Amtrak/LIRR Moynihan Train Hall

The observation of cracks in the floor seems right on point. I observed those myself yesterday and was wondering the same. Not all cracks in concrete are problems. Hairline cracks are ok most of the time as the tensile forces are supposed to be resisted by the steel reinforcement. Hairline cracks do not matter much for compression stresses. I could not tell if only the surface was damaged and the problem was just cosmetic or if the cracks were deep into the loadbearing concrete below the top flooring material. I wonder if they were caused by someone driving too heavy of machinery on there or by some sort of accident.

I also observed that the light fixtures that were installed on the accessible part of the concourse have been removed, the wires cut short (e.g. they will need to be replaced) and "temporary" light fixtures have been installed along the walls. That might mean that the fixtures they installed were not UL listed or something and that they are just being replaced, or it might be the first step in dismantling major parts of what was done in order to fix something that is otherwise inaccessible.

My guess is that the concourse will not open for at least another 6 months if the issue is as simple as replacing a few lights, or at least another 12 months if the issue is more complicated than that.

Only problem is even with small cracks is that is a wet mostly non temperature controlled area and if any water got down in those cracks the freeze/thaw cycle could make them worse in 1 winter.

Its really bad that are even cracks when the flooring less than 6 months old.

The "big board" sign with all Amtrak (and NJ Transit) departures at Penn Station is going going gone. http://www.twcnews.com/nys/watertown/ne ... ement.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Was it a "Solari" sign?)
Penn station won't be the same without it. Where will I tell people I will meet them?

I heard on the radio it is being replaced by a bunch of little TV-like signs in different places, because the big crowd watching the big sign was too much of a, well, a big crowd. I'm not a daily commuter and don't have to put up with the crowd every day, but I kind of liked it.
JS

You could meet them at one of the LIRR Displays on the lower concourse.

pumpers wrote:The "big board" sign with all Amtrak (and NJ Transit) departures at Penn Station is going going gone. http://www.twcnews.com/nys/watertown/ne ... ement.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Was it a "Solari" sign?)
Penn station won't be the same without it. Where will I tell people I will meet them?

Nope, it wasn't a Solari sign, aka a split-flap system. This one's more like dedicated LEDs behind a set pattern. When you light up some of the LEDs, you can make letters.

Baltimore Penn Station is regular ol' LED, and they also have tons of big LCD screens for displaying similar info.

EuroStar wrote:I also observed that the light fixtures that were installed on the accessible part of the concourse have been removed, the wires cut short (e.g. they will need to be replaced) and "temporary" light fixtures have been installed along the walls. That might mean that the fixtures they installed were not UL listed or something and that they are just being replaced, or it might be the first step in dismantling major parts of what was done in order to fix something that is otherwise inaccessible.

Most of the electrical boxes and the conduits are gone now too.

I also noticed more hairline cracks (some more obvious than others) down the whole length of the new floor of the concourse.

Farewell to the big board at Penn Station. Several of the LCD monitors that replace it are also visible in the photo.

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/604222

http://ny.curbed.com/2017/1/26/14398992 ... nts-delays
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20 ... rse-behind

They did put two large screens at either end of the room which are much brighter and easier to read.

The cracked floor in the open portion of the West End Concourse has been demolished and replaced with temporary plywood. The portion that is closed off has multiple areas of demolished floor. They appear to be removing only about an inch of the top surface. While I do not know what caused the cracks in first place, that seems like a cosmetic repair only making me wonder whether it will happen again given that it is not obvious that they are addressing the underlying cause (maybe they are, I do not know, but nothing obvious is being done to imply so). I do not know how early the work begins, but it certainly appears to be continuing past 6pm on weekdays.

What appears to be yellow sprinklers have popped up around the ceilings. There is no visible work on electrical wiring for lights or information monitors.

Theres still a section down near 15/16 that needs to be demolished. A test hole was dug a few week ago.

I think the cracks will reappear shortly after this patch job.

The West End Concourse work is slowly progressing. The floor repair in the currently open section has been poured, but not ground smooth. There are other sections behind the barriers that have not been poured yet. Some of the new lighting has been installed -- looks like that it is LED as opposed to fluorescent. I could not identify anything looking as part of 'a new information system' which supposedly was the reason why completion was delayed by Cuomo for about 6 months. If they keep the current pace I could see them finishing in about two months.

Why can't they admit the reason for the delay is to replace the floor due to poor construction work? They can blame the contractors for that. OTOH, it is NYC and NY state where the contractors are deeply embedded in the political swamp and the agencies don't want to embarrass the contractors.

IIRC, the West End Concourse was originally supposed to completed last August or so. If they get the work done in about 2 months, followed by a month or two to get ready to use the concourse, it will open about a year late. Or in NYC / PANYNJ / MTA typical construction project time, not as late as usual.

Saw the work progressing when I arrived at Penn the other morning. Guys were working in one of the stairwells.

I'm curious as to how big a deal will be made when it opens. Press conference? Brochures? It is a huge space that rivals the EXIT concourse in scale.