Status of Danbury Branch Signalization Project

the flat car is in dock yard.
the 6200 and plow car and cable car are now in the Danbury station siding(pocket track).

The Michaels Mid-America cars are same as what was used on Beacon line a few years back.

Patrick A. wrote:Will MNR add more trains or will speeds be increased etc.?

I don't think they need to add anymore trains or frequency; its perfectly fine the way it is. Only time they'll probably add more is if/when they ever expand to New Milford or even God forbid Pittsfield. Before the busses replaced the train I took 1810 and 1863 every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and we could've gotten away with 1 open car on all the trains. Hell, even the buses are not even a quarter filled. I took a Wilton -----> Redding -----> Bethel -----> Danbury bus this morning, there were 8 people on the bus (the driver, conductor, me and 5 other people; 5 got off in Wilton). So until the busses and trains can get more people, I don't think extra service is warranted. No sense wasting money to lug around only a handful of people.

We're talking about the signal installation project, not what you think of the service levels.

That said, when will these ditching trains be running?

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:We're talking about the signal installation project, not what you think of the service levels.

That said, when will these ditching trains be running?

-otto-

I am not totally sure when the ditch train will be running, but from what i heard around the DRM yard that it will be between the weekday am/pm rushhours and over the weekends,
however last saturday the sd40-2 was still sitting on our side of the yard on by the gates...

best way to possibly track when this train is running is to check the danbury branch timetable which shows which runs are replaced by the buses.

this weekend and next weekend. then nothing till spring.
first only test trenching, no cable yet.

So the system won't go live until next summer?

Signal system won't go life till 2012 as per plan.

DutchRailnut wrote:this weekend and next weekend. then nothing till spring.
first only test trenching, no cable yet.

Dutch in other words, they are only digging trenches at the moment? are they leaving them in?

well, just did my saturday at DRM and the SD40 is gone from our yard, which leaves me to conclude that she is somewhere between danbury and s norwalk

http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/th ... ables.html

Those orange cords running alongside the Metro North railroad tracks are temporary cables that will be replaced by underground cables once Metro North completes its signalizatioin upgrade. The cables had been buried next to the tracks.

“In preparation for plowing in the new cables for the Centralized Train Control project, Metro-North’s Communications & Signals forces are temporarily relocating all power, signal and communication cables,” wrote Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokesperson.

The cables are being dug up and placed in a high visibility orange inner duct approximately two inches in diameter, she added.

Found it kind of interesting how The Redding Pilot article said that the new signal equipment is going to be operated through cables that are both buried and aerial. I thought that they were putting all of the cables undeground??

According to project information, it includes two power substations, and new signal equipment will operate the electronic track circuits, via buried and aerial mounted power, signal and fiber-optic communication cable.

I was also wondering how far into the Danbury rail yard is the signal system going to go, is it going to go just to where BL Canal is or is going to go all the way up to MP 24.

signal systems never extend into yards, I believe the signal system will start either just south of platform or at Canal.
Most likely is northbound last signal will be just before gashouse crossover.
southbound there will be a signal at Canal to protect the station area, incase a train is already there or a inbound is on its way.
the first cab signal indication will be obtained at southbound signals for gashouse crossover (south end of platform

DutchRailnut wrote:signal systems never extend into yards, I believe the signal system will start either just south of platform or at Canal.
Most likely is northbound last signal will be just before gashouse crossover.
southbound there will be a signal at Canal to protect the station area, incase a train is already there or a inbound is on its way.
the first cab signal indication will be obtained at southbound signals for gashouse crossover (south end of platform

Thanks for the info Dutch. Is the switch to the stub track at the station going to be controlled by the RTC or is that going to be kept as a manually operated switch?

By the way how is the test trenching going this weekend? Are they doing the Cannondale to South Norwalk stretch this weekend? Last weekend you mentioned that they made it from Danbury to around the Cannondale area.

I believe only one (today) trenching train was scheduled to do remaining.
The trenching will be shut down till spring.

Sigmal foundations are now in Branchville. The trencher is on the Bethel Lower Siding and a rail train was in Dock Yard as of last night.