East River Tunnels Thread

THINK about the questions asked, how many trains at a time and the speed limit, sounds fishy to me. I am not some outsider who did not work there. Please do not mock someone who worked there.
Sounded like he wanted to know how many trains might be in there at any given time.
Also please note he has not defended himself for asking.
I am not the only one who saw red flags when the question was asked.
I am not paranoid. The anniversary is comming up, the timing of the question was a concern for me.
On at least two occasions, the LIRR was targeted, but arrests were made and the plans were stopped.
In summer of 2008, al-Qaeda spoke about targeting the Long Island Railroad using a suitcase bomb that would be left in a car and set to detonate. They drew maps of Long Island and showed that all LIRR trains passed through one tunnel when entering Manhattan; suggesting that an explosion in the tunnel would cause the most damage.
Please THINK before you give out tunnel info. Even if his motives were innocent, others are not.

While I do recognize your concerns, Mr. Brown. They seem like perfectly reasonable questions....in these days when we are constantly whining about terminal capacities and tunnel track slots, he or she might just be wondering if there was possibly a more efficient way of running things (i.e. if we did actually only run one train in a tunnel at a time he might suggest that Amtrak liven things up a little bit and run more than one train at a time).

And for the record, as per Mr. Mookie's profile, he has not returned to this forum since the 27th of August, which is before Jersey Mike's original reply and your subsequent suspicions. While we should have our wits about us these days there is no need to go into full accusal mode because "it's that time of year"...

Let's just all carry on our lives and continue talking about the things we do everyday. This wouldn't be the first time we've talked about East River Tunnel operations...its come up countless times and it will continue to come up since they are very important to LIRR operations (and that's what we're here to discuss, LIRR operations).

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:THINK about the questions asked, how many trains at a time and the speed limit, sounds fishy to me.

How does that sound "fishy"? Some people don't know how the automatic block system works and if they are always getting held at F interlocking it is not unreasonable that they might assume that only one train is allowed in the tunnel at a time. Perhaps of you cared about helping people you would be more aware of the types of questions people ask.

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:I am not some outsider who did not work there. Please do not mock someone who worked there.

You'd be better off saying you didn't work there. I'll bet you're still smarting over someone giving "TMI" about that little retirement scam you folks had going. Hijinks like that is why the LIRR needs a bright halogen light shined on all of its operations. Allowing interested members of the public to know the design capacity of the ERT's is just the tip of the iceberg of bringing accountability to the LIRR.

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:Also please note he has not defended himself for asking.

Because nobody answered his question for 9 days and when I did you called him a terrorist. Real nice way to roll out the welcome mat.

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:I am not the only one who saw red flags when the question was asked. I am not paranoid. The anniversary is comming up, the timing of the question was a concern for me.

This isn't East Germany. Asking about public information shouldn't make anyone "suspicious". If your concern is that great then by all means call the FBI otherwise don't act like a prick trying to somehow conceal public information that could be found via observation or a Google search. BTW if you are worried about dates I'll tap you in November so you can start rounding up Japanese in internment camps.

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:On at least two occasions, the LIRR was targeted, but arrests were made and the plans were stopped. In summer of 2008, al-Qaeda spoke about targeting the Long Island Railroad using a suitcase bomb that would be left in a car and set to detonate. They drew maps of Long Island and showed that all LIRR trains passed through one tunnel when entering Manhattan; suggesting that an explosion in the tunnel would cause the most damage.

Yeah yeah, AQE says a lot of things. If all that's standing between us and an attack is them not knowing speeds in the ERT then we've already lost. Leave security to the professionals. Their tools are a lot better than yours. You can read all about it in the Guardian.

Doc Emmet Brown wrote:Please THINK before you give out tunnel info. Even if his motives were innocent, others are not.

Yeah you see I did THINK. I thought about if the information was A) already in the public domain or B) exposes some critical undisclosed security vulnerability. Come on dude, its 2013. Refuse to be terrorized.

PS: Tell your friend at SEPTA to knock it off.

Excellent post, Jersey Mike.

Ahem . . . I have a large very detailed .jpg of all four east river tunnel signal locations I downloaded from (I think) Arrts Archives. . . . or one of the many LIRR history sites.

Does that make me a terrorist?

And being that this signalling system is reproduced prototypically from that blueprint in thre LIRR route I am building should I expect a visit from some paranoid creep from homeland security? The LIRR correctness cops? The Keystone Kops maybe? <falls off chair giggiling and grabs anothe beer>
Anyone want copies send emal address as this was public property rescued from the Jamaica Station dumpster.

vince

I have to admit, when I saw a topic about the East River tunnels I immediately started reading it. I've ridden through them many times and luckily quite a few times at the front window of an M-1 or M-3. Fascinating ride.

If there is a security concern about this thread or any thread can I make a suggestion? It might be wiser NOT to make that concern public. Why not contact an administrator by PM? They have more information about the person. That way the threat can be assessed and without the OP being put on alert.

If that doesn't seem realistic why not quietly contact someone in law enforcement? I'll bet they wouldn't take it very seriously but you never know. If someone thinks they see a serious matter handle it the right way. Don't harass people who are only trying to have some fun and maybe learn something too.

ADMIN NOTE

If anyone has concern or actual knowledge of terrorist operations, contact you’re law enforcement agency or the FBI hotline 1 890 CALL SPY.

MTA trying to push Amtrak for cheaper/longer-to-enact fixes that can start now, over getting LIRR East-Side-Access done first and shutting down the tunnels. https://www.newsday.com/long-island/tra ... 1.50247191 (needs subscription)

Instead of quoting the article, two images from it give the gist of the problem. This is what MTA has done and is pushing for:


Amtrak says that won't work, and says this needs to be done:


Amtrak says doing the other way will take 15 years total, vs 1 per tunnel.

Are the East River Tunnels the same loading gauge as the Hudson/North River Tunnels?

Anyone else notice a problem with the photo in the Newsday article? So typical of Newsday...........

H-E View: Yes-the photo Newsday used in print copy was of the NJ portal of the Hudson/North River tunnels.
Take note that the artist rendering shows NYCT cars in one portion.
Don't forget the Newsday paywall...MACTRAXX

We have a winner! Mactraxx is correct. The photo Newsday used to represent the East River Tunnels is actually the New Jersey portal of the Hudson River Penn Sta. Tunnels. Typical Newsday mistake.

And yes, I see the NYCTA "L" train in the picture. Nevertheless those pictures are excellent copies of the ones in Newsday that are very good illustrations of the two concepts for tunnel repair.

Head-end View wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 7:29 pm We have a winner! Mactraxx is correct. The photo Newsday used to represent the East River Tunnels is actually the New Jersey portal of the Hudson River Penn Sta. Tunnels. Typical Newsday mistake.

And yes, I see the NYCTA "L" train in the picture. Nevertheless those pictures are excellent copies of the ones in Newsday that are very good illustrations of the two concepts for tunnel repair.

Now you know why I pulled the pics and not quoted the article.

High voltage power lines on racks only. Too easily for emergencies causing lines insulation to no longer meet insulation specs. It would probably not be in first 10 years but later. Too easily for insulation to get nicked and I would not like to be that close to 12 - 12.5 Kv lines as they would be used as a hand rail to stay away from a burning car or motor.

Do not like some safety analysis that have been done for these repairs. There would be liability issues that Amtrak can not afford to take. As far as waiting for power to be turned off. There will be situations where evacuees cannot wait for that to happen.

Even with the high voltage lines in non conducting conduit that would melt at about 500 F. If in metal conduit grounded the ground can be too easily become disconnected. Then it can be a shocking experience. And yes it happened to me getting about 277 volts not nice. cannot imagine what 12.5 Kv AC would do,

So what is the actual current condition of the East River Tunnels?