AJW: Bilevel MUs? In the case of the Dinky-Maybe...
Have you ever ridden the short five minute scheduled run of the Dinky? The Conductor is normally
working by themselves and has to try and punch and/or collect all tickets during that short ride.
Just one or two on-board cash fares can mean that other tickets can go unserviced. The NJT on-
board $5 penalty charge is a strong deterrent to collecting cash on board but not always...
Placing bilevel MU cars on the Dinky would make the Conductor's job harder in that they would
have to climb stairs and check four distinct levels of a two car train (if the crew size remains the
same) in that same short five minute period. If NJT were to adopt automatic or POP fares then
it would likely not matter which MU car type was used on the route.
NJT will assign two single units or a married pair of A3 cars to the Dinky. There are busy travel
periods in which two cars are best used instead of crowding everyone into one car. The Arrows
have to use the end doors only at Princeton Junction because of the large gap that exists there
for the center doors which is the one drawback concerning their use on the Dinky.
There is one road crossing: Faculty Road on the Princeton end of the line - and one bridge over
US Route 1 which I believe was built in the late 1980s when the road below was widened and
converted into a divided highway replacing an older PRR constructed bridge.
Single level MU cars such as the Arrows are quite adequate for the current state of the Dinky.
The question is will the Dinky remain the same into the future? MACTRAXX
Have you ever ridden the short five minute scheduled run of the Dinky? The Conductor is normally
working by themselves and has to try and punch and/or collect all tickets during that short ride.
Just one or two on-board cash fares can mean that other tickets can go unserviced. The NJT on-
board $5 penalty charge is a strong deterrent to collecting cash on board but not always...
Placing bilevel MU cars on the Dinky would make the Conductor's job harder in that they would
have to climb stairs and check four distinct levels of a two car train (if the crew size remains the
same) in that same short five minute period. If NJT were to adopt automatic or POP fares then
it would likely not matter which MU car type was used on the route.
NJT will assign two single units or a married pair of A3 cars to the Dinky. There are busy travel
periods in which two cars are best used instead of crowding everyone into one car. The Arrows
have to use the end doors only at Princeton Junction because of the large gap that exists there
for the center doors which is the one drawback concerning their use on the Dinky.
There is one road crossing: Faculty Road on the Princeton end of the line - and one bridge over
US Route 1 which I believe was built in the late 1980s when the road below was widened and
converted into a divided highway replacing an older PRR constructed bridge.
Single level MU cars such as the Arrows are quite adequate for the current state of the Dinky.
The question is will the Dinky remain the same into the future? MACTRAXX
EXPRESS TRAIN TO NEW YORK PENN STATION-NO JAMAICA ON THIS TRAIN-PLEASE STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING TRAIN DOORS