Orange Line Diversion 10/5/07

[Lord Mkaiba]

from mbta.com
"Subway All Lines/Routes - Due to disabled train on the Orange Line. Red Line customers at Downtown Crossing can utilize Green Line service at Park Street to Haymarket Station and Copley Station and make connections for Orange Line service. Also Blue Line customers at State Street Station must continue to Government Center and utilize Green Line service to Haymarket Station and Copley Station and make connections for Orange Line service 10/5/2007 6:09 AM"

"Subway Orange Line - is being diverted due to disabled train. Substitute bus service will replace train service between Haymarket and Back Bay. Passengers coming in from Oak Grove should take the Green Line at North Station and Haymarket for service into Boston. Commuter Rail customers must utilize the Green Line at North Station. 10/5/2007 5:12 AM"

Why is the entire system so screwed up just because of one disabled train?

[CRail]

Because it's the T

[CJ]

I honestly wonder what happened, as in if it "jumped" the tracks or something. Only because, its been two hours, another trainset could have pushed the disabled train to Wellington by now. Sure I guess the power in that section of track could be out too, not sure, my scanner isnt handy atm!

[jck]

This must be more than simply a train that died. A couple years back, when the Red Line was having all sorts of trains dying during regular service, there was never a four hour suspension of service...

Green Line must be a disaster right now. You're probably best off walking from Back Bay to North Station, if you're physically capable of doing so.

[jpitha]

Something must have been really up with the Orange Line. I take the Lowell line to North Station, and when I got there, the whole station had a pall of acrid smoke. Not only that, but the place was mobbed, and the Green line was running B trains from North Station. I thought that only C, and E went to North Station.

[Ricky Smith]

Any updates?

[ironcladlou]

The service alert is gone from MBTA.com, so the presumably got the train cleared...

[CJ]

Dunno what happened, went thru haymarket at around 9:20AM, and orange line trains were stopping at the station, with passengers. So I'd assume it cleared right before I went Blue to Green to Orange.

(moderator edit for topic control)

[kether83]

I ride from Forest Hills to Downtown Xing..

They told us at FH that the trains were only running to Back Bay and there were shuttles from there to North Station - effectively telling us that nearly the entire downtown stretch of the Orange Line was OOS. We switched to the "wrong track" after Ruggles to run to Mass Av and Back Bay -- there were many confused people at the Ruggles platform watching us pull in on the wrong side.

At Back Bay though, we were told we could board incoming commuter rail trains to South Station to get to the Red Line (my connection).

What a mess! ONE disabled train caused all of this? I find that hard to believe.

[jpitha]

http://bostonist.com/2007/10/05/train_tips_over.php

Universal Hub reporting a tipped over train a Chinatown as the cause.

Tipped over?

According the MBTA inspector we stalked into the Dunkin' Donuts at Haymarket Station, the Orange Line was shut down from Back Bay to North Station all morning because "a car tipped over at Chinatown."

[StevieC48]

The rail grinder derailed South at Chinatown taking several ft of 3rd rail down this am. Reg svc at 9:30am

[jpitha]

That makes much more sense.

How do you rerail a train in the tunnel?

[CJ]

Very Carefully.

Oddly enough, I was right, what are the odds, both a derailment, and a power outage, what are the odds!

On a sidenote, at around 9:30, there were a few employees in reflective vests over near community college, where the rail grinder has been for a few weeks iirc, atleast during the day.

[sery2831]

In a derailment they have to shut the power to the third rail off.

[b&m 1566]

In a derailment they have to shut the power to the third rail off.

So does that mean the T has an engine running off of gas or diesel available? (In the event of an emergency)… like that to move a train where the power has been cut.