Service Suspended East of Mineola

MTA Service Status
Suspended
Posted: 03/24/2018 12:18AM
Service remains suspended east of Mineola after a non-passenger train struck a vehicle at the Willis Ave. crossing. The car has been removed and a rescue engine is being readied to remove the incident train. Once the train has been removed, we will be able to determine the extent of track damage. Customers are advised to use the Babylon, Hempstead & Montauk branches at this time.

NBC is showing a “fireball” on the tracks. What the heck happened???

IF and Everyone:

Around 8PM last night a confused driver following GPS instructions turned on to the LIRR Main Line
tracks at the Willis Avenue crossing east of Mineola Station and was subsequently struck by a west-
bound deadhead train. The driver did get out before the train struck the vehicle which was pushed
onto the eastbound track and then burst into flames just west of the Main Street crossing outside
Nassau Tower. The vehicle was destroyed by both the collision and fire but no one was injured on
the train involved. The service suspension affected the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and Oyster Bay
Branches through Friday evening.

There were TV news reports that included video of the vehicle on fire in front of Nassau Tower.
The NY Daily News posted this report:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/car ... -1.3893158" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
What probably happened is that the driver was looking for Front Street - which is a short road
that parallels the ML tracks between Willis Avenue and Main Street - and somehow mistakenly
turned onto the track instead. What this shows is that some drivers are too dependent on their
GPS and make mistakes like this that could have ended up with more tragic results.

MACTRAXX

Mactraxx wrote: What probably happened is that the driver was looking for Front Street - which is a short road
that parallels the ML tracks between Willis Avenue and Main Street - and somehow mistakenly
turned onto the track instead.

The same thing happened here in Farmingdale several years ago. I was watching TV and heard a boom and saw a flash of blue light. I went to see what happened and saw a car on the tracks at the grade crossing. The car did not burst into flames by shorting out the third rail. South Front here runs parallel to the tracks and I'm sure the driver was obeying his GPS instructions.

I know that the car was completely destroyed and that no one on board the train was injured even though it was non-passenger and going back with the crew. What is the condition of the train car, how much damage did it sustain because I saw photos where the front end still had its' headlights working in proper order?

These incidents occur constantly. Drivers do not know how to drive property in most of these cases.

Thankfully it was not worse and this area will have the grade crossing removed due to the third track project. Apparently a fire damaged an MTA building which I am guessing would be removed or relocated anyways. The buildings in the area looked to be in poor shape before this incident so hopefully the area gets redone appropriately. The MTA workers were able to sucessfully evacuate but IMHO this area was an accident waiting to happen which it did.

As this is in a growth corridor, I would hope MTA starts work here soon, perhaps by Summer of this year. Mineola area has lots of issues which will be rectified with the upcoming third track modernization project. The MTA buildings in the area are in poor shape, the crossings are dangerous even moreso now due to more traffic, and the passenger overpass is in bad shape as metal was ripped out and replaced with wood but fortunately it is in the way of the third track so it will be demolished and the whole area of the station ans nearby crossings will be redone and I presume MTA facilities in the area as well.

That's happened twice recently at Hewlett, cars turning on the tracks at a crossing. But this - did the "porch" get burnt at Nassau? Be a shame if it did, it was a nice job by B&B, and saved us from stringing up paperwork. Must have been fun for the signal guys and operator at the tower...

Even a driver who is being misled by a GPS should have enough sense not to turn onto the railroad tracks. It's not rocket science, just basic driving.

It's worth noting that none of these incidents that have happened in the Mineola vicinity over the last fifty years needed to happen, including the 1982 fatal van vs. train crash at Herricks Road. If the stubborn idiot Inc. Village of Mineola had let the State elevate the tracks thru that area in the mid-1960's like the State wanted to we wouldn't be having this conversation. But the Mineola Village said NO, and the the railroad got elevated thru Hicksville instead in 1965. And here we are......

Head-End View:

From what I remember Mineola and New Hyde Park Villages were the top opponents of elevating
the ML LIRR tracks and grade crossing eliminations. The main reason that was mentioned against
constructing aerial structures and eliminating grade crossings was "We don't want to look like the
City" in which a Mineola village official actually mentioned during a public hearing concerning LIRR
improvements that I attended back in the 80s. As we know they are the top NIMBY opposition to
any further improvements including the Third Track Project which was needed decades ago.

It took a tragedy like what happened at the Herricks Road Crossing on 3/14/1982 to motivate
that crossing elimination - and that cost about the same amount of money that would at least
eliminated all of the Mineola grade crossings had that been built in the 60s or early 70s.

MACTRAXX

If they wanted to elevate New Hyde Park and Mineola, it would have been a challenge. There is literally no room for temporary tracks or facilities without disturbing the dreaded NIMBY's. Unlike the Main Line, the Babylon Branch had enough real estate to work with. Also wasn't there another recent incident in which a MTA building in Mineola's vicinity catch fire? Aside from incidents like this occurring, I'm really worried about what the Main Line and crossings are going to put up with when Ronkonkoma's new second track goes into service in the near future because instead of one WB and one EB train every hour, it will be every half-hour. Recently they just razed CI1's gantry. More trains, more problems.

The whole GPS becoming a factor, I remember in late 2007 while Roslyn Road was being eliminated that an elderly woman turned onto the tracks at the crossing. Luckily she escaped, but her car was hit by a Ronkonkoma express going 70 MPH that bounced the car off the against the bridge and landing just short of the Willis Avenue crossing.

krispy wrote:That's happened twice recently at Hewlett, cars turning on the tracks at a crossing. But this - did the "porch" get burnt at Nassau? Be a shame if it did, it was a nice job by B&B, and saved us from stringing up paperwork. Must have been fun for the signal guys and operator at the tower...

Still standing, maybe a little toasted but intact. It was actually destroyed over the summer and subsequently rebuilt soon after.

MattAmity90 wrote: Also wasn't there another recent incident in which a MTA building in Mineola's vicinity catch fire?

There was a auto body shop near the tracks that caught fire about a year or two ago. I heard some irreplaceable vintage cars were destroyed in the blaze.

Property in Mineola keeps selling and going up in value with more developmental growth and larger structures replacing what was there in the past. The Main line expansion project is long overdue and is definitely needed. A lot of the growth is nearby the LIRR. As a consequence, issues by Mineola station seem to be increasing with multiple incidents over the years.

After the main line third track project is done, these issues should be a thing of the past and yes, if it was funded earlier, it could have been done cheaper. Fortunately this government did the plan proposals and got it approved through the legislature. While I do have disagreements with some, I will say that on transit they have actually gotten projects started on infrastructure and while not completed yet, are totally necessary and would have set the areas further behind than it already is. It seems more than likely there will be more incidents in this area unfortunately before the project is completed due to the larger volume of traffic.

newkirk wrote:

MattAmity90 wrote: Also wasn't there another recent incident in which a MTA building in Mineola's vicinity catch fire?

There was a auto body shop near the tracks that caught fire about a year or two ago. I heard some irreplaceable vintage cars were destroyed in the blaze.

newkirk wrote:

MattAmity90 wrote: Also wasn't there another recent incident in which a MTA building in Mineola's vicinity catch fire?

There was a auto body shop near the tracks that caught fire about a year or two ago. I heard some irreplaceable vintage cars were destroyed in the blaze.

NK and Everyone:

That was K's Auto Repair Shop-74 Willis Avenue. The fire occurred overnight on March 3, 2017.
A collection of vintage vehicles that was stored in one of their buildings was lost in the fire.
The shop was located just north of the LIRR Main Line which had to be shut down for a time
during the firefight because hoses and other equipment had to be placed over/near the tracks.
Search "K's Auto Repair Shop Fire Mineola, NY 3/3/2017" for more information. MACTRAXX

This topic has taken on a life of its own, so with that I’ll add the fact that though Mineola has out grown it self. And the LIRR will be able to fit it’s 3rd track it. Absolutely no provisions were made to ever reconnect to West Hempstead, or provide for the modern developement.
Clearly Willis should not be a crossing any more, neither should
Main Street.
And all the buildings between Roslyn road and Mineola Blvd. just south of the main, should all have been removed to provide for roadway access along the south side of the tracks.
Clearly this wasn’t the case nor thought about. So we’re left with a horiffic traffic pattern and a no way out situation.
This combined with the third track and new development will be an engineers feast to try to clean up.
Fact is. Some of these places on LI need a major intervention and reconstruction and as long as residents fight it, status quo will do.

I believe the master plan is to convert the Willis Ave. crossing(s) to an underpass like Roslyn Rd. or an overpass, not sure which. It was also planned to have an underpass for Main St. but I am betting it doesn't happen and Main St. becomes a dead-end at the tracks, though I imagine the Village of Mineola may fight to the death over that issue.

And again, this wouldn't be an issue if the Incorporated Village would have allowed the elevation project to happen back in the 1960's and 80's when the State wanted to do it. But these short-sighted village governments including New Hyde Park too, often shoot themselves in the foot.