Guys: As usual a good group of posts on this matter. I will say this: With the construction of the Secaucus Transfer,something should have been done to eliminate this crucial bottleneck in the NEC. What about the higher-level bridge or bridges that was supposed to replace the Portal Bridge? Is seems to me that Amtrak and NJT dodged a bullet big time on this one as the damage to the bridge structure itself could have so much worse. To me,the wake-up call on Portal Bridge should had been after that derailment caused by the mitre rails 10 or so years ago. Amtrak breathed the proverbial sigh of relief on this one-What would happen and how much would life be disrupted for literally thousands of people had there been serious damage causing the bridge to be closed for a period of time? What gets me is that we are relying on a bridge and tunnels into NYP that are now 95 years old and should be supplemented if not outright replaced! Many things to think about.... MACTRAXX
MACTRAXX--
I'm sure Mr Gunn would like nothing better than to replace Portal and other drawbridges. But, as Mr Norman would say, he's missing the "secret ingredient", which can only be supplied by Congress. Right now it seems he can't afford to run the microwaves in his cafe cars, so I doubt if any drawbridges will be rebuilt unless they fall into the river.
