NE Corridor Mess (08.02)

[William W.]

I'm at Newark Penn waiting with my friend for his DC bound 159 NE Regional train. Due to track work, there is currently only one track open between NY and Newark Penn. Our NJ transit train had to wait at Secaucus for another train to pass. Once we got to NWK, a miniature pileup seemed to happen back at NYP. 163 from Boston was already an hour late, so they held 159 at NYP to let 163 pass. Meanwhile, a Keystone was held at NWK, to allow 163 to get out of NYP. That caused 159 to be even later.

Update: It finally arrived at 1822, about an hour late.

 

[William W.]

Apparently, the AEM-7 also crapped out just before departure, making it even later. I was wondering why it was running with two. Hopefully the ACS locomotives will be completely rolled out soon.

 

[Acela150]

Give the ACS time. More are slowly coming online. The next process for the ACS is getting them to operate in Push-Pull service. That'll happen when more ACS' are on property.

I'm truthfully impressed on how Amtrak is handling the testing and acceptance process. They want these units to be correct and not fail in revenue service. They aren't rushing anything. Unlike Septa which decided to rush the Silverliner V into service which into service. I'm still not impressed with the SL V. I'll have to try to ride the MBTA Bi-Levels see what I think of them.

 

[afigg]

I'm at Newark Penn waiting with my friend for his DC bound 159 NE Regional train. Due to track work, there is currently only one track open between NY and Newark Penn. Our NJ transit train had to wait at Secaucus for another train to pass. Once we got to NWK, a miniature pileup seemed to happen back at NYP. 163 from Boston was already an hour late, so they held 159 at NYP to let 163 pass. Meanwhile, a Keystone was held at NWK, to allow 163 to get out of NYP. That caused 159 to be even later.

Update: It finally arrived at 1822, about an hour late.

Having ridden the NEC many times, I would not regard what you encountered as a "mess". The NEC is often single tracked between NYP and Newark Penn on weekends because one of the 2 Hudson River tunnels is off-line for maintenance. The NJ Transit traffic is a lot lighter, so they usually manage to keep Amtrak trains close to on schedule, But if there was additional single tracking between the Hudson tunnels and NWK and trains runs late, the timing gets messed up for the 1 available Hudson tunnel, there can be a cascade effect. Which is why we need the NEC Gateway project and funds for bridge replacements, but that is another topic.

To me, a "mess" on the NEC is when all the trains get delayed for hours. Which can happen when the catenary wire gets pulled down, one of the movable bridges on the New Haven Line or the Portal bridge gets stuck open, there is a train breakdown clogging traffic, trespasser incident, power failure, storm damage, and so on. It is no fun when everything is delayed for hours.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I'm at Newark Penn waiting with my friend for his DC bound 159 NE Regional train. Due to track work, there is currently only one track open between NY and Newark Penn. Our NJ transit train had to wait at Secaucus for another train to pass. Once we got to NWK, a miniature pileup seemed to happen back at NYP. 163 from Boston was already an hour late, so they held 159 at NYP to let 163 pass. Meanwhile, a Keystone was held at NWK, to allow 163 to get out of NYP. That caused 159 to be even later.

Update: It finally arrived at 1822, about an hour late.

Allow me to clear the air because your assessment is off.

There is track work occurring between Secaucus Junction and Newark (Swift Interlocking to be sure) for the next couple of weeks This is outside of the "typical" single tracking profile established for the tunnel projects. This project can wreak havoc on the schedules since the inbound trains typically massed at Secaucus and waited for the outbounds. Now they are meeting at NWK and Hudson (expedited by the new crossovers...which are not high speed) but not everyone can move at once.

However, this project has nothing to do with 159 and everything to do with 161. You see, 161 train had engine problems outside of BOS and became delayed. They moved up 159's equipment to represent on time 161(by short turning 152's set). 161's equipment continued to NYP hoping to assume the slot of 159 but lost time. There was nothing else available in terms of equipment to represent 159 so it took a delay as it waited for 161's equipment, which arrived NYP at almost 6m.

There was no way you saw 159 held for 163 since it was long gone. My guess is you saw 163 held for on time 669, which is a Keystone. You saw 159 arrive late because of late arriving equipment.

 

[William W.]

I guess that "mess" isn't the right term. I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. I haven't been on the NE Corridor before, so I guess I don't know what a mess really is.

Here's an interesting article:

http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/amtrak-train-leaves-nyc-washington-dc-passengers-article-1.1890241#bmb=1

I was actually supposed to be on that train, but I had decided earlier that I wanted to stay an extra night. Glad I did.

And here I thought that the airlines were the only ones to sometimes run without pax...

 

[Green Maned Lion]

That's not a mess. Portal Bridge opening near rush hour and jamming open (no tracks between NY and NWK- it happens) is a mess. Derailments in or near A interlocking is a mess.

God knows why sewer sludge needs priority over one of the busiest rail lines on earth.

 

[NJCoastExp]

I guess Portal Bridge fire on 8/4 could qualify as a mess. About hour and a half full stoppage of train traffic at tail end of rush hour definetely would.

 

[Acela150]

Saw your posts on Facebook Piotr. I think you would have been better off driving that day!