Sperry (and highrail access) on the NEC

A week or two ago I observed a Sperry Rail car, one of the original self-propelled railcars, sitting in a yard along the Keystone line. Its been eons since I have seen anything other than the Sperry high-rail trucks along my railroad. I am qualified over a section of the NEC as well; however, I don't run it everyday and haven't run it since I saw this particular car to confirm a question this brought up: What are the access points for high railing the corridor?

I haven't really looked for high-rail access points along the NEC and Keystone in light of the fact both line have NO crossings. At no time did my qualifications and test include those details and prior to seeing the railcar it was not really something on my radar. I can however tell you every switch along my section of the NEC!

So my question is two fold, is Sperry restricted/encouraged to us something like a railcar instead of a truck to test the NEC?

And how do the Amtk track inspectors best access the line for inspections? Obviously the NEC provides some unique challenges for this activity.

Next time I will look for raised sections of ballast that could be used for setting on and off an inspection vehicle. Until that time what have you observed?

There are a bunch of access points in NJ but the only one I can absolutely be sure of is in Plainsboro on track 1 just north/railroad east of Scudders Mill Road. An asphalt apron with railings was just put in as part of the current improvement project. There may be a matching access point on track 4 just south/railroad west of Plainsboro Road but I can't think at the moment if that is paved over or just access to the ROW. Similarly there is a gate to the ROW at Track 1 in the southernmost corner of the Princeton Junction parking lot but I don't think there is any raised roadbed right there. There is additional ROW access at the northern end of the station. There are, of course, multiple grade crossings on the Princeton Branch and the Princeton Running Track pretty much runs right into the ground. I believe there are similar access points at several points between Princeton Junction and Metropark including the most likely hi-rail access at Metuchen station.

I have never seen any Sperry equipment on the NEC other than the self-propelled vehicles, and I'm qualified end to end.

While freight on the NEC is Slowly disappearing,some of the former freight sidings are kept as
places to stash on track and hi-rail equipment.
As long as there's a bunch of good ties holding the track in gauge,but buried under dirt/mud or gravel,
the sidings are a safe place for hi-rail vehicles to get on/off the rails.

Where to put on on the Corridor? Let's start in Boston: crossings at both ends of the Southampton St. S&I building, both ends of the MBTA S&I building, both ends of the wash building, Widett Circle, and the wye connector between Broad and Cove. Head west to Readville and you can put on at the 5 yard lead (2 places) and maybe Enprotek but why bother? Keep going west: there's the Rt. 128 industrial park, the Chocolate siding in Mansfield, Forti-Fiber and East Junction yard in Attleboro. Possibly in the remains of Pawtucket Yard but it would be a pain. West end of Burma Rd., crossings at both ends of Providence Yard, Turnkey (track 2 side between Pawtucket and Orms), Yard 17, Cranston Yard, Wellington, Greenwich Yard, Davisville Yard, Arnold Lumber, Wood River Jct., Westerly Yard. West of there I forget the names of the crossings between there and Midway, but anyway, there are plenty of places where a hi-rail vehicle can get on.

JWilson wrote:Where to put on on the Corridor? Let's start in Boston: crossings at both ends of the Southampton St. S&I building, both ends of the MBTA S&I building, both ends of the wash building, Widett Circle, and the wye connector between Broad and Cove. Head west to Readville and you can put on at the 5 yard lead (2 places) and maybe Enprotek but why bother? Keep going west: there's the Rt. 128 industrial park, the Chocolate siding in Mansfield, Forti-Fiber and East Junction yard in Attleboro. Possibly in the remains of Pawtucket Yard but it would be a pain. West end of Burma Rd., crossings at both ends of Providence Yard, Turnkey (track 2 side between Pawtucket and Orms), Yard 17, Cranston Yard, Wellington, Greenwich Yard, Davisville Yard, Arnold Lumber, Wood River Jct., Westerly Yard. West of there I forget the names of the crossings between there and Midway, but anyway, there are plenty of places where a hi-rail vehicle can get on.

Most of the trackside substations, paralleling stations, and switching stations for the electric overhead--like this substation in Sharon, MA--also have driveway vehicular access because there's got to be some way to get staff and emergency personnel in there at any given moment. If there's a problem...especially a very serious one like a short/fire/lightning strike/etc...you don't have the time to summon and wait for a work train or hi-rail from some point further away to get in there in an emergency situation with potential public safety implications. Pretty sure there's regs governing that. So in 60 Hz/25 kV territory, for example, there would be a trackside vehicle access point no further-spaced than once every 6 miles because of the way the various electrical stations are spaced.


Figure also that every time a high-tension power line (any kind, not just an Amtrak feeder) intersects the ROW there's dirt-road utility company access to their poles and permission (with Amtrak coordination) for the utility to cross its trucks over the track. For the same public safety reasons that require vehicle access to Amtrak's own trackside electrical infrastructure the utilities can't be restricted from getting their trucks out to service a damaged line where crossing the tracks is the nearest/fastest access point and time sensitivity is in-play.

Perhaps a dumb question, but can authorized persons hi-rail through NYP and the tunnels?