Passenger Trains > NJ Transit: the new stuff got flooded?

A good contact, a retired fleet manager for one of the major commuter rail
operations in the Northeast, has sent this bad news:

> One of my sources tells me most of the NJ Transit stuff damaged was the
> new stuff, not the old stuff like I assumed. I was told that the
> coaches were mainly the multi-levels and there were a variety of
> locomotives involved, including most of the new ALP-45 dual modes.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A good contact, a retired fleet manager for one of
> the major commuter rail
> operations in the Northeast, has sent this bad
> news:
>
> > One of my sources tells me most of the NJ
> Transit stuff damaged was the
> > new stuff, not the old stuff like I assumed. I
> was told that the
> > coaches were mainly the multi-levels and there
> were a variety of
> > locomotives involved, including most of the new
> ALP-45 dual modes.


I wondered about the dual modes, and asked about them here on TO a few weeks ago, following a tmurray photograph from the Meadows Maintenance Facility. Five of the ALP45DM units are visible in that picture. I know that at least four more were alongside the enginehouse in Hoboken a few days before the flooding.

Reuters article this evening would appear to raise some serious questions re: NJT's decision-making in advance of the storm:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/17/us-storm-sandy-newjersey-railway-idUSBRE8AG0K220121117

I live on the other side of the country and don't have a well-formed opinion, I just thought the article would be relevant to the thread.

I, too, live on the other side of the country and am not in the RR business - but I did have an employer whose equipment was even less forgiving that railroad stuff. We had PLANNERS in the USAF and one of their jobs was to work on guess what: PLANS

The bases in the southeast all had hurricane evacuation plans. If a storm was coming the a/c would be "flushed" to bases outside the danger zone. Homestead AFB might go to Wright-Patterson in Dayton, for example. Everyone has a place to go. It didn't take an act of Congress to do this. I suspect a wing commander could say "do the plan" and then ask for forgiveness later. NOBODY was ever jacked up for a hurricane evac. How tough could it be to find a place with higher ground? If I was paying taxes in New Jersey I would be calling for the crucifixions to commence forthwith.

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

From what I hear, all of the locomotives damaged because of hurricane Sandy will be fixed. How long it will take is another story.

chess Wrote:
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> From what I hear, all of the locomotives damaged
> because of hurricane Sandy will be fixed. How long
> it will take is another story.

=============================================================

"Fixed" in the best cases appears to mean "gutted from the railhead to the floor beams, and rebuilt."

Worse cases involve replacement of damaged major components inside the carbodies.

It's a mess.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/12 21:56 by GenePoon.

chess Wrote:
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> From what I hear, all of the locomotives damaged
> because of hurricane Sandy will be fixed. How long
> it will take is another story.

I have an idea. How about repatriating and refurbing any yet unscrapped U34CH diesels? ;- )

NYC_L4a Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> chess Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > From what I hear, all of the locomotives
> damaged
> > because of hurricane Sandy will be fixed. How
> long
> > it will take is another story.
>
> I have an idea. How about repatriating and
> refurbing any yet unscrapped U34CH diesels? ;- )


There's one U34CH in Passaic NJ, on former Erie rails. Just a short street running haul from the Garield interchange with NJ Transit. Jim Wilson has it stashed at his engine facility. Still in early NJ Transit colors...