Metro-North wrangles with failing cars and cold weather

5:10, 6:00, 6:50 am southbounds from Southeast either bustituted (6:00) to southeast or shuttle service only to southeast. What are they using the regular maxi-bombs for? Any educated guess on how long it will last for?

New Haven line fleet has been decimated due to recent sub-zero temperatures, so diesel equipment is being used to supplement electric service over there.

From MTA website...

Posted: 01/25/2011 4:21AM

MTA Service Notice

Due to a weather related equipment shortage, customers traveling on the 5:10AM, 6:00AM, and 6:50AM train from Wassaic will be required to transfer to electric equipment at Southeast.

Anyone else have experience with diesel branch line service changes due to the weather related equipment shortage? Can they use (or have they used) Hudson/Harlem line MU's up to New Rochelle on the New Haven for some of the peak New Roc-GCT trains?

The evening rush will be roughly the same on the Upper Harlem as the morning was. From the mta website:

Due to a weather related equipment shortage, Wassaic branch customers traveling on the 3:45 PM, 4:38 PM, and 6:02 PM trains from Grand Central will be required to transfer to electric equipment at Southeast.

I am supposing they mean to diesel equipment at Southeast, but I do appreciate the warning in advance...

brettj22 wrote:Anyone else have experience with diesel branch line service changes due to the weather related equipment shortage? Can they use (or have they used) Hudson/Harlem line MU's up to New Rochelle on the New Haven for some of the peak New Roc-GCT trains?

The evening rush will be roughly the same on the Upper Harlem as the morning was. From the mta website:

Due to a weather related equipment shortage, Wassaic branch customers traveling on the 3:45 PM, 4:38 PM, and 6:02 PM trains from Grand Central will be required to transfer to electric equipment at Southeast.

I am supposing they mean to diesel equipment at Southeast, but I do appreciate the warning in advance...

If you mean the M-7's they cannot operate up to New Rochelle due to the fact that the third rail ends around Pelham.

Bad recall on my part then, for some reason thought the switch over point was New Rochelle. Sorry about that.

It's been a real mean winter, and we still have another month and a half to go!!

The NH line fleet hast been hit this hard and many cars are out of service causing many short trains.

More snow predicted for 3 of the next 4 days!!

Pray for an early spring!!

Maybe this is a stupid question (probably is, actually) so apologies in advance, but is there anyone that MNR could borrow/short term lease equipment from to hold down/augment NH Line service with the MU fleet staggering? Doesn't P&W have a modernized excursion fleet? Is there anything up on the Naugy that could be used to protect Waterbury-Bridgeport service, freeing a couple more Bomb cars for the main line?

Hey, the Housy has promised to run down the Beacon, Berkshire, and Maybrook if CDOT and NYS will rehabilitate their entire line and provide them massive subsidies!

I actually asked this in the wrong (and one I created, so I should have known better) thread on the M-2's. Dutch caught me....

Anyway, I thought some of the SLE fleet could be used. AFAIK, there is excess equipment (Mafersa coaches, Hurricane Shoreliners, GP's, P40's), but most of this would be restricted from GCT, including the stored FL9's.

However, I wonder if they could run these to some intermediate transfer point short of CP1 and run MU shuttles. Maybe Stamford (limited to NH EMUs), 125th, Yankees-153rd, even Mt. Vernon (East).

Somewhere, Rowland and predecssors are roasting in he!! for deferring this so long.

If they ever pulled the FL-9's out of storage, there would be more railfans than commuters on those trains...

I'm glad Rell got the ship in order over there and got the equipment ordered when she did. As an upper harlem commuter I can understand temporary inconveniences, but it annoys the ---- out of me that we have to pay for the incompetance/theivery of the Rowland administration...

John Rowland got what he deserved (two years in prison). Jodi Rell was much more realistic about the needs of commuter rail in her state.

I assume the Waterbury busing is due to the need for the bomb sets to cover Wassaic?

More cancellations/combinations: http://www.mta.info/supplemental/mnr/mn ... _info.html

Last Friday train 949 transferred to (what had been) the regular three car shuttle. Mon/Tues 953 connected to a two car shuttle. The same two car shuttle was covering the regular shuttle for 931 today. Does a 2 car shuttle normally cover the Waterbury or was the extra Wassaic train cobbled together?

"Somewhere, Rowland and predecssors are roasting in he!! for deferring this so long."

No, he's not. He has a cushy job in government and does not have to run for election. A happy ending for Big John!

"Is there anything up on the Naugy that could be used..."

Um, you're kidding, right?? Yes, let's put commuters into 1923 coaches; there would be a revolt!

MNCR did look into a seasonal "lease" of the Russell snow plow, after the horrific 1995-96 winter, but decided it would be too much effort to use. And they were afraid of the coal stove, so they said.

a ballast regulator can do same work

http://www.nshr.com/photo_page/mow8109a.jpg