Harlem River Bridge Fire - 9/20

spidey3 wrote:

Jeff Smith wrote:1. It's clear Yankees-153rd would be the southernmost alternative. Fordham, Woodlawn would be other alternatives. I'm not all that familiar with the Hudson line, but I'm guessing you could transfer to the 1 around Broadway. Are there any stations below BN close to transit?

There is a viable transfer from M-N Marble Hill to the 1 train. I've done it once or twice, mainly coming home from upper west side. It's a rather slow option, as the 1 train is local, and only M-N locals stop at Marble Hill. Nothing farther south until Yankees-153rd.

Yeah, couldn't remember the station. I would think they could add some express service, but not sure how they'd do it. I don't believe this is a three-track elevated like Jerome or WP Road.

3. If the bridge were out for a long time, how or would they evacuate equipment from GCT? Clearly, there's no connectivity to ESA planned.

They wouldn't.[/quote]

Gee, thanks, did your Spidey sense tell you that? RIght now there's one way in and out of GCT, which is the point I was trying to make. If that bridge were out for an extended period, there'd be an awful lot of expensive equipment sitting in GCT running an expensive shuttle service to 125th. I guess my question were more rhetorical.

4. How would they handle the influx onto the already crowded IRT lines?

The same way rush hour is handled on the Lex -- with closeness, sweat and much shoving...[/quote]

They'd have to do something to manage the crowds. This isn't the early days of MNRR in the 80's with the strike and low ridership. It proves the need that the SAS should be extended into the Bronx. It won't happen in this lifetime, of course.

from the nycfire boards looks like they got Foam and Purple K on it that will put it out fast

According to fox 5 news it sounds like the fire started after a transformer exploded on a wooden pontoon that is attached to the bridge.

A transformer fire broke out at around 11:45 a.m. on a wooden pontoon that is attached to the bridge, according to a Metro-North spokesperson. The pontoon prevents vessels from striking the bridge.

The fire was under control Monday afternoon, the MTA website reported.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_n ... 0100920-kc

when I went by at 5:50pm all 4 tracks were back in service.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/20/ ... s-service/

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-be ... 90919.html

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?secti ... id=7677796

kitn1mcc wrote:...looks like they got Foam and Purple K on it ...

Isn't Purple K used for high-voltage fires? Sounds like there might be some serious electrical damage. They can run trains over the bridge, I wonder can they raise it?

Anyway, the usual great work by FDNY. Nobody knocks 'em down faster than they do!

Tommy Meehan wrote: Anyway, the usual great work by FDNY. Nobody knocks 'em down faster than they do!

They're still pretty good, but my dad (FDNY retired, captain*) says they were *really* on the ball in the 60's and 70's when the city was burning all the time - all that constant action kept them up to par.

Somewhat related - they have a huge training center on Ward's Island that you can see from the Hell Gate line. I guess this is only on topic during football season?

Looks like someone at NJT got the engineering dept mobilized fast to look the bridge over. Where are the PEs based out of, anyway?

*Memories of firehouses as a kid. I found the teletypes more interesting than the firetrucks...

This is supposed to be about metro north rail. This is not a fire buff forum. Keep it on topic. If you want to discuss purple K, foam, & firefighting methods got to EMTBravo or some such site.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manh ... HIMhCGhnJO

During the service halt, riders had to take the No. 4 or D subway to Yankee Stadium and walk to the nearby Metro-North station, where they could catch a train to the suburbs.

That must have required some extraordinary dispatching. Early reports indicated the NH was terminating at Woodlawn or Fordham. That would leave Harlem or Hudson trains at 153rd; maybe some NH trains? That's a lot of movement on the MO wye.

Hey, let's rebuild the Harlem RR terminal and the 9th Ave swing bridge! Maybe the NH was on to something!

Nasadowsk wrote:

Tommy Meehan wrote: Anyway, the usual great work by FDNY. Nobody knocks 'em down faster than they do!

They're still pretty good, but my dad (FDNY retired, captain*) says they were *really* on the ball in the 60's and 70's when the city was burning all the time - all that constant action kept them up to par.

We're really on the ball now, I can assure you of that. The Bronx isn't burning the way it was in the 1970's, but it's still very prevelent, to the tune of about 85 structure fires a day. Today we handle twice as many incidents of a wider variety. Training, along with our call volume has doubled, if not outpaced that even further.

Separate note: A Purple K unit was assigned, no Purple K was used. I'm sure it would have worked well, but it would not have been very easily implemented yesterday. There is still a good distance from land to the bridge pier and it was windy. What ultimately put out the fire was Marine Co. 6 and her 6,000 gallon per minute pumping capacity.

Having worked during this yesterday, I think the railroad did a good job considering the circumstances. They had the right people making most of the calls and service was restored rather promptly once the evaluation was done by engineers for safe operation. If there is one part of the railroad that will foul up the entire operation, this would have been a colossal example. With equipment missing cycles some trains were canceled (876), but towards the end of the evening, lots of deadhead equipment moved around the system to clean up after the mess.

+1, railroad did an excellent job of restoring service, this could have been a lot worse.

Steamboat Willie wrote:Having worked during this yesterday, I think the railroad did a good job considering the circumstances. They had the right people making most of the calls and service was restored rather promptly once the evaluation was done by engineers for safe operation. If there is one part of the railroad that will foul up the entire operation, this would have been a colossal example. With equipment missing cycles some trains were canceled (876), but towards the end of the evening, lots of deadhead equipment moved around the system to clean up after the mess.

They certainly did. They had a great deal of personnel on the scene quickly.

It does raise the issue of security at this facility. It's certainly the most vital span in the Metro-North System. The bridge control room isn't staffed, so no one is in the bridge area 24/7. I hope security measures are tight....

MN gets lucky once again.

Yes, job well done. The plan to build Yankee Stadium - 153rd doesn't look so bad now, eh? Would be nice to have an alternate route, though, whether to GCT or PSNY.