Passenger Trains > Service resuming across NY State

Empire service west of Syracuse, which was suspended on Thur the 17th due to the forecast of a blizzard at Buffalo,
has resumed this morning.  Toronto-NY MAPLE LEAF 64 is the first train.  Bertween the 17th and 19th, trains 283/284
turned at Syracuse and all other service west of Albany-Rensselaer (except for the NY-Burlington ETHAN ALLEN)
was cancelled.  CSX maintained service throughout the storm.  LAKE SHORE LIMITED service should resume this evening.
Andy

Where do they physically wye the train in the Syracuse area ? 

One option would be the old JG, where the St Lawrence secondary comes down onto the mainline.  It is just west of the station - however, there is no crossover immediately to it, so any train would need to go further east or west to get onto track 1 to wye.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Where do they physically wye the train in the
> Syracuse area ? 
I think they ran two-headed monsters (eng on each end).
Andy

twropr Wrote:
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> Empire service west of Syracuse, which was
> suspended on Thur the 17th due to the forecast of
> a blizzard at Buffalo,
> has resumed this morning.  Toronto-NY MAPLE LEAF
> 64 is the first train.  Bertween the 17th and
> 19th, trains 283/284
> turned at Syracuse and all other service west of
> Albany-Rensselaer (except for the NY-Burlington
> ETHAN ALLEN)
> was cancelled.  CSX maintained service throughout
> the storm.  LAKE SHORE LIMITED service should
> resume this evening.
> Andy

And Amtrak might've not of had issues with at least 48 and 49 running then, that shows finally even CSX figured out how to handle blizzards on the old Water Level Route, today's Amtrak, too scared to tough it out!

ProAmtrak Wrote: (in part)
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> And Amtrak might've not of had issues with at
> least 48 and 49 running then, that shows finally
> even CSX figured out how to handle blizzards on
> the old Water Level Route, today's Amtrak, too
> scared to tough it out!

I doubt it was totally Amtrak's decision - CSX was operating only because it had the railroad to itself. That meant fleeting trains without the need to make sure trains ended up on the proper tracks for passenger platforms with many switches intended to be electronically "spiked" in straight position (which would pose a problem at Syracuse, Buffalo Depew).  Also, by way of radio messages, some of those CSX trains were being tied down on the mains during some of the storm while awaiting recrew, etc. 

Thank you, Rev. All good points about rational decisions made.

MC

Facts:

• The trains that ran only to Syracuse were push-pull west of Albany (i.e. an engine on each end). The trains were NOT wyed in Syracuse.
• The Buffalo-Depew station received over 3 feet of snow and Buffalo Exchange Street received over 4 feet!
• South of Buffalo on the CSX line used by the Lake Shore, over 6 feet fell is spots.
• While CSX & NS never actually 'shut-down' their operations, the reality was that not much was running at the height of the storm, as crews couldn't get to the terminals.

To the broader issue of Amtrak storm-related cancellations, it is safe to assume that after the recent two most widely-publicized significant service issues (Crescent at Charlottesville, VA last winter & Michigan Service recently), Amtrak is being very cautious about putting passengers in any potential harms way. 

The old days of Amtrak "just toughing it out' are long past. With the ubiquitous use of social media, many passengers today are more than happy to immediately 'tweet' about the even slightest delays or disruptions. The last thing Amtrak wants is for another storm-related disruption to go 'viral'!

Here is a picture from Saturday morning of a backyard in Hamburg, NY. That is the top of a 4' foot tall fence you can just see and this was before they received another foot or so during the day!

This location is approximately 2 miles from the CSX mainline south of Buffalo.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/22 08:08 by mbutte.

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