Damaged Wires Block Service Into New York's Penn Station

[MrFSS]

Passenger train service in the Northeast rail corridor was disrupted Sunday by an electrical breakdown that stranded some travelers inside a Hudson River tunnel for two hours and blocked trains in and out of Manhattan.

FULL STORY

 

[Rafi]

As fate had it, my father got stuck in this logjam aboard train 195 from Stamford to Baltimore. He boarded in STM at 10:05 AM, long after the wires were pulled down in the tunnel, but apparently no one alerted him or any of the other passengers about what was happening until they arrived in NYP. That's too bad, because he would have just as soon stayed in Stamford with family until the matter was cleared up.

That said, hearing him recount over dinner the odyssey in walking from Penn to the PATH station down 33rd street as part of a "suitcase parade," crowding onto two PATH trains, and sitting on the floor on a regional out of Newark was depressingly hilarious. At least he was able to laugh it off.

Anyway, it sounds like they were turning trains in Newark, which caught me by surprise; I didn't know the infrastructure was there for that. Anyone know where they would have Y-ed those trains?

-Rafi

 

[Penn Central]

Anyway, it sounds like they were turning trains in Newark, which caught me by surprise; I didn't know the infrastructure was there for that. Anyone know where they would have Y-ed those trains?
-Rafi

There are the various NJ Transit branch-offs near Seacucus, several of which are electrified, which I'm sure NJ Transit would let Amtrak use in an emergency, especially on a Sunday afternoon. I'd imagine that's where Amtrak is Y-ing the trains.

 

[AlanB]

Anyway, it sounds like they were turning trains in Newark, which caught me by surprise; I didn't know the infrastructure was there for that. Anyone know where they would have Y-ed those trains?
-Rafi

There are the various NJ Transit branch-offs near Seacucus, several of which are electrified, which I'm sure NJ Transit would let Amtrak use in an emergency, especially on a Sunday afternoon. I'd imagine that's where Amtrak is Y-ing the trains.

It's very unlikely that the trains were being wyed at Newark. Most likely Amtrak was just running the engine around the train and hooking it back up on the other side. Acela of course already has a motor on each end, so they turn very easily.

Even if NJT wanted to be nice and allow Amtrak to turn the trains, there are several problems with that idea. First, simply because NJT was also dealing with the repercussions of the Hudson River tunnels being down. So they would already be busy rerouting their equipement and in some cases needing to be turning same.

Second, Amtrak crews would not be qualified to operate on NJT territory, so that would require NJT crews to do so. On a any day I can't imagine that NJT would have any extra crews standing around, but especially on a Sunday it would be highly unlikely. And any spare crews that NJT did have, were probably tied up dealing with NJT's own issues in dealing with the problems caused by the closed tunnels.

Third, to my knowledge NJT uses a different voltage on at least some of their lines. I'm not sure about the AEM-7's, but I know that the Acela power cars cannot draw power from NJT's Morris & Essex line, and most likely that means that the HHP-8's can't either. I'm not sure what voltage the Raritan line operates on, but then I'm also not aware of any wye's out that line that would be convienent. It would be too far to ferry the trains to the Long Beach line, and again I'm still not sure of the volatages there, much less the presence of a wye near the corridor.

 

[PRR 60]

....Third, to my knowledge NJT uses a different voltage on at least some of their lines. I'm not sure about the AEM-7's, but I know that the Acela power cars cannot draw power from NJT's Morris & Essex line, and most likely that means that the HHP-8's can't either. I'm not sure what voltage the Raritan line operates on, but then I'm also not aware of any wye's out that line that would be convienent. It would be too far to ferry the trains to the Long Beach line, and again I'm still not sure of the volatages there, much less the presence of a wye near the corridor.

I believe NJT uses the standard PRR 11kV , 25hz for the old PRR lines or 25kV, 60hz for the modern electrification (same as Amtrak east of New Haven). Either power set up is compatible with Acela. Of course, that is purely academic. There is no need to wye an Acela set and, as you stated, the operational complications make any use of NJT trackage impractical.

 

[AlanB]

....Third, to my knowledge NJT uses a different voltage on at least some of their lines. I'm not sure about the AEM-7's, but I know that the Acela power cars cannot draw power from NJT's Morris & Essex line, and most likely that means that the HHP-8's can't either. I'm not sure what voltage the Raritan line operates on, but then I'm also not aware of any wye's out that line that would be convienent. It would be too far to ferry the trains to the Long Beach line, and again I'm still not sure of the volatages there, much less the presence of a wye near the corridor.

I believe NJT uses the standard PRR 11kV , 25hz for the old PRR lines or 25kV, 60hz for the modern electrification (same as Amtrak east of New Haven). Either power set up is compatible with Acela. Of course, that is pure academic. There is no need to wye an Acela set and, as you stated, the operational complications make any use of NJT trackage impractical.

I'm not sure what voltage the M & E uses, but I was told that it was incompatible with Acela's power cars. I know that during one of the old Try Transit fairs that NJT used to hold in Hoboken that shortly after Acela's introduction, Amtrak parked a trainset in Hoboken for the weekend for people to tour.

Said trainset was hooked to 480 power out of the station and the pants were down. The trainset had to be towed in and out of the station. Now I can't promise that it was power issues, but that is what I was told, that they couldn't handle the voltage on that line.

 

[Penn Central]

....Third, to my knowledge NJT uses a different voltage on at least some of their lines. I'm not sure about the AEM-7's, but I know that the Acela power cars cannot draw power from NJT's Morris & Essex line, and most likely that means that the HHP-8's can't either. I'm not sure what voltage the Raritan line operates on, but then I'm also not aware of any wye's out that line that would be convienent. It would be too far to ferry the trains to the Long Beach line, and again I'm still not sure of the volatages there, much less the presence of a wye near the corridor.

I believe NJT uses the standard PRR 11kV , 25hz for the old PRR lines or 25kV, 60hz for the modern electrification (same as Amtrak east of New Haven). Either power set up is compatible with Acela. Of course, that is pure academic. There is no need to wye an Acela set and, as you stated, the operational complications make any use of NJT trackage impractical.

I'm not sure what voltage the M & E uses, but I was told that it was incompatible with Acela's power cars. I know that during one of the old Try Transit fairs that NJT used to hold in Hoboken that shortly after Acela's introduction, Amtrak parked a trainset in Hoboken for the weekend for people to tour.

Said trainset was hooked to 480 power out of the station and the pants were down. The trainset had to be towed in and out of the station. Now I can't promise that it was power issues, but that is what I was told, that they couldn't handle the voltage on that line.

Northeast Corridor trains are electrically operated at 11 kV 25 Hz ac, while the Morris and Essex Lines and a segment of the North Jersey Coast Line as far as Long Branch are electrified at 25 kV 60 Hz ac. All other NJT lines are operated with diesel power.]

Source: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:BsFCg...&lr=lang_en

Of course, I forgot about the qualifications problems (sorry ), but 25kV 60Hz is what the new Boston electrifcation uses. So I would see no problem with the Acelas using it. The Acelas being towed would then be because A: the NJT crews weren't qualified to use Acelas, and B: Amtrak crews weren't qualified to run on NJT Tracks. Of course, that means that the catenary voltage is irrelevant since the Acelas can't legally operate on it without NJT crews who cannot legally operate them .

 

[gswager]

Add more options to it: get an Amtrak switcher locomotive or get a NJT locomotive.

 

[battalion51]

I'm guessing the Vermonter fell victim to this. Check out today's consist:

48180

25081

25043

25060

25023

 

[AlanB]

I'm guessing the Vermonter fell victim to this. Check out today's consist:
48180

25081

25043

25060

25023

While I'm not sure what those numbers tell you, the Vermonter did indeed fall victim to the wire problems. There was a report from someone on the Vermonter on Flyertalk yesterday morning. He was sitting in Philly at the time and was wondering if there were any alternatives.

 

[battalion51]

The 25xxx indicates Amfleet II coaches, something which Vermont probably hasn't seen since the days of the Montrealer. Turns out it was 43's consist that was supposed to head out to Pittsburgh that was turned and sent north as the Vermonter. Since the vast majority of the Amfleet II's don't have MU connections the trailer for 54 yesterday and 55 today were being hauled dead and running the HEP, while the leader was providing the traction. The 105 led 54 through Vermont today, and the 169 on 55 today.