01800 Tracker

I know this is kind of late but...

On my way to Alan Shaprio last Friday, I got 01811 as the head car. There was a single ad in the Window but by standing I could easily see over it. ASA was ok this time and didn't notice any climate control issues.

Well, all weekend, until Sunday night, Neponset was at a ten code. On Sunday night, it was slow, but more like 20 than 5 mph. I am getting disgusted with the T's arrogance about preventative maintenance or lack there of! Do they have to wait until a catastrophe or any accident for that matter happens each and every time. You can see on the south side of JFK a lot of 'red dots' appearing on both wooden and concrete ties for the Braintree branch. I know I am ranting here, but why do they bother shutting the system down at night if they don't do repairs on the track at that time, instead, 'lets do bustitution for an entire weekend!' ...okay, I am thru,...LOL Sorry for the rant!

That's fine, I'm sure they've been doing work on the tracks during the overnight when the T hasn't been running.

I also have some pictures of my own for 01800s which I may post here soon, so I'll let you know when I'll post them on my site.

01822 from JFK to Braintree. The window was blocked by a double poster, and the HVAC and ASA were fine. But the real treat was at Quincy Adams. Typically at this time in the morning they switch operators at QA. When the operator stepped into the car, he said to me (I was the only one in the car) ...nice and cold, huh? And I said yes, and he got into the seat and left the door open for me to stand there and watch out the front!!!!!! Now that was a treat!

When the operator stepped into the car, he said to me (I was the only one in the car) ...nice and cold, huh? And I said yes, and he got into the seat and left the door open for me to stand there and watch out the front!!!!!! Now that was a treat!

Wow!! That was nice, wasn't? I'm really glad you got such a privilege to see out the head end for my most favourite leg of the line, between Quincy Adams and Braintree.

If you recall my earlier post going back to January regarding car 01734 (when I got to see out the head end when the cab curtain was torn off thus eneabling to see out the right side), here's an excerp of it:

from 1/13/05

Well this may be a bit strange, but this was unbelievably true. This evening, Jan 13, I gained 01734, yes, that's UTDC, NOT a Bombardier 01800, rather, 01734 from PKS-BRN. Window (engineer's side) was WIDE open, it's curtain's top metal support was collapsed, so that allowed me to have the greatest (and only in my lifetime) view ever of the engineer from when I got the seat at Park Street all the way down to Braintree. I even boasted and gloated all over this view out front, since I knew this would be the only time it would happen and I also got to see all the codes/commands and even the oncoming CR trains. Then after Quincy Adams, I then stood up by lifting up that seat and looking straight right above the engineer's head down to Braintree for what it would be the engineer's simulated view. So this unprecedented head-end view Rocked The House! Was the best ride, I even had to admit it was better than the 01800 firemen's side, but this was well worth it, just my lucky night. Other than that, the PA system was operational, guard announced all stations outright, and everything else went smoothly.

Red Line service has been bad of late, and the T acknowledged the problem earlier this month.

''The reliability has not been where it should be," Grabauskas said at this month's T board meeting. One key problem, he said, were the No. 3 Red Line cars.

''These vehicles have been out of service since last winter," he acknowledged. ''They should be the workhorse of the line because they are the newer vehicles. As a result of their being out of service, older vehicles have been pressed into much more in-service time."

He said that as of last week, 134 traction motors have been replaced in the Red Line No. 3 car fleet, allowing the T to return 24 of the 28 cars to service. In March, when an order from General Electric arrives with more motors, the remaining No. 3 cars will return to service.

The problem, which occurred last winter, developed when the cars were constantly exposed to the season's wicked series of winter storms. The motors on the cars, the newest in the Red Line fleet, became caked in hard-packed snow, which would cause them to overheat.

Water from the melted snow would then freeze, crippling the motors by forming huge blocks of ice. The end result, as Pesaturo said, was catastrophic failures.

Cost of each new motor? $25,000. Multiply by 28? $700,000. And because the cars are no longer under the manufacturer's warranty, the T is paying the bill.

At last! No wonder why the Braintree Extension of the Red Line has beeen delayed, or had problems.

Hopefully 84 of these cars will be back on the road.

I was 01815 today, and I think it was the first time I had rode it. No ASA, but the HVAC and the window were fine. I am pleased to see the increase of 01800's again across the board, but I also noted a hell of alot of track workers and inspectors placed on the tracks and at the stations.

Apparrently some major renovations on the tracks have been done and still being done. The speed on the inbound side of the Braintree tracks are almost all back to normal, the slow a small bit at the flyover right after Savin Hill. They pull into the JFK station at normal speed now. Just a new slowdown pulling out of Quincy Ctr seems to have started this week, but it is like a full train length and that is it. Outbound is okay too...just a small deceleration over the Neponset Bridge still.

Have you enjoyed the changes yet, Robert?

Actually I have noticed and liked the changes, I hope that this is the beginning of some modifications for all three types of cars, and that someday we'll see higher speeds to match the neighboring Comm Rail Trains.

Long time, no post regarding this thread.

I have been getting some 01800's lately, but had trouble remembering which ones I got. One consistant thing is that every time I was on them, the ASA goofed up when leaving Downtown Crossing. Makes me wonder if Reddy is flirting again...

They have been replacing sections of tracks along the South bound side of JFK platform on the Braintree side. They welded two sets of bonding cables between two rail pieces, and within two days, one of the welds broke off and the bond braid is just hanging in the wind. Someone noticed it quickly other than myself and painted the loose cable with red paint. I read the Herald on Saturday morning about the T and its state of 'mismanagement' and I just wonder, does anyone in the T do quality work?
The other day, the operator of the 01800 I was in, lit up a cigarette and proceeded to smoke thru most of the trip to Braintree. I was thinking about sending an email off to the T, but I figured, it won't stop them. Nobody is accountable or responsible. How can a system as vast as NYC run in surplus and our system keep sinking into disrepair and for lack of a better word...stupidity.

Robert or CS, if you think this is too harsh, feel free to delete it, I won't take offense. I am just ticked off that I am about to pay 25 to 30 cents more for less and receive less of a service! Grabauskas seems to have loftier goals and less realistic views than Mulhern!

I would agree with you to a point, Frank. I just wish that, like I said in the other topic, that the police would enforce the fares at least until AFC installations are complete, and that government would make the law harsher. If people didn't cheat the fares, the T would have a little bit more money right there.

The other day, the operator of the 01800 I was in, lit up a cigarette and proceeded to smoke thru most of the trip to Braintree.

Wow, that's not the first time I've seen any engineer do that. While I was riding the MBCR from Middleboro/Lakeville up to BOS back in 1998, our motorperson was having a cigarette himself while rolling the train, I got to see that too, since we were in push mode with the 1500 cab car in forward NB direction.

Also, on the ASA matter, the 01800 consist I rode the other day kept displaying "Entering Kendall", so the train attendant had to do announcements by hand.

Got 01810 tonight on my way home. The ASA had a problem. The display was working correctly, but no sound was coming out of the speakers when Reddy was announcing the stops. The can be a serious problem to those who are blind.

A little off topic for this thread, but I also noticed that sometimes on my night trains on 15/16/17's, the guard doesn't even announce the stops. IIRC that is a violation of both protocol and the law.

I've been on a lot of 01800's lately where the operators override the announcements altogether...and a couple last week that didn't even have destinations listed on the signs. Is there some sort of system-wide problem going on with the ASA on these trains, or with the RFID tags on the tracks? Ever since they started returning to service about a month ago after the little car shortage they had real, working ASA has been tough to come by on the Red Line.

Well, that is caused by either the ASA malfunctioning, or more likely, zealous guards. One time long ago I was on a 01800 where the ASA was fine until the guard starting interrupting it.

Another thing that seems to sometimes jinx the ASA is when the guard appears to intentionally cut off the "No Smoking Please" message at Andrew station. You know the ding-dong sound you hear at that point? That's the guard cutting off the "No Smoking Please" message, then later on, "Next Stop, South Station" when leaving South Station.

Either the above is true, or maybe it's another glitch in the system.