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  • Penn Station Emergency Repairs: Trackwork, etc.

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1484403  by EuroStar
 
There is a ballast tamper and other track finishing equipment parked in Yard A. It appears that the resumption of service to/from Albany into Penn Station will happen on time.

In another interesting development a huge steel structure has appeared in the pit they were digging on the space of track 5A. I might try to take a photograph next time I get a chance. The structure appears to be the base of a column or something similar. While I do not have insider information, I will venture to guess that it is meant to be used for the relocation of the columns supporting 9th Avenue. As a reminder, some of the columns supporting 9th Avenue need to be relocated in order to make space for tracks and switches allowing the Empire tunnel access to higher numbered tracks at Penn Station. The same switches will eventually be used to direct train traffic into the Gateway Tunnels if it ever gets built.
 #1487661  by EuroStar
 
There was a "minor" derailment by an NJTransit train last night at Penn station. The quotes are by NJTransit, not mine. I personally would not call any derailment in Penn Station minor unless it involves unoccupied train set in one of the yards. This one happened in the switches just before the Hudson River tunnels by an outbound 6:10pm Montclair train. As per news reports it took them two hours to pull the train set back onto a platform. This morning at 7am the one derailed car was still stuck in the middle of the interlocking. I am guessing that it was the head car with the cab leading the consist and that the first truck derailed. A train derailing there blocks quite a few switches, so I am not surprised that there was a big mess with 2+ hour delays yesterday. I am also not too surprised that they did not re-rail the car overnight. It would have not made much of a difference given that the switches involved would still have been out of service this morning. They will probably re-rail the car and fix any track damage over the weekend. At least for some part of the morning trains are running "wrong rail", eastbound in the north tube and westbound in the south tube.

As the switches in the area of the derailment were replaced recently by Amtrak, it will be interesting to see what gets blamed for this mishap: the track, the car, human error or something else.
 #1487703  by Backshophoss
 
This could have happened due to a bad wheelset on the cab car(bad wheel profile,flatspot,or thin/broken flange)
NJT has a lot of maintenance items to catch up on,this is former Gov Christe's legacy coming back to haunt NJT.
 #1488076  by EuroStar
 
There are reports that an NJT employee specifically directed passengers to not sit in the first car of that train while the train was in the station. That seems very unusual for a rush hour train when practically all seats are needed. I wonder if they knew that something was up with the car. This seems likely to end up squarely in the "NJT fault" column once all the investigations are done.
 #1489137  by EuroStar
 
EuroStar wrote:Over the past week or so a new steel support column was erected for one of the concrete beams that decked the formerly open space west of 9th Avenue. The new column is south of yard track 7E, but closer to the track than the old column which is probably 4-6 feet further south. While I am not privy of the details why this is being done, I would venture to guess that it is correcting some "screw up" from the original decking over the tracks. The possibilities generally are two:
1. The original design/construction was messed up and had to be redone
2. Amtrak messed up and allowed the old column at a location that it should not be (maybe in the way of tracks for Gateway/Penn South?)
This is more and more looking as if someone messed up badly as the load from the concrete beam deck has been transferred to the new column and the old column is in the process of being demolished with the top steel portion already gone.
 #1493895  by JamesRR
 
Boarding on Track 2 the other day, I noticed a lot of the track work where yard E used to be - and this is visible when traveling toward the Hudson River tunnels.

Here's a photo from the west end of the Track 1/2 platform, with a barricade on Track 1 heading toward the yard - anyone know the details of what's going on here?
penn.jpg
 #1493984  by adamj023
 
No clue. All I know is that Track 18 is scheduled for work at Penn Station as per news media.

The system is so large with projects going on and some areas also seem like construction work is going on but have looked the same for years so looks can be deceiving.
 #1496817  by AlKaLI
 
Work started on track 18 in Penn Station as scheduled on 1-7-19. What I find interesting is that Amtrak has not erected any fencing or barriers as before on the platforms. On the evening of 1-8-19, I had an extra few minutes before my LIRR train. I walked down to track 18, to find workers on the track apparently undoing the rail fasteners/tie plates. Over this past weekend, I saw hi-rail trucks on Track 18. Only saw caution tape as a barrier. Will see if I can get some pictures.
 #1497542  by Jeff Smith
 
WSJ.com: Track Work Looms Over New York Penn Station This Summer
The Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit and Amtrak are in negotiations with one another over service reductions at New York Penn Station this summer that would allow for track repairs.

The railroads aren’t expecting to reduce service as significantly as they did for repair work in the summer of 2017, when tens of thousands of commuters were diverted to other stations, NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett said in an interview.
...
This summer’s work will focus on the two interlockings at the east end of the station and could affect multiple tracks at a time, according to an Amtrak spokesman. Those interlockings are used mostly by LIRR and Amtrak trains, but also by NJ Transit for access to a rail yard.
...
 #1497573  by NaugyRR
 
I wonder if we'll see some Empire trains back in GCT again
 #1497670  by Backshophoss
 
Believe "JO" and "C " towers are next summer's targets for rebuilding,while some KEY switches were done 2 years ago,on the east end of NY Penn,
the rest need to be done.
"JO" controls access to East River Tubes 1 +2, that allows Amtrak and NJT to loop into Sunnyside Yard and the Wash Rack on the Loop tracks at Harold.
"C" controls access to East River Tubes 3 + 4 and direct access to the west end of Sunnyside yard via F tower For Amtrak and LIRR Port Wash Branch trains
 #1498971  by JamesRR
 
This appears to be the latest from Amtrak's Penn Station Renewal page - (they've stopped the detailed progress reports):

Amtrak recently completed its second phase of renewal work, rehabilitating tracks 15, 18 and 19, five turnouts in “C” interlocking, one turnout in “KN” interlocking and six turnouts in “JO” interlocking. With these projects now complete, Amtrak continues its commitment to its customers and commuters of improving New York Penn Station’s infrastructure operations, performance and reliability.

What’s next for infrastructure renewal?

Infrastructure renewal work continues through 2019. Amtrak crews are currently working to renew track 17 at New York Penn Station. This work is taking place now through March 3.
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