The Raritan Valley Line Thread…

[R36 Combine Coach]

Was it PL42 or GP40?

[Ken W2KB]

Was it PL42 or GP40?

Could not tell from the last car. Be at High Bridge in about 5 minutes, I'll see if I can determine there.

[Ken W2KB]

It was a PL.

[Ken W2KB]

Still out of kilter this morning. The equipment for 5718 was 10 minutes or so arriving at High Bridge this morning, consist was 6 instead of the usual 7 multilevels, and two PLs. Could not determine if both were running.

[Jtgshu]

I BELIEVE the Comet set was to come east on 2406. If that happened well, I dunno, but I believe that was the plan.

I wouldn't expect there to be a Comet set running out there this afternoon, but the way things have been lately, who knows....

[srock1028]

I BELIEVE the Comet set was to come east on 2406. If that happened well, I dunno, but I believe that was the plan.

I wouldn't expect there to be a Comet set running out there this afternoon, but the way things have been lately, who knows....

It indeed came east on 2406 and had the 4210 shoving. The double-headed set, which was suposed to run on 5426, was swapped with X577/5718 due to issues with its original consist.

[braves]

With the arrivals of the dual mode locomotives, have they got the OK from Amtrak to start using them on the Northeast Corridor, if so, with the North Jersey Coast Line that will be out for quite some time and with these dual modes, has there been any consideration of using them on the Raritan Valley Line temporary and give Raritan Valley Line riders a one direct ride into NY Penn Station until the North Jersey Coast Line resumes?

[Fan Railer]

With the arrivals of the dual mode locomotives, have they got the OK from Amtrak to start using them on the Northeast Corridor, if so, with the North Jersey Coast Line that will be out for quite some time and with these dual modes, has there been any consideration of using them on the Raritan Valley Line temporary and give Raritan Valley Line riders a one direct ride into NY Penn Station until the North Jersey Coast Line resumes?

Considering the majority of the dual mods have sustained some type of damage, in the short term, no.

[Hawaiitiki]

Two very expensive reasons why they won't be going into NYP anytime soon,...at least not en masse.

1. Hunter Interlocking(where the NEC meets the RVL) requires trains to cross over all of the main tracks just get on the correct side of the track, therefore RVL trains almost always run "wrong main" to Newark where because of the short distance from Hunter, its not a huge problem. However, reaching NYP would be a nightmare from an operational standpoint using that methodology. NJT needs to a build a flyover at Hunter before RVL trains can start going to NYP. That project gets a shout out in the Draft NJ Rail Plan thats being talked about in the NJT forum.

2. There are no slots left going through the tunnels during rush hours. They need more capacity(more tunnels into Manhattan). Its been mentioned here that NJT could route a few weekend RVL trains to NYP, but Amtrak would still likely require a proper flyover be built at Hunter before even that.

[millerm277]

Two very expensive reasons why they won't be going into NYP anytime soon,...at least not en masse.

The OP is asking about now, as a result of the storm (where slots are presumably not an issue with most of the trains not running), not on a regular basis in the future.

[lirr42]

Unfortunately, the answer is likely no.

1. HUNTER interlocking still needs the flyover, as Mr. Hawaiitiki said. Yeah, there are less trains running, but a move like that is still too clumsy without a proper flyover.
2. To my knowledge, the ALP45-DP's have never operated into NYP on a revenue move into Penn as a straight electric engine, so it would lead me to believe NJT is not ready/willing/able to send them under the river just yet.
3. Amtrak probably won't be too warm to the idea right now. After just going through loads of work drying off their tunnels (one of them still water logged) I'm fairly certain they wouldn't want these new fuel-loaded contraptions going through there just yet. And if this goes ahead and these things mess something up--forget it. Amtrak might never let them into NYP on a regular basis.
4. Plus, we don't even know the status of the ALP45-DP's. Have any been spotted lately (on the Main Line/ST)? Additionally, I haven't seen the engines running with MLV's (what the RVL normally uses) just yet, so that's a further complicating factor.
5. NJT has got their hands full now with recovering track-wise, signal-wise, and equipment-wise. Orchestrating a whole new type of service is probably not very high on their list of priorities.
6. The customers themselves might be thrown off a bit by something like this. We're adjusting the schedule on them on a bi-weekly basis and now we're going to throw a whole new service pattern at them. And just when they're warming up to the whole one-seat-ride thing the NJCL comes back online and they're bumped back to transferring at Newark Penn.

[jp1822]

I recall seeing plans where RVL trains heading inbound to Newark were supposed to go past Hunter interlocking (or over the current bridge on the NEC) and then diverge via a flyover of some sort towards Newark. Not sure if this is the "flyover" that has been mentioned, but from the plans, this seemed easier than say how the flyover is constructed for the NJCL. Inbound RVL trains woud then be lined up to enter Newark on track 1 or A. The current diverging tracks from the NEC to the RVL line would then just be for outbound trains.

Where a flyover is needed the most, or some sort of better alignment is at the "Waterfront Connection" so you have more of a connection like the Mid-Town Direct trains.

The current mass transit system for NJT after Hurricane Sandy proves that more needs to be done with interconnectivity. I'd hate to see what would happen if one of the Hudson River tunels were out for an extended period of time. And these are 100 year old tunnels! Enough studies, get things built.

[25Hz]

The aldene connection is single track folks. To get any real headway you are going to need 2 tracks and a flyover. Then there's the possibility of west trenton service at some point in the future, which will require additional track farther west.

The way things are set up now was supposed to be temporary and was written in a time when private companies still decided what happened.

The ramp needs to be expanded to make room for a second track and the current 2 track section needs to have the east/south track lead to some kind of flyover, but since clearance is tight through there due to the highway overpass you'd need a really tight curving line with likely a pretty steep grade.

What they could do, though it would be a lot more expensive, is keep a more nominal curve and grade and simply build a replacement highway overpass with more clearance or raise the current overpass intact. Right now it's all reinforced concrete.... You could replace it with a smaller steel structure.

Then you got the other rail infrastructure, overhead lines, and drainage to think of

I'm not sure what all exactly needs to happen with that area for this overpass to be built, but it won't be cheap and it won't be a quick fix.

[ns3010]

The aldene connection is single track folks. To get any real headway you are going to need 2 tracks and a flyover. Then there's the possibility of west trenton service at some point in the future, which will require additional track farther west.

The way things are set up now was supposed to be temporary and was written in a time when private companies still decided what happened.

The ramp needs to be expanded to make room for a second track and the current 2 track section needs to have the east/south track lead to some kind of flyover, but since clearance is tight through there due to the highway overpass you'd need a really tight curving line with likely a pretty steep grade.

What they could do, though it would be a lot more expensive, is keep a more nominal curve and grade and simply build a replacement highway overpass with more clearance or raise the current overpass intact. Right now it's all reinforced concrete.... You could replace it with a smaller steel structure.

Then you got the other rail infrastructure, overhead lines, and drainage to think of

I'm not sure what all exactly needs to happen with that area for this overpass to be built, but it won't be cheap and it won't be a quick fix.

That's not nearly as big of a deal as Hunter. Assuming that eastbound trains cross over at Aldene (I'm not completely familiar with RVL ops, but Google Maps shows a crossover just east of the Route 28 bridge that I would assume is part of the interlocking), it's only a very short distance that trains would have to run wrong rail before crossing over. Stopping/slowing a few freights in the area at Aldene is nothing compared to essentially shutting down a stretch of the corridor as a train crosses over (not to mention that there are fewer freights during rush hour, whereas the corridor is way busier).

[michaelk]

if somehow a hunter flyover got done, there were new bajillion dollar tunnels, and then only aldene was the holdup and they some how had a way to pay for aldene and a new highway bridge, they'd probably also have the money to triple track between aldene and hunter and an aldeene flyover becomes less necessary. You would have one whole track just for NJT and the second track could/would foul the freight folks just the same (or maybe even less) than it does today.

The new state plan draft points out that that section of track CURRENTLY is a hindrance to the port authority getting much more freight out of the ports by the lehigh line, it's not crazy to think that the port authority adds the triple track before NJT ever finds money for hunter or aldene ramp improvements.