Fundamental differences between MN and LIRR

how metro north differs from long island railroad in general

just read all post on this and LIRR forum and you will see.

MTA is the parent company (Metropolitan Transportation Authority)
Long Island Railroad and Metro North Railroad are Sister agencies

Differences:

Currently LI is the largest Commuter Railroad, Types of operations are basically same except for one - Metro North- New Haven Line has DC/AC operating equipment.

Other than that we are Railroads and move a hell of a lot of people into NYC.

An enduring mystery to me is why the cars are cleaner and the equipment seems in better repair on MN compared to LIRR. Since they are both part of MTA, I wouldn't expect these differences.

I can't speak about LIRR but on MNCR a guy named FRED keeps sending me tru the carwash on a daily basis.

Couple of other differences. MN people are the nicest bunch of people you could want to meet and they are paid less than their counterparts on the LIRR.

I think the comparison is more like the old time Pennsylvania and the New
York Central.
The New York Central was innovative and believed in spending money
for improvements while the Pennsylvania was more traditional and did not
spend nearly as much on the railroad. I will tailor this remark by stating
that a fortune has been spent on both railroads for equipment and right of
way improvements. The results seem to have gone farther on Metro-
North.
Metro North has no more signal towers (except drawbridge operators),
very little manual block territory (only the Danbury and Waterbury
Branches in Connecticut), no more train orders and a more compact
system.
The Long Island Rail Road is more spread out, has many different branch
lines, three major terminals in the five boroughs of New York City, still
has signal towers, still uses form 19 train orders in their operation and
has a major line and some others operated under a modification of the
old manual block rules. Simple ABS (the old rule 251) territory on Metro-
North is history but the LIRR still has a considerable amount of ABS
territory where trains run under current of traffic rules and no cab
signals nor speed control either.
To the best of my knowledge, the LIRR is the only railroad in the country
that operates passenger trains in excess of 59 MPH in manual block
territory. This is possible because the Montauk Branch has distant switch
signals protecting all facing point switches. The use of these signals years
ago was quite common but they have pretty much fallen out of use in
recent years.
As for the people, both railroads employ highly competent and dedicated
people but the people on Metro-North are the nicest of all. I never worked
with better people than I did right in New York in the 1980's.
Noel Weaver

JoeG wrote:An enduring mystery to me is why the cars are cleaner and the equipment seems in better repair on MN compared to LIRR. Since they are both part of MTA, I wouldn't expect these differences.

Probably the volume of rolling stock on the LIRR is one factor.

Picking up on Mr Weaver's post, the LIRR was kind of a poor stepchild of the PRR from 1904 till the state took it over in 1954. The LIRR hardly made any money through its whole long history. After the state took it over, there was still a long time of little cash. On the other hand The NYC had well-maintained equipment till almost the end. The NH also had well-maintained equipment, although they faltered before the NYC. Maybe the cultures of these predecessor roads still have an effect.

Another difference, I have heard, has to do with pay levels (slightly higher at Metro-North Railroad.)

Another mechanical/electric difference is with the 3rd rail. One has under riding 3rd rail the other has over riding. LIRR uses the same as PATH.

I can never rememeber which is which, but I think LIRR/PATH/ and NYC subways user over, whilst MN uses under. Equipment on the 2 systems is not interchangable because of this. There will never be thru running or truly shared facilities.

LIRR to GCT will have its own station within the station. If MN ever went to Penn, it would be with the New Haven line via catenary.

I think the LIRR pays better than MN. Any actual employees around, who can tell us the facts?

Let's not bring up the issue of pay. It's simply not important to a railfan discussion. I think the original poster (not even sure he asked a real question) was wondering about the difference in outward appearance between the two railroads.

-otto-

The State of New York (in the form of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority) purchased the LIRR from the PRR in January 1966.

Jim

Are there clearance problems on the LIRR that prevent the use of GE Genesis locomotives?

I'm curious why LIRR felt the need to develop an entirely new dual-mode locomotive when its sister agency had a long and successful history of using such units. I hope they at least tapped into Metro North's knowledge base when they designed the DE locomotives.

JD