Waterbury Branch Thread

[Jeff Smith]

I saw something else that said they were tearing up the track bed.

[Jeff Smith]

I'm to cheap to pay $0.75 to get behind the pay wall.

Waterbury branch lacks controls rule requires

Brief, fair-use quote (i.e. what's NOT behind the paywall).

WATERBURY — A federal mandate that all commuter railroads in the country must be equipped with positive train control, a safety measure that causes a train to stop or slow down when the engineer fails to obey a signal, will mean sweeping changes for the antiquated Waterbury branch of Metro-North Railroad.

The Federal Railroad Authority is requiring that the controls be in place on all of the nation's commuter railroads by December 2015. In Connecticut, the four railroads controlled by the Department of Transportation and Metro-North are on track to meet the deadline, a spokesman for the DOT said.

On the New Haven main line, along with the New Canaan and Danbury branches, there are controls that automatically cause a train to stop or slow down in the event of human error. However, they stop functioning when a train is moving at less than 15 mph.

I'm confused; I thought Danbury was "dark" manual block, and New Canaan had ATC up until the last 100 yards or so?

[RearOfSignal]

Danbury is in the act of being signalled.

[Jeff Smith]

Well I know at least that much! I was more going towards the fact that the article was somehow intimating it already was.

Is there any plan yet? 2015 isn't too far away.

[TomNelligan]

In the case of the Waterbury branch, does it matter that these days there's never more than one train on the line at a time?

[Jeff Smith]

Well Tom I think that's the point; MNRR, or more likely, CDOT, does have some plans for improving the branch including passing sidings. Of course, you may be referring to the fact that PanAmSo above Derby and P&W south thereof have freight rights. I know P&W isn't using them as they go via Danbury Branch to their HRRC line customer. But is PanAmSo? And is the mere existence of rights enough to mandate PTC?

[Otto Vondrak]

Federal Railroad Authority must be a new governing body I have not yet heard of (rolls eyes)...

[Jeff Smith]

Otto, you expect accuracy from scribes? Shirley you jest. I'd flame them in comments, but I'm too cheap to pay 75 Lincolns. Someone ask runningwithscalpels.

[TomNelligan]

I know P&W isn't using them as they go via Danbury Branch to their HRRC line customer. But is PanAmSo?

No, there haven't been any active freight customers south of Waterbury in years. Kerite in Seymour used to get rolls of cable once every blue moon but I think they finally gave up too. Last time I was through there the storage shed that they had built on an NH-era loading dock had been removed.

At the moment, barring special moves or possible future service increases, there is never more than one train at a time in the segment between Waterbury and Devon. So is PTC still required when there's nothing to potentially crash into?

[kitn1mcc]

i think that the MBTA/MBCR has some dark territory. i think there maybe some exceptions in it for non high speed trains

[DutchRailnut]

First, in morning there are two trains on branch, one mini, one maxi.
Second, the P&W does enter branch to switch out MNCR cars at siding near mp -1.
Third, MNCR has to consider hRRC letting P&W go up the Maybrook at Derby if and when issues are settled
Fourth, PanAm can run freight any time and to any freight siding, despite not having regular customers.

[runningwithscalpels]

Otto, you expect accuracy from scribes? Shirley you jest. I'd flame them in comments, but I'm too cheap to pay 75 Lincolns. Someone ask runningwithscalpels.

I'm too cheap to actually subscribe to the Rep-Am to get free online access.

[Amtrak7]

Last I checked MNR requested a MTEA for the Waterbury Branch...LIRR is doing the same for the line east of Riverhead and requesting an extension of deadline for Yaphank-Riverhead.

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

i think that the MBTA/MBCR has some dark territory. i think there maybe some exceptions in it for non high speed trains

Only T dark territory is on the Foxboro game-day trains on the Framingham Secondary, which probably are considered more excursions than regular trains because they only happen for NE Patriots games and other special events at the stadium. All their regular lines are signaled. They are screwed, utterly screwed, for the PTC deadline because of the hundreds of track miles of old-timey ABS signaling they've done no planning whatsoever to improve. By far the most out-of-compliance northeastern commuter rail system for 12/31/2015. They might even have trouble making 12/31/2020 if an extension is granted.

MNRR is well ahead of the game. If Waterbury is the only one left requiring a big, expensive trenching of new wires and track circuits for the cab signal base that ACSES sits on top of, then they've done damn good. And managed the clock very wisely on this mandate. Waterbury already has $60M earmarked for signals, so funding the rest of the cost is not a backbreaker.

The ACSES transponders themselves aren't a big deal. Cost or construction time. For the Springfield line improvements, it's $8M total for the ACSES install on 60 miles of (to-be) full double-track that uses generic PRR-standard pulse code cab signals (same number of aspects as the NEC). MNRR would be paying the same track-mile rate Hudson, Harlem, New Caanan, completed Danbury, completed Waterbury, and west-of-Hudson. Plus equipment mods for any of the diesels/control cabs and M3/M7's that need ACSES installations, and whatever extra training and centralized support infrastructure are required. But they'll have a lot of that ops stuff worked out and perfected on the New Haven line's ACSES rollout first.

[kitn1mcc]

yeah i meant ABS not truly dark