Penn Station Emergency Repairs: Trackwork, etc.

[DutchRailnut]

lower loops are gone, but upper loop is in daily use to reach yard at east side.

Amtrak is looking to use a P42 as cab car , they are installing switches on P42's to switch modes on P32acm's
A tech will ride each train pair to start and stop the P42 at 125th street.
so looping will not be necessary.

[Jeff Smith]

Track 21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Mep0V0R-Y" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Track 35: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2085810 ... 999378851/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Railjunkie]

lower loops are gone, but upper loop is in daily use to reach yard at east side.

Amtrak is looking to use a P42 as cab car , they are installing switches on P42's to switch modes on P32acm's
A tech will ride each train pair to start and stop the P42 at 125th street.
so looping will not be necessary.

The number 95 has been retro fitted with the ability to tell the P32acdm's to change modes.

[Jeff Smith]

Summer of "Hell": New York Times

[Patrick A.]

Any idea as to when the revised Empire Corridor schedules will be released? We're well inside of a month of the repair work beginning.

[Railjunkie]

I believe we start July 10th.

[jhdeasy]

Any idea as to when the revised Empire Corridor schedules will be released? We're well inside of a month of the repair work beginning.

Amtrak has finally announced the 6 Empire Service trains that will operate to/from Grand Central Terminal, July 10th thru September 1st.

from ALB to NYG: 230, 236 and 242.
from NYG to ALB: 233, 235 and 239.

Trains 63 and 69 will be combined together between NYP and ALB, operating on train 63's schedule.

[Patrick A.]

Confirms what the Albany Times Union reported a few weeks ago. Based on Amtrak's service advisory posted on the website re: GCT, it doesn't sound like there will be much in the way of ticketing support based at GCT. Mentions printing tickets at home or displaying on mobile devices.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Of interest:

https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentS ... e&code=NYG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1) Station Code NYG has been resurrected.

2) No ticket window; no checked baggage.

3) Hard to believe this one; no payphones (there remain "a couple" at CUS; usually some kid - whoops, young adult - sprawled on the.in front of such)

[Greg Moore]

The no checked baggage makes perfect sense given that only the LSL has checked baggage on that route.

[JimBoylan]

Earlier, there was a question about if the loop tracks at Grand Central could still be used. On Wed. 6/28/17, I visited the Transit Authority Museum Annex located South of the train gates and Concourse on the West side of the Upper Level of Grand Central Terminal. Just before 3 p.m., I heard, and especially felt, the rumble of a train underneath.

[DutchRailnut]

upper level loop is still in use, every day to get trains to yard at other side.
the 3 trains going to GCT will however be run with a modified P42 at one end and a P32acdm with MN type third rail shoes at other end. no need to loop.

[Sisko24]

Of interest:

https://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentS ... e&code=NYG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1) Station Code NYG has been resurrected.

2) No ticket window; no checked baggage.

3) Hard to believe this one; no payphones (there remain "a couple" at CUS; usually some kid - whoops, young adult - sprawled on the.in front of such)

Mr. Norman, you are most certainly correct to disbelieve number '3' on that list as not being accurate. Whosoever originally published that (mis)info should be punished by being forced to ride in a Penn Central 'passenger train' for eternity or until they repent the error of their ways for posting that info.

As of late last month, there were operational payphones in the Grand Central Terminal Stationmaster's office. They are just inside the entrance into the office. I will check on their availability today or tomorrow as I pass through. Additionally, I remember there being payphones on the lower level near the Metro-North Police office and the Metro-North Lost and Found office. I do not know the status of the lower level pay phones. As for the 'no Wi-Fi' listing, I would be quite skeptical of that as well. There are too many iZombies wandering through Grand Central for me to believe there is no connectivity therein. WARNING: you WILL be run over by the walking undead!

[Gilbert B Norman]

Looks like Gray Lady is "happy" about this "sideshow" to "Summer of Hell":

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/nyreg ... eaven.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

.This is Grand Central Terminal’s summer in the sun.

The greatest monument to transportation in New York, its fabled “Gateway to a Continent,” Grand Central has never been as visible from the outside or as luminous from within. Nearby demolition for a major development, One Vanderbilt, can be credited for that.

And soon, for the first time in 26 years, Grand Central will briefly reclaim its role as the Beaux-Arts portal to America’s inland empire. This summer, it will be possible to reach destinations along the Hudson River Valley — Rhinecliff, Hudson and Albany — from under the constellation-flecked ceiling that has had travelers craning their necks for more than a century.
..

[jhdeasy]

I know of some private car owners who see this as a unique opportunity to get their car into Grand Central Terminal, if only for a few hours, to check the box marked "unusual opportunity, been there and done that." If the car is equipped with an MU trainline and meets Metro North clearance (which is more restrictive that Amtrak's "A" clearance), it may be possible to get to GCT, if only for a brief visit, and avoid the high switching charges associated with the alternative move from NYP to GCT via SHELL.