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  • The Main/Bergen/Port Jervis Line Thread

  • Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.
Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

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 #1388491  by trainbrain
 
If it's ok for it to be available to the public, could someone post what the rotations are for the Port Jervis Line sets. What I mean is what trips each consist is used on. I know some were already posted here, like 48, 43, 62, 53, and 52, 47, 66, 57.

The reason I ask is because I'm sort of confused on which trains get the 3 car, 5 car, and 7 car trains. The ones above get the 7 car trains. I know that 56 and 58 are typically 3 cars, but what other runs use the 3 car sets? I'm also not sure if the sets based out of Port Jervis are used on Waldwick/Suffern local runs during mid days.
 #1389727  by EuroStar
 
After a stuck switch at Waldwick yesterday evening caused significant delays for the late rush hour commute west, today is no better. The switches at Ridgewood Junction are the culprit today with delays going east and already exceed 90 minutes for some trains. Is this a sign of the things to come due to the Christie budgets which have moved hundreds of millions of dollars from capital to operations budget?
 #1390094  by Defiant
 
I was caught in this disaster. The worst part was that I was scheduled to be on training that day so could not work from home. They overestimated the delays a little bit. IT was actually closer to 30 minutes. I was late to the training class and was not very happy. Any idea if the root cause was fixed or if this will keep happening?
 #1390105  by CentralValleyRail
 
I believe there is only one 3 car set. It's used on one of the two last inbound late AM express can't think of the number off hand and used on the 2nd to last SEC-SUF express in the PM around 7:15. The last PJ train 12:40am dep is known to have 3 cars as well.
 #1390179  by trainbrain
 
56 and 58 are both 3 cars, and there's no way they could possibly use the same set, so there has to be two 3 car sets.

The trains that I'm pretty sure use the same sets are

48, 43, 62, 53: 7 cars
50, 45, 64, 55: 5 cars
52, 47, 66, 57: 7 cars
54, 51: 5 cars
59, 68: 5 cars (NJT equipment)

I was under the impression that 41/69 returned as 42, but maybe that's not the case.

If I'm correct then that leaves 44, 46, 56, 58, 61, 63, 65, and 67 that I would still need to figure out. I've ridden 67 and it had 5 cars that night.
 #1390442  by trainbrain
 
I've ridden both 56 and 58 multiple times and they were 3 cars each and every time. I often use people's railfanning videos to find out what some of the rotations are, and all the ones that showed 56, 58, or both showed them with 3 cars each and every time. I believe both the sets are used on mid day Suffern/Waldwick runs before returning to Port Jervis in the late evening. 63 and 65 would be the obvious choices for the 3 car sets, but only 63 uses one recently. The other one would have to go on 67 or 41/69. I've ridden 67 and it was 5 cars, and 41/69 could not be 3 cars if it returns as 42 (there'd be no way to get the train back to Port Jervis for use on 56 or 58). I thought for sure that 41/69 returned as 42, but maybe the set from 67 is used on 42 and not the one from 41/69.

To my impression, the 7 car trains aren't typically used on weekends. However, they do seem to often put them on the Meadowlands Line when it operates. In that case, they'd need to take them out of Port Jervis on the early trains, and then return them on the late night runs, using a train from elsewhere to operate the normal service.
 #1393710  by EuroStar
 
Does someone know the history of the rail-road crossing in Garfield? Going west we have:
1. Main Ave -- undergrade bridge (not in the town of Garfield)
2. River Dr -- undergrade bridge
3. Hobart Pl -- crossing
4. Passaic St -- undergrade bridge
5. Somerset St -- crossing
6. Monroe St -- crossing

Why are 3 and 5 still in existence? There are other crossings practically next to them. Why weren't they closed? I am puzzled why NJTransit has chosen to continue to maintain crossings there which I doubt is cheap (even though in the grand budget it is not something that would solve their money problems). In fact Hobart received substantial work a couple of years ago. While I am not certain, I doubt that they are quiet zones either. It is hard for me to imagine that the few residents in the immediate vicinity benefit much from them either because given how close the underpasses are, why would one risk having to wait for the gates to lift up after a train or two -- I know I would certainly not be in this specific road configuration. I am of the view that any redundant crossing is an unnecessary risk for collision (even if it has never happened at these two), so they should have been closed. Why weren't they?
 #1393733  by kilroy
 
so they should have been closed. Why weren't they?
Don't know but remember NJT is a very political animal. If the local policitos want the crossings to stay, then they stay.

Why would you want to get into a p!ssing contest where your opponent fights in the press and the best you can do in reply is say "no comment"?

NJT has many, many more pressing matters to concern themselves with than a couple of grade crossings.
 #1393752  by EuroStar
 
I am not proposing to close them now. The immediate benefits are minor -- just the maintenance cost. You cannot increase the speeds or gain much else at that location. I am interested in the history of it. Why wasn't it done? From Google Maps it is obvious that a few streets further west did get closed. So I am naturally interested in why these were treated differently?
 #1394651  by trainbrain
 
What factor determines if the cab car is open on inbound off peak trains? On some, the first 3 cars are open, including the cab, and on others, the cab car is blocked off, and the 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes the 4th car are open. On outbound trains, it's always the last 2 or 3 cars that are open, including the cab.

I know they like to keep the inner cars open because it's a shorter walk when you get off at Hoboken, and because the cab car is missing a door at the front, the 2nd car actually has the shortest walk once you arrive. I also know that many passengers dislike riding in the cab car because of noise from the horn being directly above, since that's not a factor on outbound trains, it is open on them. Another factor could be that the cab car always has a bathroom, and they want at least one bathroom car open. If the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th car has a bathroom, the cab car doesn't need to be open to have a bathroom in an open car.
 #1395387  by trainbrain
 
So normally 48-43-62-53, and 52-47-66-57 use the 7 car sets, but I saw 43 today running 5 cars. When my train reached Hoboken, I noticed two 7 car sets, one in the station, and the other parked outside the station. My guess is they needed to do some maintenance with 43's normal set, so they sent a different train to fill in for it, as well as it's return on 62, and did the maintenance before sending it back to Port Jervis on 53.

Also, what trips typically use the multilevel sets in the morning rush hour? I believe that 1167, 1169, and 1173 have them in the evening. 1167 goes back as 1128, 1169 deadheads back, and 1173 goes back as 1130.
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