Power problems on NEC

All NJ TRANSIT trains are now departing New York on or close to schedule following an earlier Amtrak power problem. Some scattered delays on individual rail lines continue.

So this is why all the trains on the NEC were delayed
Anyone know what was the specific problem was?

All I know is that there was power problems. Trains on the Gladstone are running about an hour late due to the problems (including Hoboken trains). Don't know specifics.

Apparently the power went out between NYPenn and NwkPenn. Amtrak didn't know why.

Well it's hard to estimate delayed times when there's a power outage. NJT tickets were cross-honored on PATH and about 7 other bus lines. What the 'officials' tried to do was to keep all the Amtrak trains and the Midtown Directs delayed to dispatch some of the NJCL and NEC trains first. Of course, next in line was Amtrak's Acela to Boston and Washington and the Keystone. Several other NJCL and NEC trains were called to board before I boarded the scheduled 6:49p (I normally take the 6:38p but that was cancelled). Standing at the departure board on the Main Level, trains boarding for 20 minutes, restricteds into the tunnel, and numerous occurrences of two trains departing at once, we were at Restricted for most of the way to NWK.

We arrived in about 20-25 minutes, on the crowded 6:49p, which I think supposedly carried 6:38p's passengers as well. At first, they announced the Midtown Direct was departing from HOB and the announcers repeatedly advised travelers to take PATH to HOB, but I'm not sure if they knew about the delays at HOB as well.

Overall, we departed around 7:30p, and arrived Metropark exactly 1 hr and 5 minutes late as opposed to my regular schedule.

The conductor did make an announcement as we were crawling west of Newark, but the noisy RVL train whooshed by us during the core of the announcement. (I was in the vestibule so it was noisier) The funny thing was, the RVL train finished passing us when the conductor said his last sentence, which was "sorry for the inconvenience." Man, how planned was that?

Anyway, it was a tiring evening but we (I and the fellow passengers) made it through. Today was a free ride, but that doesn't matter because I have a monthly... :\)

It was a mess tonight - a big mess.....from what I gathered, there was a problem with the power on tracks 2 and 3 on the "high line" between Swift and NYP. They eventually narrowed the problem down to track 2, and it looked as if it was around the Allied interlocking limits, where the three tracks go into two, east of SEC. This apparently started between 415 and 420 this afternoon. So, once thigns wehre moving again, they were basically singletracking into and out of NYP. After a while, NJT was turning trains at Newark Penn, just to clear out NWK and to allow a flow of westbounds out of NYP, because of hte major back up there. But eventually, they would need more equiopment and crews in NYP, so they would run a few extra eastbounds into NYP.

My frist eastbound was about an hour late arriving into NYP, and the westbound I caught was an hour late leaving NYP. So it was about an hour delay, but it was just a big mess all night. Then there was at least one train (an Acela) where the crew "blew up" and had to park the trian, becasue they couldn't work anymore. They made it as far as track 2 in SEC, and parked the equip there. So that just screwed thigns up even more.

It was a big mess tonight

As usual confusion reigned. They were announcing that Midtown Direct passengers should go to Hoboken. I decided, however, to hang around NYP for a while because I have been burned before going to Hoboken only to find when I got their that trains were departing from NYP and also I expected the PATH and Hoboken to be zoo.

Of course Amtrak gets priority but I expected that NEC and NJCL trains would get preference over Midtown Direct but who knows.

Sure enough at about 6:40 they announce the 5:18 to Dover (the train I take). I was suprised that it was being announced as usual (express Secaucus to Milburn) as I thought with all that was going on they should have made it stop at all the normal Midtown Direct stops. However, it was good for me.

Still confusion reigned as usual. While the board, station announcer and train crew was announcing Secaucus, Millburn, Short Hills, etc. NJT personnel on the platform was telling people the train would stop at Newark Broad and the Oranges. The train did express Secaucus to Millburn. The train crew did successfully got some people going to the skipped stops off before the train left NYP but others saw the train zoom by their stop and got off with me in Milburn (yesterday was one of those days I parked at Milburn not Short Hiils) to catch a train back. The train crew was discussing the situation with the passengers and said that at first they were told that they were going to be the 4:50 to Dover which expresses from NYP to Summit but were changed.

I got off the train about an hour late but all around I was very lucky as all the stars aligned to see that it was my train that left NYP.

Yea, most crews were doing trains that weren't their own, for various reasons, mainly so "oltimers" who had limited time left in their day (started in the morning) and their 12 hours were tickign away, they were running different trains so they could get to the final terminal before they blew up. Also, there were several trains cancelled, so they they had crews but no equipment, so some crews deadheaded to outlying terminals so they could run eastbounds into NYP, so that the eastbound trains wouldn't be affected adn be delayed or cancelled.

The westbound I was on, was an express from Newark to Woodbridge, but they made the train stop at Elizabeth to unload local passengers for Linden and Rahway. I thought that was odd, but a good number of people got off.

I also was surprised they made as many trains last night follow their regualr express schedules and not run local. I guess the thinking was that they needed the equipment and crews back in NYP ASAP, and if every train was running local, that would really gum up the railroad and crews and equipment.

The track announcer in NYP seemed to do a pretty good job last night from what I heard of her, she usually doesn't handle service disruptions too well............

The track announcer in NYP seemed to do a pretty good job last night from what I heard of her, she usually doesn't handle service disruptions too well............

I thought it was funny that she kept on messing up the location of the PATH station. She has been through many Midtown Direct disruptions but she kept on announcing the wrong location for the PATH station and had to come on the PA and correct herself.

In compensation for last night I had a great ride in this morning - right in the front of a C5 cab and the window in the door was not covered with anything so I had a great view forward. There is nothing a layman likes better than being able to see out the front of a train!

I usually take the 5:58 train from Metropark to Hamilton, but am often there in time to see the 5:45 Jersey Avenue (and sometimes ride it to New Brunswick and transfer there just in case). Yesterday, there was a train at 5:45 sharp which I thought was the Jersey Avenue, but decided to board anyway, fearing that the power outages may be causing problems. Apparentlly, this was supposed to be an Express from Newark to Princeton Junction, ordered to make all local stops. Even Jersey Avenue. This was the first time I was ever in a train that Stopped at Jersey Avenue (at the time it was stopping there). Didn't see much, though, seeing as I was standing in the aisle, no available seats and all (man, was that train crowded). 8 cars, 3 crew members, aisles full of people. I bet they gave up on ticket checking pretty soon (I did give them mine when approaching Hamilton). The trip between Jersey Avenue and Princeton Junction was refreshingly quick; not following an Amtrack this time, I guess. Arrived at Hamilton at 6:25, 8 minutes ahead of the usual. At 6:35, another train pulled in, much less crowded. I guess I should have waited. Then again, I have no idea whether that one even stopped at Metropark.

Irony: Due to the car problems my wife had yesterday, I wound up having to drive in to work. As I'm rolling home on Rt 18 under the NEC viaduct, the news report on WABC mentioned the outage. God smiled on me afterall yesterday. :D

I thought I would escape the NEC unpleasantness since I go through Hoboken. But, nooOOoooOooooOoo. One of the diverted Midtown Direct trains, one of the 10-11 car deals, stalled across about four sets of crossovers in the Hoboken yard, holding a bunch of trains in the terminal.

It must have been hot sitting on those powerless trains in the sun in the meadows.

This is how the NY Times reported the power situation.

NOTE: Registration to the NY Times site is required....but its free:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/21/nyreg ... rains.html

Power failures of this magnitude were predicted last year, when the conditions of the electrification were described. We all know where the blame lies for this—down in Washington DC.

The two track "Funnel" from New Jersey under the Hudson River to Penn Station New York was built by the former Pennsylvania Railroad in 1910. It was not designed for operating commuter trains in addition to long distance trains (now run by AMTRAK).
The new Secaucus Transfer Station did not benefit the two track funnel.

Also the NEC relied on 25 Hertz electrical power equipment since 1935 while most other electrified railroads in the US presently utilize 60 Hertz commercial frequency power and rectifiers (either in the locomotive or motors in the MU cars, or at the substations that feed the DC third rail or catenary).