Detouring New Haven trains

[DutchRailnut]

really Chris and what does that have to do with detouring trains ?

[CTRailfan]

I believe that the reason two tracks are taken out at a time is because the bridges along the line are built in 2-track pairs. Each location has 2 bridges, each with two tracks. When a bridge has to be worked on, it takes out the two tracks on top of it, leaving the second bridge intact to carry the other two tracks.
C.J.V.

Yeah, that could be the case. I guess with this being such an incredibly rare event, they just have to live with that risk in order to upgrade the aging infrastructure. As much as rail gets incredibly short-changed in this country, I'm glad to see that they are at least plowing through a backlog of basic deferred maintenance on the New Haven line to keep it operating as it is reliably and safely well into the future.

[JimBoylan]

Aerial photos have shown that it was more than bridge work, rather bridge removal and replacement. If the Eastbound train had stopped about 1 train length farther east, the collision would have been on a 2 track bridge and the Westbound train would have fallen into the gap where the other 2 track bridge had been removed and not yet replaced.

[Noel Weaver]

In my days on the Oak Point Engineer's Extra List back in the mid 70's I would often get a call for a Budd Car from MO to Danbury as most of the time I was the only engineer on that list who was qualified on the Danbury Branch. At that time I was also qualified between Devon and Danbury and some nights the Dock Local would be working all night on the branch especially around Bethel so they would run us up to Devon and then to Danbury via Derby Junction. Believe me, Dutch, at that time we made it in a lot less than three hours from Devon to Danbury and no there was no place along there to get a quick coffee at that hour of the night. If the "scumbags" running the Housatonic had not let that railroad go to seed there would be a suitable detour for a few trains as well as equipment moves and it is a shame that this was allowed to happen.
Noel Weaver