Mending the Montauk Branch Delay Mess

Holy moly, 2747 struck a trespasser. It's not the LIRR's night.

(edited the first time to fix a spelling error, edited the second time to fix the incident train number, edited the third time to say why I edited it the last two times)

Second trespasser strike in as many days.

So much for a smooth Labor Day weekend commute.

I am so close to getting home! Maybe 10 minutes away! My fingers are crossed! So close!

*train takes wye track, plunges into Fort Pond*

lirr42 wrote:I am so close to getting home! Maybe 10 minutes away! My fingers are crossed! So close!

*train takes wye track, plunges into Fort Pond*

Sounds like something from Thomas The Tank Engine At least your wife kept you company

When the time comes to acquire new diesels and coaches I think it's a safe bet the RR will order quite a few more than what they have now if they've had to consistently cancel other trains just to get replacement equipment in for Montauk Branch runs, a number of which obviously have more coaches worth of people than they have in actual coaches. I'd be surprised if management wasn't just as annoyed having to yank equipment from one train at the last minute to save another and STILL have a backlog of delays (and bad press to boot) to deal with. I can even see each diesel line having at least one dedicated protect set parked in Jamaica at the ready for when another event or series of events fouls up the timetable.

longtime lurker, first time poster. I was onboard the 5:09pm train today, was headed out to Fire Island to visit some friends. We sat outside woodside for a good 45 minutes while they tried to fix the engine. When we transferred at Jamaica most of us had to stand the whole way because it was so crowded. we even had to leave some people behind at Jamaica-they were not happy!

NH2060 wrote:When the time comes to acquire new diesels and coaches I think it's a safe bet the RR will order quite a few more than what they have now if they've had to consistently cancel other trains just to get replacement equipment in for Montauk Branch runs, a number of which obviously have more coaches worth of people than they have in actual coaches. I'd be surprised if management wasn't just as annoyed having to yank equipment from one train at the last minute to save another and STILL have a backlog of delays (and bad press to boot) to deal with. I can even see each diesel line having at least one dedicated protect set parked in Jamaica at the ready for when another event or series of events fouls up the timetable.

But even then they can't catch a break! 2747 struck a trespasser, for example. There's just some air of unluckiness about the Montauk Branch that always seems to mess everything up in the summertime.

Back to the Sunday mess:

I've noticed that some trains (e.g. the Bridgehampton turn) suffer fewer delays than other. Though this may just be because it makes fewer stops, it could also be because of ridership. Which Hamptons stations have comparatively the most passengers?

Also, according to some YouTube videos, 8707 is the only peak Sunday westbound with only one engine. The high breakdown rate now seems even worse...

Amtrak7 wrote:Back to the Sunday mess:

I've noticed that some trains (e.g. the Bridgehampton turn) suffer fewer delays than other. Though this may just be because it makes fewer stops, it could also be because of ridership. Which Hamptons stations have comparatively the most passengers?

Also, according to some YouTube videos, 8707 is the only peak Sunday westbound with only one engine. The high breakdown rate now seems even worse...

I think its the number of stops. With massive dwell times at most stations, trains that make all the stops are only set up for failure.

It would be ideal if the LIRR could split all the longer trains into two shorter trains and have each train make half as many stops. Too bad the single tracking would make that pretty difficult.

Amtrak7, do you by any chance have any figures as to which Sunday trains usually run with how many cars? I'd go get counts for myself but I like to stay away from the train station on Sundays for the sake of my sanity. Maybe I could work out some sort of sample schedule/equipment rotations

No figures, but this video shows all the Sunday trains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcmL-ZjZfWA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

8703: 10
8705: 8
8707: 5
8709: 8
8711: 5 (2 engines)
8715: 8 (8710's consist)
8717: 4 + 2 reserve
8719: 6 (2 engines)
8721: 6 (2 engines)

8710: 8 (I've seen some videos of this train with 10 cars)

Keep in mind these consists probably vary widely due to equipment availability.

^thanks, that's all I need

If you want to see a Montauk Branch mess, wait until later today.

Although the LIRR announced that the extra westbound trains will run on Labor Day, and NOT Sunday, September 1, watch crowds show up for the extras today.

The city crowd tends to return early from labor Day weekend to start with, coupled with cloudy weather today, translation heavy westbound demand today.

Stay tuned.....................


Ken

To confuse the average rider even more, Google is showing 8707 and 8711 as running today (but not the other Sunday extras) and tomorrow as a weekday schedule...

Everything went well today(Sunday) no delays good flow.... Then there is Monday with storms and them going back.......

Google is now showing both weekday AND weekend service for today. Yikes.

Amtrak7 wrote:Google is now showing both weekday AND weekend service for today. Yikes.

No big deal, as soon as the crowds start to overwhelm the trains the schedules are going out the window anyways!