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Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

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 #1275864  by DutchRailnut
 
Devine brothers has several barge movements a week , which means a tug with barges goes in drops loaded barges and few hours later goes out with empty barges.
all aggregate for concrete plant at Commerce street plus in winter fuel barges, and believe me no one wants 40 to 60 x 18 wheelers in those streets.
Building a tunnel is to pricy for amount of boat traffic, expect a lift bridge to be build over current bridge with two spans each with two tracks. it would also need two underground stations South and east Norwalk plus a above ground station for Danbury branch. tunneling would still turn entire town upside down.


as for historic status I believe its no longer historic when percentage of rust overtakes percentage of bridge and looking at walk video says we passed that point.
 #1275880  by TCurtin
 
Noel Weaver wrote:There was a problem quite a few years ago somewhere between South Norwalk and Devon but I don't recall exactly what happened. A couple of through trains were detoured via Danbury and it worked out, not great but it worked.
Noel Weaver
Quite a few years ago indeed --- It was 1969! The Maybrook had 40 mph track, CTC and a Botsford meet siding then, none of which exist today.
 #1275907  by Ridgefielder
 
TCurtin wrote:
Noel Weaver wrote:There was a problem quite a few years ago somewhere between South Norwalk and Devon but I don't recall exactly what happened. A couple of through trains were detoured via Danbury and it worked out, not great but it worked.
Noel Weaver
Quite a few years ago indeed --- It was 1969! The Maybrook had 40 mph track, CTC and a Botsford meet siding then, none of which exist today.
I've also seen pictures of a detoured Colonial heading south through Branchville at some point in the late 1950's. So it happened more than once.
DutchRailnut wrote:Devine brothers has several barge movements a week , which means a tug with barges goes in drops loaded barges and few hours later goes out with empty barges.
all aggregate for concrete plant at Commerce street plus in winter fuel barges, and believe me no one wants 40 to 60 x 18 wheelers in those streets.
Building a tunnel is to pricy for amount of boat traffic, expect a lift bridge to be build over current bridge with two spans each with two tracks. it would also need two underground stations South and east Norwalk plus a above ground station for Danbury branch. tunneling would still turn entire town upside down.


as for historic status I believe its no longer historic when percentage of rust overtakes percentage of bridge and looking at walk video says we passed that point.
Why wouldn't they just fabricate a new swing span offsite, then barge it in, like they did for the Willis Ave. bridge a few years back?
 #1275911  by TCurtin
 
Ridgefielder wrote:I've also seen pictures of a detoured Colonial heading south through Branchville at some point in the late 1950's. So it happened more than once
Yes --- the photo you're talking about appeared in the NHRHTA calenday a few years ago and depicts, I think, a day in July 1958. I have also seen a photo of the Day Cape Codder detouring through Newtown on the Maybrook on the same day.
 #1275924  by DutchRailnut
 
either way its fantasy world and entire different topic, belonging on NYNH&H forum.

as for new swing span, its would still sit on a 118 year old base and it would still be swing bridge, which means if it does not lock, 4 tracks are blocked.
The design their going for, is a 2x2 lift bridge, so if one span were not to lock you still have two tracks to move trains.
 #1276451  by MNCRR9000
 
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Metr ... 549226.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NORWALK -- The malfunctioning Norwalk River rail bridge will be swung open Saturday to let seven sailboats out onto Long Island Sound before creaking closed for possibly weeks of emergency repairs.

The 118-year-old bridge has repeatedly gotten stuck in the open position, most recently on last Friday and again last month, snarling commutes for thousands of rail riders and highway commuters. The bridge has been kept in the closed position since then to ensure train service is not affected. Under normal conditions it is opened to allow boats to pass beneath.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the bridge would be opened on a limited basis during repairs
 #1276610  by Noel Weaver
 
An army of employees and a lot of effort to open a bridge for two sailboats. Huge cost, huge amount of work and a huge potential for another tie up with the passenger trains. Delay thousands of rail passengers for a few sailboats, where is the justice here? I certainly don't see any. Yes, I know the waterway was there first but today what is more important? Ask yourself??????? They need to relocate the user of barges to the Oceanside of the movable bridge and whatever services that the sailboats use then straightrail the bridge, give the taxpayers of Connecticut and the rail users a break on this one.
Noel Weaver
 #1276623  by hcobin
 
There actually were about six sailboats. I only showed two of them. Surprisingly, there was no commercial traffic. It took at least a dozen tries to open the bridge because the operator could not get clear signals on all four tracks. The opening was 50 minutes late. It only took about 15 minutes to close the bridge and resume service. The Norwalk River has a federal channel so it's unlikely the bridge can be closed permanently. H.F.C.
 #1276884  by ThirdRail7
 
Noel Weaver wrote:An army of employees and a lot of effort to open a bridge for two sailboats. Huge cost, huge amount of work and a huge potential for another tie up with the passenger trains. Delay thousands of rail passengers for a few sailboats, where is the justice here? I certainly don't see any. Yes, I know the waterway was there first but today what is more important? Ask yourself??????? They need to relocate the user of barges to the Oceanside of the movable bridge and whatever services that the sailboats use then straightrail the bridge, give the taxpayers of Connecticut and the rail users a break on this one.
Noel Weaver

If people made the same cry about trains delaying cars at grade crossings, I'm sure you'd rightly take exception. The justice is stop stalling on maintaining vital infrastructure and fund the replacements.
 #1276931  by Ridgefielder
 
Noel Weaver wrote:An army of employees and a lot of effort to open a bridge for two sailboats. Huge cost, huge amount of work and a huge potential for another tie up with the passenger trains. Delay thousands of rail passengers for a few sailboats, where is the justice here? I certainly don't see any. Yes, I know the waterway was there first but today what is more important? Ask yourself??????? They need to relocate the user of barges to the Oceanside of the movable bridge and whatever services that the sailboats use then straightrail the bridge, give the taxpayers of Connecticut and the rail users a break on this one.
Noel Weaver
Noel- I disagree with you on this one. Devine Brothers is a major operation, with docking facilities on both sides of harbor. Take a look: https://goo.gl/maps/LpaoI. There is nowhere to the seaward of the bridge where they could locate-- not now that Wilson Point has been redeveloped as residential. In fact, I'd say that of all the moveable bridges between the state line and the Housatonic, WALK is the one that most needs to function. Straight-railing SAGA or even COB would at most inconvenience a few yacht owners, but this one would have major economic consequences for the City of Norwalk if it never opens again.

Bottom line is the State needs to fix the bridge so it can accommodate both water and rail traffic, same way it and its predecessors have been for 160-odd years.
 #1277035  by Trainer
 
When people who live near railroad facilities complain about their annoyance of having to hear and yield to railroad operations, folks in the railroad industry are quick to point out that the railroad was here first, so why did you move here?

The Norwalk River harbor and the Coast Guard that regulates it can say the same thing to the railroads.

A solution needs to be provided for both.
 #1278705  by NH2060
 
DutchRailnut wrote:The design their going for, is a 2x2 lift bridge, so if one span were not to lock you still have two tracks to move trains.
Belated question, but any idea on how high a lift span would have to be? The transmission lines above the bridge would obviously keep the height of the lift span towers to a minimum max height, but is there conceivably enough room to fit in a lift bridge with sufficient clearance (like the Harlem River and Thames River spans?).

If they do indeed go ahead with a lift span I'd imagine they'd build the towers in a similar fashion to how the replacement Thames bridge was constructed. Followed by floating in the span itself. It will definitely require one or more service outages, but that'll likely be the best case scenario.
 #1278740  by DutchRailnut
 
Correct, Now compared to Thames river bridge there won't be coast guard cutters, a full rigged sailing Bark and submarines entering So No river. it only has to clear certain sail boats and a tug with barges full of stone and sand.
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