Past Scheduling Oddities

you misread me. It shows the deadhead MOVES, but it doesn't list the turns - i.e. 356 turns to 3357. Metro-North's employee schedules list all turns, except for trains that are due in a yard, so I thought it seemed odd that LIRR doesn't list any of them.

Yeah, I did. I knew it didn't seem right. Anyway, NJT does and doesn't show the turns. And it seems only recently that any one did. The DL&W would note on the timetable page that such and such a deadhead move was for a particluar return train, especially on its Sussex Branch, but you kind of knew that because there was no way you could find a train set at the end of line for the return train. Or the other note was a tip off that "Y train will not leave point A until the arrival of train X"; you therefore new that X train was the equipment for train Y. But details of eqiupment return etc. are difficult to figure. Again, NJT shows terminal moves at Hoboken for some trains showing the incoming train movement (and consist), schedule to a layover track, schedule back to the terminal, and the outbound train it goes to. But I had never seen that before NJT. Knowing the LIRR for the 60 some odd years I've been playing this game, the LIRR becomes more fascinating because of its many branches and abilities to move from one to the other in various ways.

Doorlight... heres a little tidbit of information for you...

train 907 does not come out of West Hempstead yard it almost always turns from the equipment of train 902.

Also... The last DM set runs as an equipment train from West Side to Jamaica and lays up there all day and then in the morning runs as an equipment train from Jamaica to Speonk, I think train 5730...

hows that for a couple of loops in your system!

[quote="CTG"
I've always liked "hidden" stops that one would never expect. Like the 4:39 AM local from Babylon to Penn that makes a stop at Valley Stream (typically the only Babylon train that does so). At various times, there have been trains from the Main Line that also made westbound stops at Queens Village and Hollis -- though there aren't any on the current schedule.

I'm sure others will come to mind.[/quote]

Way back when I recall the lone East Williston morning inbound MU made Mineola, Merillon Ave., New Hyde Park, and Floral Park. I think it was the only inbound main line train to stop at Floral Park.

hmm, well is it 905 that comes out of the yard, and gets put on the west side of the platform? Do you know what the evening move into the yard is? I'm guessing it's either 960 or 962. I can't wait until it's time for me to lay out the operating plan for Huntington.....especially since for the time being, I have one more train leaving than I have arriving...

Another dangerous oddity is 611, which leaves Port Jeff at 6:45AM and makes all stops to Syosset and then runs non-stop to Hunters Point, not even stopping at Jamaica. Board this train by accident, and you're screwed. If you're afraid to ride the subway to get back to Woodside or to Manhattan, you're doubly screwed.

I vividly remember the Mineola to OB switch when I was in high school, so I'd say it was around 1991?

I believe (without looking) that the East Williston morning MU is the only Floral Park peak train that goes to Penn Station. That's a very popular train at Floral Park.

Here's another question...why does Metro North post pdf files of the branch timetables, but not the LIRR?

Why would you go to Woodside when you get the 7 train, and go to Times Square and change over to a 1 for Penn Station if you did that. Anyways if you board train 611 from points east of Huntington, you can get off and change there for 1623 (7:12 express to Penn stopping at CSH, and Syosset enroute) just by just crossing over to the other platform. Anyways announcements now a days are very thorough even if the C3 announcements don't work, the conductors always announce.

if you accidentially end up on a train to Hunters Point in the AM, there aren't any trains back east, so you would have to take the subway to Woodside in order to take a LIRR train back to Jamaica or Penn Station. I bet the average Suffolk northshorer would be more comfortable doing that than changing from the 7 to the 1/2/3, or the 7 to the E.

I also recall a situation where, during the weekends (maybe it was a GO), most if not all Far Rock trains ran as a shuttle to VS, where they would transfer to a Babylon train into Penn. I remember transferring at Valley from a WB FR train to a EB Babylon train. This was early to mid 90s

Also back in the 80's on the weekends all Far Rockaway trains ran between Jamaica, and Far Rockaway only, and never to Brooklyn like they do now. The smaller timetables showed AB which back then meant A change at Jamaica for Penn Station, and B change at Jamaica for Brooklyn. C was both, but showed on the eastbound timetable, and the westbound showed AB.
The one thing I remember also on the Port Jeff trains that lasted until 1998 was train 617 which was the 8:19 out of PJ to Jamaica used to have a connection train at Jamaica as train 1303 which is no longer used now as 617 ends at Hicksville and turns around for 608. In 1984 617 was 615 which left at 8:08 before late '84 changed to 8:19 and lasted for quite a long time. Now most of the runs going to PJ never really changed that much except for the 2 Dual Mode Runs, and even that didn't alter much as far as arrival/departures.

I remember one train on a Saturday that was a DM express to Montauk making Babylon it's first stop. I believe it was the 8:21am out of Jamaica. Sometimes it went down the Montauk branch and sometimes we would go on the mainline and cut across the central branch to Babylon. Either way, it was a nice way to ride to Islip on a Saturday.

There are more oddities, on the Port jeff line. There's two eastbound weekday trains in the evening, that leave Huntington at 7:15pm and 7:28pm.
Also I never understood with the recent weekend service improvements on the Huntington line, why stations like CSH get service every 30 min but Westbury still remains once an hour.
The LIRR treats Westbury and Carle Place the same on weekends, but Westbury is much, much busier than Carle Place.
They should have both those Huntington trains stop at Westbury, with every other one at Carle Place, which would remain once an hour.
Then you have the oddities on the Montauk line on weekends, where most of the MTK trains don't even stop at Babylon. Some skip Patchogue as well I think. Babylon and Patchogue are main stations, by having the train skip them it really needlessly incovienences the riders who would want to transfer from a local train.
Also the 11:30am eastbound weekday MTK train skips Hicksville even though it uses the mainline. Another pointless oddity.
It is confusing the there isn't a schedule for mainline stops only, it would say "MAIN" on it and list all the trains that stop at stations on the main line (Hicksville, Westbury, Carle Place, Mineola, Merillion, NHP).
Blue trains would be HUNT and purple would be RONK.

There is still PLENTY of weird scheduling done by the LIRR.

Consider there is a direct HPA to Ronkonkoma train during the PM peak, yet no morning Peak train from KO to HPA (and for the record the HPA to KO train is usually M-7 equipped).

East of KO, the Scoot makes a Monday to Friday run from KO to Yaphank, giving Medford and Yaphank a 2nd PM train from the city.
YET there is no Yaphank to KO turn during the morning, even though the scoot gets into KO from Greenport in plenty of time to run back to Yaphank, and still be in KO way before it's 9:06 AM run to Greenport.

Speonk has the best service of any point near the East End, YET it has weird gaps in service. In the morning peak service is almost every 30 minutes, yet on weekdays there is no train service to Speonk from just after 11:00 AM to 4:20 PM, on weekends Inbound Service from Speonk is well placed through the day, yet to Speonk there is no service from just after 12noon to 7:00 PM.

Floral Park is another oddity, when I worked at North Fork Bank, we had a production office above our branch there, most of the time I had to double back to Jamaica to get a train going east. Yet I learned from regulars of a few, just a few, Huntington trains that stop there even though they are not listed in the Public Timetables. During the morning "reverse peak" there is a Huntington Train that stops at Floral Park
(and IS in the timetable), and a huge crowd would always detrain at Floral Park.

During the Summer the 5:08ish through DM train from Penn to Speonk is extended to Montauk on Fridays, providing the ONLY one seat ride from Penn to points east of Speonk, yet they never scheduled a Sunday, or Monday morning return trip with DM's.

Ken

MNRR_RTC wrote:I remember one train on a Saturday that was a DM express to Montauk making Babylon it's first stop. I believe it was the 8:21am out of Jamaica. Sometimes it went down the Montauk branch and sometimes we would go on the mainline and cut across the central branch to Babylon. Either way, it was a nice way to ride to Islip on a Saturday.

Isn't that the summer schedule for the Cannon Ball? OR was. All parlor, too. Actually came out of L.I. City at one time.

What about trains that make unscheduled stops? I understand there could be a case where on a Montauk train that uses the mainline, a passenger will be in need of medical attention and the train would make an added stop at Mineola.

There have been a few times also while riding trains that it makes an extra stop because a passenger got on the wrong train.