NYS Damage Reports from Irene 8/28/2011

Just saw the Lake Shore Limited eastbound through Newark, so it looks like Amtrak is back in business (unless they are stopping service in central N.Y. and busing from there).

Lake Shore Limited eastbound passing Dewitt at 1430hrs. Amtrak 63 went west before that.

Kevin M.

Amtrak is busing people around the washout till CSX gets back up on its feet. I did notice a lot more Grayhounds at the Syracuse bus station than normal.

DURR DAMAGE REPORT

I drove west from Phoenicia all the way to Roxbury to make an examination of the Delaware & Ulster Railroad, since we have heard very little of its condition. The runaround and terminus at Highmount appeared to be in good shape (or no less worse shape since they stopped running there). All of the trains are safely stored at Arkville, and they appeared to be fine. I saw where the flood water from the lower parking lot was creeping up the banks, telltale from the pine needles that had washed up. The first sign of serious damage I saw was at the Route 30 crossing in Kellys Corners. From the crossing to about a quarter mile west, the tracks have been undermined, washed out, and twisted. All of the hardware seems to be there, so it appears the repairs here will require some rip rap and fill. Followed the railroad all the way west, some minor flooding and scouring at Halcottsville, but the runaround appeared okay. The depot museum at Roxbury was open today, but the town seemed deserted. There appeared to be no damage there in town, or at the depot. I did not observe any other damage to DURR, but I'll wait until there's official word to confirm that.

The community of Fleischmanns is devestated, however. Significant damage to the village (which is located along the river, and away from the railroad). I could not get near Margaretville, as the National Guard was turning non-residents away. Still quite some significant damage once you leave the main roads.

That's all for now, pictures later.

-otto-

scharnhorst wrote:Amtrak is busing people around the washout till CSX gets back up on its feet. I did notice a lot more Grayhounds at the Syracuse bus station than normal.

Trailways is handling most of the Amtrak busing. My company does work for Trailways, in Rochester, all of their Rochester extras were in service at this past week. Many assisting Amtrak.
Greyhound bus services hub at Syracuse onroutes between NY and Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, and Toronto.


Source: NY Trailways Management

Hopefully no damage from the tornado that touched down near Amsterdam/Cranesville area from Sunday night?

I feel bad for the folks living in the area dealing with such disasters one after another.

Courtesy of 13WHAM TV in Rochester

Amsterdam, N.Y. (AP) - A tornado has caused some property damage near Albany, N.Y., one week after Irene caused destructive flooding in the region.

The National Weather Service says the tornado touched down about three miles from Amsterdam, N.Y., on Sunday evening. Amateur video posted on YouTube shows a dark funnel cloud crossing the New York Thruway, where it knocked down trees.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says there have been no reports of serious injuries.

The weather service says it has reports of damaged homes in the Cranesville section of Amsterdam. Trees and power lines were knocked down. The service says it concluded it was a tornado based on eyewitness video.

Montgomery County, where Amsterdam is located, is among the counties eligible for federal disaster assistance after Irene.

Link to story

Charlie

charlie6017 wrote:Hopefully no damage from the tornado that touched down near Amsterdam/Cranesville area from Sunday night?

I rode through the affected area on the westbound Maple Leaf today. The damage seemed to be mostly snapped tree limbs and trunks. There didn't seem to be much damage to buildings. The ROW itself seemed to be undamaged, but Amtrak employees did note there were some delays owing to the new storm damage. Thankfully, nobody was killed. I do regret leaving my camera behind at my friends' house... because I would've liked to get some photos of the damage.

Speaking of delays, the eastbound Lake Shore Limited lost about 90 minutes between Rochester and Albany on Friday 9/2, owing to delays from post-Irene traffic surge. Similarly, the westbound Maple Leaf lost about 90 minutes between Albany and Rochester today. Amtrak employees blamed the delays on CSX, which was allegedly giving freight traffic priority over passenger trains. Regardless of who was to blame, those delays were very, very tedious.

The worst damage on the Delaware & Ulster Railroad was at Kelly's Corners, where a severe washout stretched nearly a quarter mile from the Route 30 crossing to E. Hubbell Hill Road. Photos of DURR flood damage at Kelly's Corners:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122716072

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122715942/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122141865

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122141675

-otto-

Some CMRR damage photos I took this past Saturday:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122725192

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122724990

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122182881

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122182175

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic77/6122181937

-otto-

Im happy we took the family on this rr prior to the hurricane as I understand its now not running.

Any photos of how it looks up there? prior to our trip, we're never even heard of Margaretville, Roxbury or Arkville. So it was with sadness that we learned it was amongst the worse places hit in NY by Irene.

Any news/ pics on that rr?

Main damage was at Kelly's Corners, west of Arkville:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=192673

Another washout was east of Arkville.

All equipment is safe.

DURR is closed until further notice.

EH

As previously posted:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic7 ... hotostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic7 ... otostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic7 ... otostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ottomatic7 ... otostream/

Otto, if there is a MCRR thread as you noted earlier, why can't there be a separate DURR thread? No real point in merging topics.

D & H Landslide update:

Tracks in place, I could see a MOW equipment working the track at 7:00 tonight.

Trains should be running anytime.

5 days, not to bad!

Hope those MOW guys get a good night sleep.

Photos from 9/8
http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... %26+Hudson

http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... %26+Hudson

Photos from 9/12
http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... %26+Hudson

http://photos.greatrails.net/showpic/?p ... %26+Hudson

mirrodie wrote:Otto, if there is a CMRR thread as you noted earlier, why can't there be a separate DURR thread? No real point in merging topics.

Odd time to start a separate DURR thread, since we already answered the poster's question in this very thread about a week ago. No sense in repeating ourselves or posting the exact same info in two separate threads.

We never had a DURR thread because there is no news that comes out of DURR. Their operations are constant, no expansion, no new acquisitions. So far, I'm the only one who has posted any news, and that's only because I drove out to Delaware County myself to make my own inspection and see what's going on out there. Their web site shows no change since the initial flooding and only states they are closed until further notice.

I would be more than happy to start a dedicated DURR thread if there was regular news to report...

-otto-