Passenger Trains > A North River Tunnels "Not Again?"

> Travel Alerts
> Dec 20, 2013 05:36:10 PM

> Trains arriving and departing New York Penn Station are subject to 15-20 minute
> delays due to a power problem in one of the Hudson River tunnels.

-New Jersey Transit


UPDATE: NJ Transit reported problem was cleared about 45 minutes later. Delays down
to 18-20 minutes.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/13 16:58 by GenePoon.

For goodness sake, what possible value could reporting an 18-20 minute delay at Penn Station conceivably have? We may all come down with a case of terminal yawning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/13 18:37 by floridajoe2001.

Some Trainorders regulars leave no stone unturned to report any and all things negative, least we not live in some blissful fantasy land you know.

18 or 20 minutes isn't that big a deal for a long-distance train, but to New York commuters it's a major delay.

floridajoe2001 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For goodness sake, what possible value could
> reporting an 18-20 minute delay at Penn Station
> conceivably have? We may all come down with a
> case of terminal yawning.

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

Not sure if it was due to the earlier wire problem but a NJ Transit
train with 800 passengers was stalled in the north bore of the North
River Tunnels yesterday evening. A diesel engine had to be sent into
the tunnel to pull it out, according to New York media.

What's unusual, and what suggests that the wire problem from Thursday
and Friday's commute may still be continuing, is that a DIESEL was sent
into the tunnel.

Normally if it's an engine breaking down, the Penn Station switcher...an
electric...gets the assignment.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/13 07:31 by GenePoon.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> floridajoe2001 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > For goodness sake, what possible value could
> > reporting an 18-20 minute delay at Penn Station
> > conceivably have? We may all come down with a
> > case of terminal yawning.
>
> ==================================================
> =========
>
> Not sure if it was due to the earlier wire problem
> but a NJ Transit
> train with 800 passengers was stalled in the north
> bore of the North
> River Tunnels yesterday evening. A diesel engine
> had to be sent into
> the tunnel to pull it out, according to New York
> media.
>
> What's unusual, and what suggests that the wire
> problem from Thursday
> and Friday's commute may still be continuing, is
> that a DIESEL was sent
> into the tunnel.
>
> Normally if it's an engine breaking down, the Penn
> Station switcher...an
> electric...gets the assignment.

Two Amtrak employees have PM'd me in the past to say that diesels in the North River tunnels aren't unusual, especially in the night time hours. I have smelled the exhaust of diesels in the tunnels and at NY Penn a few times, although I've never seen one there.

Evidently the problem still existed when I passed by Secaucus Jct on the Turnpike late Friday night. (Actually 1:45am on Saturday).
Trains were lined up on both tracks and quite a few passengers standing on the platforms of Lautenburg Station.
I didn't see any diesels but then, it was quite dark out. Would have made for a good pic with all the green door status lights strung out.

rfprr

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Two Amtrak employees have PM'd me in the past to
> say that diesels in the North River tunnels aren't
> unusual, especially in the night time hours. I
> have smelled the exhaust of diesels in the tunnels
> and at NY Penn a few times, although I've never
> seen one there.


Makes sense; the catenary power is often shut down to permit work to be done in the wee hours.

There is an mid-90s Pentrex video of a cab ride in an FL9 on the Hudson Line, departing NY Penn under
diesel power. The engineer clearly says that the third rail equipment on the engine is bad-ordered.

That's not in the tunnels, but IS in Penn Station.

I rode Train 48 into Penn Station behind a P40 (before delivery of the dual-modes), but because of the
steep grade from the West Side Connection into NY Penn, it coasted in at idle. Departing a few days
later, the P40 was pulling (hard). At the time the usual procedure for Train 49 was for the P40 to idle
with the station switcher on the point pulling, but that day the switcher was too busy.