Passenger Trains > MBTA Slippery Rail Video and Other Stuff

Boston.com posted this informative (but perhaps a bit snarky) article with a Keolis produced video about the impact of fallen leaves on commuter rail tracks:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/10/27/the-late-because-leaves-says-cute-cartoon/MXMnwzZF6LFdEvehLOfMhO/story.html?p1=Topofpage:Carousel_sub_headline

For those of you who want to keep track of the progress of MBTA commuter trains under autumn conditions in real time, there's this interesting link to a content rich site:

http://sites.harvard.edu/~wuensch/T/commuter-rail-map.html

why don't they just run a jet-powered switch cleaner over the line and blow it clean?

OK, I know..

Just asking. Seems practical.

chico

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NJ Transit uses an "aqua train" on traditionally very slippery sections of track. Cleans up the leaves and removes the scum from ground up leaves. Montclair electric line in Glen Ridge, the cuts from Mountain Avenue to Millburn, much of the Gladstone line, etc.

The situation in the cut in Glen Ridge has caused problems for decades. In particularly bad situations, like wind driven rain pulling down the leaves, trains have had to back up and take a run at the hill. Trains with motors on the east end will sometimes platform just the first few cars to keep traction alive.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> NJ Transit uses an "aqua train" on traditionally
> very slippery sections of track.

MBTA has something similar.