PL42AC thread

Sirsonic,

So the acceleration is slow with these units? Why is that? And any idea when the next 3 units on the property will enter service? It has been over a month that the PL42s have been relegated to the Pascack/Bergen lines...I find it odd that they haven't been used in revenue service anywhere else...

Steve

Sirsonic has sad they have their reasons for only using them on the Pascack Line currently which he can't say and no one has hit upon what that reason is in here.

NJT is proceding cautiously, which is a good thing. It's been a month now and so far it has been (from what I have seen and heard) pretty good.

nick11a wrote:Sirsonic has sad they have their reasons for only using them on the Pascack Line currently which he can't say and no one has hit upon what that reason is in here.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say they're keeping them on the PVL simply to give the SES a workout. But that's just my guess.

4020 was my power this afternoon on the 3:57 PVL out of Hoboken. I sat in the front car behind the engine and noted how very quiet it was, even during acceleration.

Argh!

I JUST missed it. I missed the PATH train by 30 seconds, which made me miss the 3:57 p.m. by two minutes. I blame PATH however, because according to my "cell phone" the train left 1 minute early (as did the following train).

I'm going to drive down to Nanuet soon and meet the 11:45 p.m. train.

I can't wait to see that unit. Does it have the same engine motor as an F59PHI?

What's its consist been lately? I caught it with Comet Is that one time but I have heard it has run also with MN Comet Vs.

I thought that NJT would run it in a full Comet V consist with one on each end to show off their new cars.

Saw the one with ALP-46-like stripes in the MMC yard on the way home from Newark Penn today hooked up to a set of Comet I's.

And this is a bit OT, but does anyone know why the other day there was a New York Central Pullman Observatory car next to the Path Yard by Kearny Jct?

Whats the ALP stripe? ive never noticed a difference.

jimzim66 wrote:Whats the ALP stripe? ive never noticed a difference.

OK, the Diesels have the disco stripes like this...

\\\

But the ALP 46 has them stretched out along the bottom of the body like this...

\ (fading orange) \ (fading red) \ (fading blue) \

theres those stupid questions i mentioned in my thread. thanks!

btw, where is the pic from? i like it. do the normally abandon tracks like that?

jimzim66 wrote:theres those stupid questions i mentioned in my thread. thanks!

btw, where is the pic from? i like it. do the normally abandon tracks like that?

Looks like one of the abandoned stations on the now abandoned old Boonton Line. Those stations east of the Montclair Connection on the Boonton Line were abandoned in 2003 as they joined up the Boonton Line to connect with what was then called the Montclair Branch.

And I agree, I like that avatar too Sullivan.

Yep, this photo is the abandoned/vandalised grade crossing for Forest Ave at Arlington Station. NS just slapped a bunch of "Tracks Out Of Service" signs up at all the grade crossings on the east side of the Passaic River, and a few west of the river by Branch Brook Park, and let the crossing equipment turn to hell.

Hello all,

Just one quick question....

Did they finally figure out the problem with the door circuits yet?

I have come to understand that there is a problem with the PL42 and the Comet II rebuilds, Comet IV, and Comet V door circuits. From what I'm told, the PL 42's just don't work when connected to those coaches.

It is for that reason that they supposedly have been assigned to the PVL. They only work with the Comet I's that don't have the automatic door circuits. Also, crew training for the new locomotives is supposed to be going on in Hoboken during the week during the middle of the day. Another reason the PVL service was ideal.

A friend of mine went for his PL42 "training" recently and asked when the small size handbooks would be ready. The instructor apparently doubled over in laughter. The new manuals that are being given out I'm told are not one but rather TWO volumes.

Sounds like they still have some issues with these locomotives. The biggest problem that my friend didn't like was the fact you couldn't power brake with the new units. The little tricks that made an engineer a good engineer appear to no longer be of concern to the designers at NJT. To quote him verbatum: "You might as well put in a computer to run them, the days of the engineer are over!"

Well that's all for now folks.

See ya all later..........