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Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, nomis, FL9AC, Jeff Smith

 #1598117  by jamoldover
 
RearOfSignal wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 10:32 am Third rail runs only just past CP 35 on the Hudson Line, not Poughkeepsie. Also a bunch of cows got shocked way back when they still had 3rd rail in CT, so they outlawed it. Back in early 1900s.
It's not that 3rd rail is outlawed in CT - it's that when the lines were electrified 100 years ago, the New Haven RR (who built and owned the tracks between Woodlawn and Boston) decided to use AC-powered overhead catenary since it was more efficient for powering long distances. The New York Central (who owned the tracks from GCT to points north and west) decided that they preferred DC-powered third rail alongside the tracks. That infrastructure's been in place ever since, which is why any equipment that runs from GCT to New Haven and points east needs to be able to use both systems.

The only type of third rail that might have been outlawed would have been unprotected ground-level ones that ran down the center of the track, similar to Lionel toy trains.

Joshua
 #1598124  by Traingeek3629
 
So starting tomorrow, ALL SLE trains will be operated by M8s per the DOT - which makes the schedule slowdowns even more surprising. The inaugural today was 9422/9423/9352/9353.
 #1598129  by daybeers
 
This is why information shouldn't be shared as fact unless it's confirmed. Helps nobody.

Either way CTDOT messed up badly with this rollout. Should've had way more fanfare and free rides like the Hartford Line opening. People have been waiting for this since the Shore Line was electrified over 20 years ago! The electric bus rollout had gotten more PR than this.

I did go to the press event at 2pm in NHV but was turned away from riding the train because it's just for the people who will likely never ride it again. Extremely frustrating.

There were three sets of four cars each at NHV today, all with third rail shoes removed.

I know certain trains are timed for meets with Amtrak trains, but I agree that we'll probably see too much padding. Annoyingly the schedule says trains may depart up to 5 minutes earlier at intermediate stops.
 #1598143  by Traingeek3629
 
CDOT majorly screwed up this rollout. SLE ridership has been down big since Covid began and they could have badly used a big marketing campaign. A combination of marketing the new trains, as well as returning the Stamford trains, and maybe a Hartford Line-esque promotion of free trains one weekend, would have been more ideal.
 #1598279  by cle
 
Maybe the schedule improvements will be at the next timetable change as they bed in. It's frustrating but I can understand it. Surely end to end would be a pretty big saving - like 15-20 mins or so.

Is Madison station up next?
 #1598426  by twropr
 
When the new schedules took effect on the 24th, were there still the same number of trains as before?
Has any time been cut from the schedules?
Were most of the diesels pre 24th 90 or 100 MPH trains?
Thanks
Andy
 #1598447  by kitn1mcc
 
when i rode yesterday and this morning the crews were using the door controls like MNR does. On the way home they mad us all group up to two doors. the Conductor claimed the FRA does not allow Amtrak to use the door control and they need to man a door
 #1598448  by Silverliner II
 
kitn1mcc wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 6:57 pm when i rode yesterday and this morning the crews were using the door controls like MNR does. On the way home they mad us all group up to two doors. the Conductor claimed the FRA does not allow Amtrak to use the door control and they need to man a door
I did some video fanning on SLE this morning. Rode the first trip from New Haven to Clinton, then Clinton to Madison, then Madison to State Street.
On the first two trains, station stops were made with the middle two cars on the platforms, and one crew member in each car opened up one door via the key switch at the door. The trains that made the station stops while I was at Clinton and Madison did the same.
BUT... the train I rode from Madison to State Street... they did it MNR style. The train was spotted with the first two cars on the platform, and the conductor used the door controls from the cab at the rear of the second car to open all doors on the head two cars at all stops to State Street. That crew did the same thing on their way back east on the next trip when they stopped at State Street.
 #1598457  by Silverliner II
 
west point wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 9:30 pm What is with all these short platforms?
With conventional coaches, they could platform all doors to access a 4-car train (except the ones on the far ends of the end cars) with no issue with the short platforms.
You should have seen how it was with the original station platforms when the service first began in 1990 or so. Low-level temporary wooden platforms that you could only get one pair of doors on...
 #1598509  by Silverliner II
 
west point wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 11:38 am Cannot imagine the problems adding platforms on active tracks.
It's not really a problem, since they're working to the side of the ROW... no island platforms involved. It all came down to available funding at the time.
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