Harlem Line suspended due to flooding 6/29

A question for those critical of Metro North - have you ever been in a supervisory or management position and been faced with an emergency or crisis at work? No matter how good your plans are, you probably are forced to react to the situation and do the best with what you've got. Given that the flooding was not just a 'railroad problem' but was also affecting roads, even the best shuttle bus operation was going to be severely strained.

Absent any evidence of mismanagement or negligence, I have to believe there were a lot of Metro North supervisors and workers doing their best to keep things moving under difficult circumstances.

JD

I'd also observe that fast moving weather may create rapidly changing conditions on the ground, especially in issues related to runoff. Conditions like closing access to the Bronx River Parkway or the Saw Mill may cause flow-back of stalled traffic onto the railroad crossings, as well.

That said, the storms were clearly visible on my radars as early as 1pm in Sussex, Delaware and Orange counties. The reds and oranges suggested the likelihood of torrential downpours. It would have been prudent to have management people available to monitor reports from the county / NYS DOT etc on road closings, flooding, etc and have Bee-Line and other people mobilized.

This storm was not like most storms, although thunder storms were predicted, no one iknew exactly where they would strike. I have seen many floods in Westchester. This one was quite different. The storm line went east to west and took out all roads from white plains to tarrytown. There were no alternate routes available. Nothing could go north or south until the water went down. The biggest problem was the run off. Places flooded that have not flooded in the past. There was very little rain in some areas and ark ran in others. One of the stranges things was the lower bronx river didn't flood. Unheard of when the north floods out. It all happened so fast everyone was caught short. I don't think anyone could have thought of a contingency for this one.

yea it was bad. MNR didnt mean to send people to NWP, but it was as far as we could send trains to from the terminal. all express trains to southeast were cancelled, and only locals to NWP. the plan according to the chief RTC, was have passengers go to NWP, and then take bus to chappaqua, and continue on trains 2 southeast and Wassaic. we had shortage of equipment i knew, and those lovely M7s are not as reliable as people think. i was there from 11pm that wednesday night till 7am the thursday morning. Service was restored to BOTH track 1 and 2 at 4:53 am with no restrictions and no exceptions taken.

MNRR PA OPERATOR wrote: i was there from 11pm that wednesday night till 7am the thursday morning. Service was restored to BOTH track 1 and 2 at 4:53 am with no restrictions and no exceptions taken.

And a big thank you for that.

mkm4 wrote:

MNRR PA OPERATOR wrote: i was there from 11pm that wednesday night till 7am the thursday morning. Service was restored to BOTH track 1 and 2 at 4:53 am with no restrictions and no exceptions taken.

And a big thank you for that.

I second that

Could they have sent trains up to Danbury and over the Maybrook (Beacon) branch to Southeast and worked them down the Harlem ????

I would have suggested this from the Hudson also but it was stated earlier in this post they already were short a track.

No - they could not have done that. For a multitude of reasons.

Primarily - all the crossings must be hand flagged - no protection. And there is almost nobody on the railroad, either conductors or engineers qualified in that territory.

We only got 5 engineers and 2 conductors qualified on Beacon and part of Housatonic. and all off them are already working other jobs, like me for example.

Just to add my two-cents to this issue, I must say the dumbest thing MN did was to bring the passengers to NWP and to not communicate with them. I have three friends on different trains on the Harlem who know that I would know what was going on with the railroad and called me.

One of them, my friend Melissa, had a car at Hawthorne, the first train she was on, out of GCT at 17:** (time omitted so as not to incriminate anyone) originally destined for Chappaqua was taken out of service at CRESTWOOD without any explanation for the 6 cars worth of passengers. They all attempted to squeeze onto the next train that arrived, moments later...again with no explanation. The next train they got on, ran to "somewhere past Hartsdale" and sat for 15 minutes, the only explanation was "train traffic ahead", still no mention to the passengers that the railroad was closed. I told my frined via cellphone that it was closed, and she and many of the passengers in her immediate area of the car bailed off the train at White Plains, which was their saving grace as it turns out, as another friend who was expecting his girlfrined to pick him up at Purdy's left GCT around 17:** as well, and didn't get home until 23:05.

According to a story Melissa heard from one of her usual "seat mates" the following morning, the biggest problem, was MN was bussing passengers to CHAP, but not to VAL, HAW, PLE, until almost 20:00. So good thing she got a ride from WP.

As someone who knows the roads of the greater White Castle...err...White Plains area, I can say that although NWP is closer to 22, which can connect to 120 to get into chappaqua, the local arterials areound NWP are not condusive to bus service, where as WP are, and WP is high ground, higher than NWP, not counting the BRP.

All I reccomend is next time MNCW work on communication, and perhaps before rushing into a plan that isn't totally thought out, take three minutes to find one that will work.

Again, considering the circumstances, the riders of MNCW should be thankful that MN at least tried to get them home, whereas some other agencies in other parts of the country are known for a "you've on your own" attitude.... Furthermore, I will contradict myself so far as to say that I am sure that the NWP idea must have looked like the "best idea AT THE TIME" or else MN would not have chosen such.

--JSW

District D RTC wrote:As someone who knows the roads of the greater White Castle...err...White Plains area, I can say that although NWP is closer to 22, which can connect to 120 to get into chappaqua, the local arterials areound NWP are not condusive to bus service, where as WP are, and WP is high ground, higher than NWP, not counting the BRP.

White Plains was one big traffic jam around the station. Getting the buses there would have taken even longer. There is a bus yard right next to the NWP station. That is where the majority of the buses came from.