The End of an Era, The Harold Protects

Maybe they will be kept standby and ready to go at Sunny side for a yard crew to do rescue if needed ??
As for the Couplers those can be changed out in 3 hours each.

Yes they can, they are also the only 1000's with asc, the M1 control stands can probably be removed as well. They are known to be a plumbing nightmare regarding all of these "features" that were added later.

LIengineerBob wrote:Maybe this should be brought to the attention of not only the MTA, but possibly the Mayor of NYC, the Governor, the FDNY, MTAPD, and NYPD that in case of an emergency, electrical power outage, terrorist attack or any other myriad assortment of problems that there is NO way to get a stuck or disabled train out of the tunnels, short of ordering another train or awaiting the arrival of an engine from Jamaica to rescue a few thousand people stuck on a train. I even wonder if the idea was put forth to Amtrak before a decision was made on the abolishing of the jobs.

I can not believe, and it appalls me, that in an attempt save a few dollars, the LIRR would put thousands of the riding public and crew members lives at risk. Undoubtedly some one or some thousands will have to get injured or killed before the protects are restored, and in typical LIRR fashion, no one will have to answer for whose decision it was to cut the jobs.

Metro North has AM and PM protects, I am pretty sure NJT and Amtrak also have protects on standby in case of an emergency. As far a LIRR executive management decisions go, this is one of the greatest bone-headed decisions I have ever seen..

What a disgrace to the riding public (and employees), the LIRR's your safety is our number one concern mantra just became a moot point. Their new slogan should be....You safety is our number one concern as long as it doesn't cost us more
money or decrease our on-time performance.

If I recall Bob, you were on the a.m. protect for quite awhile......

Do those M1 control stands still work? Will they release the brakes if coupled to an M3?

the Coupler connections on M1- and M3 are same, and both have same P-wire (V to I) control of brake.
the M-7's are complete different animals however.

From what I understand they do work. when I ran them there was problems w/ a pcs light on the 102 the mechanics at the park had to reach out to retired guys to figure out the plumbing .

Newsday ought to see this and spread the word

Interesting, on a side note could either of the Amtrak protects be used in an emergency or one of the locomotives in Sunny Side?

Amtrak often provides engines when needed in an emergency. The process isn't very quick, though and often takes several hours. If they have one hanging around with a crew, we can get it in as little as 45 minutes, but many times we've waited three to five hours for an engine or MU from Amtrak. That's why we have the Long Island Protects.

Amtrak often provides engines when needed in an emergency. The process isn't very quick, though and often takes several hours. If they have one hanging around with a crew, we can get it in as little as 45 minutes, but many times we've waited three to five hours for an engine or MU from Amtrak. That's why we have the Long Island Protects. But I suppose everyone forgot about that.

They probably also forgot about the deal made with the NYC Fire Department in 1990 and the promise made to the Senate Subcommittee which investigated tunnel safety in 1992.

So who will now rescue a dead train for LIRR when they die in the tunnel? I am guessing Amtrak as they own Penn Station.

Tool: Thanks for chiming in,I had thought that there was a contractual agreement for those engines be provided.

Tool, thanks once again for your insight. It always very informative and factual. I do recall several discussions over the years about those agreements made (I owned the AM job for six years straight), especially the one with the FDNY, whenever it was mentioned that those jobs were going to be abolished.

Now the question arises were those in charge and making these decisions to eliminate the jobs even aware of the agreements? Will this be brought to their attention? Will the jobs eventually be reinstated? I would not hold my breath on that type of decision though. They will play the budget card, but can the safety of the riding public be less important then saving $160,000 a year? In the grand scheme of the budget mess, that a pittance.

I don't want to hear the argument that they were never used. In the years I owned the job, I made nine rescues I can recall, and was called to stand by to be put into action quite often. Those jobs do serve a purpose, and a very important purpose in my opinion.

mirrodie wrote:Newsday ought to see this and spread the word

Maybe someone should drop them an email or link to the discussion. They would probably be on it as quick as they could dial a phone!

Just let Newsday know

After all, they were all over the Gap Issue

Commuter X