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  • Time for a Swim, Anyone? (Gladstone Washout in Peapack)

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

Moderators: lensovet, Kaback9, nick11a

 #1209419  by nick11a
 
Tracks and bed was fixed by Saturday morning, but crews worked on it through Sunday morning to ensure it is up to standards. Gladstone Yard (and all of the tracks) are still empty as of right now. Expect them to send all consists west today for service resumption on Monday.
 #1209452  by nick11a
 
Some more updates:

1) They have 6 MUs on the Far Hills CS for storage right now; all the home signals that I could see we're displaying Stop.
2) There are MOW workers inspecting the tracks where the washout occurred right now.
3) I have it from a good source (a priest) that a train did go over the tracks during/after the washout. According to him, the train wobbled and bounced as it went over the washout. That must have been a wild ride. Could have been much worse!
 #1209480  by nick11a
 
They've got some more MUs stored on the main a little bit west of Bernardsville Interlocking. They are also turning weekend revenue trains west of the Interlicking and bringing them back east onto the Controlled Siding where they wait for the next westbound to go by and then wait for their departure time.

Looks like the two push-pull sets are being stored in Summit Yard.... their usual storage spot when things go wrong on the branch. With the crazy weather in the past few years, I can recall this happening a couple of times now.
 #1211859  by nick11a
 
FYI, there is a speed restriction in effect on the Gladstone branch in Peapack. Looks like one in Far Hills as well just east of the station.
 #1213361  by 25Hz
 
From what i can tell, there was a very small bridge here, and that is actually what let the water get through initially, then erosion & scour took over and did the rest. There is a stream that runs along side the ROW and i guess it was trying to drain through that opening.

Train went over it? Wow.....

So, it being a bridge over water and all, how do they repair it, you can't really just plug it with rip-rap over culverts, unless the culvert is huge...?

Any repair photos? Nick you said you work by there, any chance of seeing what they did?
 #1213377  by lirr42
 
They probably put a bigger drain pipe through the mess, then filled everything in with rocks, gravel, ballast, ties, and finally rails.
 #1213384  by loufah
 
Out of curiosity, how much flooding over the tracks is tolerated before they decide to suspend service? If the water is deep and muddy enough to obscure the ties, for instance, it seems like it'd be difficult for the engineer to detect a washout ahead.
 #1213424  by lirr42
 
There's that, plus it can also get to a point where the water could short out traction motors on the electric MU's/locomotives. And those could be expensive things to replace.
 #1214243  by F40
 
lirr42 wrote:
nick11a wrote:That's not too far from the end of the line. If it was a westbound train into Gladstone, they would be approaching the final signal before yard limits and that would knock their cab signals far enough down by that point. Scarily enough, an eastbound would be operating on a clear by that point.
That's the worst part about washouts like these. If there is no break in the running rail, the signals stay live and clear. It could certainly have ended quite messily.
Since CWR is flexible, it probably would simply bend out of shape with a "bigger" washout. Signals would still be live. This sadly reminds me of Amtrak's tragedy on the Sunset Limited in '93.
 #1341909  by nick11a
 
This weekend, they severed the Gladstone Branch at the washout point, removed the tracks and ground beneath, and are building a water mini bridge beneath the tracks to allow for proper drainage when the rain is too much.