to see how things are progressing on the double tracking and reconfiguration work. There were work crews working pretty much from Schenectady to Rensselaer. At the station, there was a steady stream of trucks bringing in ties (6 in the 1 1/2 hours I was there), along with what appeared to be signal contractors. I assume this since they were pulling cable just south of the Enginehouse area.

At LAB, there was a surfacing crew working on the west side of the bridge out towards CP 145. The rail on the north track was all new CWR, with what appeared to be enough material stockpiled for a universal crossover as well as a new switch for the Bull Run. The grading for the second track looks to be pretty well completed most of the way to Schenectady, there was some earth moving equipment working a few miles from Schenectady, looked to be cleanup of old material mostly. The north track from Hoffman's to the station was all new CWR, but with the work going on we still met opposing trains at the station.

The bridges immediately to the west of the station are getting some work, not sure if for the double treack project, or just maintenance to keep them from collapsing. The uncovered decks certainly looked like they needed it!

No pics as I was traveling light and my phone battery crapped out, sorry.

Thanks for the report. With the short amount of time before cold weather starts, it would seem double track will not appear until next season.

Curious about the ALB track reconfiguring - is everything in the station itself done or is there still a lot of work left?

jcpatten wrote:Curious about the ALB track reconfiguring - is everything in the station itself done or is there still a lot of work left?

A LOT left. It's hard to tell that much has been done, but if you know what it looked like before you can tell.

As of last week for example no sign of the 4th track.
Platform has the pylons in place, but no deck.

Double-slip switch at south end is still waiting to be integrated into the Boston Post road track and the existing 3rd and future 4th track.

There is what appears to be a stub siding at the south, I'm assuming an escape track for an engine so they don't foul the main.

At the North end, there's two stub sidings. Originally I thought they might have carried through with the plan to have a place to park private cars.

Now I think they're for loading the ties onto work trains for the double track.

So some stuff has been moved, but the major work still has yet to be done.

As Ive stated before the TLM isnt due until April next year, you wont see a second track until the end of 16 possibly the spring of 17. The LAB industrial track is almost finished next will be the main track, expect delays west of Albany as anything coming or going west will have to go out through the industrial track and the hand thrown cross overs by the shop complex. The cable for the new CP143 is being taken care of at this time when the new interlocking will be started is anyones guess, once the work starts expect major delays into and out of Albany.

The new CP141 is going through testing, havent seen a bulletin as to when the official cut in date is. For the past week Amtrak has been upgrading the crossing protection between ALB and the division post with MNRR They will not start the platform work until the new CP 143 is in place. Lots of little stuff going on looks like the bigger projects will start up in the spring. Of course if I hear of anything new Ill pass it along.

Yeah, there's definitely a LOT of prep work going on. It's a bit frustrating on one hand (like seeing the double-slip just sitting there (and more on that in a separate post)) but this is the way a lot of projects are. A LOT of prep work, much of it not very obvious until the real big or obvious stuff can be done.

So, I've been thinking about the double-slip switch they're putting in at the southern end of the ALB station.

From what I can tell this will enable trains coming from Boston to reach either of 2 tracks (I don't think they're putting in any other cross-overs to allow them to reach all 4 tracks, but I could be wrong).
And it allows the "northbound" track from NYC to reach the current track 3 and the new track they're going to put in.

In any event, my understanding is that such "puzzle switches" are a maintenance headache and only used if the operational requirements make it worthwhile.

For a route that gets one train a day in each direction, that seems like a lot of effort. I'm sure they could have saved themselves some trouble if for example they put in a simpler switch that only allowed the Boston Post track to reach only one station track.

It seems to me someone wants the extra functionality and may be planning for the future, even if it is 10-20 years down the road.

Nice to see some real progress! It's been a long time coming!

That slip switch came about because of new track 3 the angle of approach off the post road. Access to two tracks will allow a little more flexibility when 449 shows up let alone if 448 is there. You wont be hamstrung by having to keep one track open for its arrival/departure Tracks in the station will be numbered from west to east 4-2-1-3. Not sure what they will call the stub ended track.
As a side note, if and when they get the new CP143 in that will be all slip switches. Any track will have access to the shop.

You sure about that numbering? That would seem backwards of the current numbering and I thought railroads hated to renumber/rename tracks.

And yeah, that was my assumption on the doubleslip 448/449 issues.

The fourth track will make a huge difference in terms of flexibility and not just for 448/449.

Can't wait.

Hope Im right work a yard job twice a week. Gotta know where to go and how to get there . Anyway we are all accustomed to it as Metro North uses the same system down south. West(being the river side) to east 4-2-1-3. As it stands now with the three tracks in the station, west to east 2-1-main