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Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

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  by abaduck
 
MNRR_RTC wrote:BTW, I have heard stories about a coast guard captain coming in the Control Center a few years ago with armed personnel, threating the chief to make sure the bridges are open for the boats when they want or else they would arrest him and leave the bridge open permanently. Whether it's true or not, it does sound possible to me.
See my earlier post - I can't confirm that story but I can also believe it's true. Like I said, the Coast Guard are very high up on the list of organisations that you *do not* mess with.

Mike

  by Nasadowsk
 
Tunneling under at Cos Cob sure sounds interesting. And taxing the folks there? Heck, they can afford it. Ever drive through Greenwich with anything less than a $70,000 car? They LOOK AT YOU like you're invading their territory...

Actually, that bridge is gonna need a replacement eventually, and I can't imagine the water's that deep there. I wonder if the costs of a tunnel (these days, you can dredge and drop a short length like that) would seriously be *that* much more than a bridge - you'd need a runaround to replace the existing bridge or dredge and drop, you'd want a new bridge to be higher, thus you'd need to redo the trackage leading to it...

The tunnel would give higher speeds and no delays, plus likely a lot cheaper, and the CG gets off your back. Long term -and let's face it, anything done's gonna be there at least a century- it might simply be worth it.

  by theozno
 
speeding up trains by building a tunnel... less travel time would be a good thing...
Nasadowsk wrote:Tunneling under at Cos Cob sure sounds interesting. And taxing the folks there? Heck, they can afford it. Ever drive through Greenwich with anything less than a $70,000 car? They LOOK AT YOU like you're invading their territory...

Actually, that bridge is gonna need a replacement eventually, and I can't imagine the water's that deep there. I wonder if the costs of a tunnel (these days, you can dredge and drop a short length like that) would seriously be *that* much more than a bridge - you'd need a runaround to replace the existing bridge or dredge and drop, you'd want a new bridge to be higher, thus you'd need to redo the trackage leading to it...

The tunnel would give higher speeds and no delays, plus likely a lot cheaper, and the CG gets off your back. Long term -and let's face it, anything done's gonna be there at least a century- it might simply be worth it.

  by Nester
 
Nasadowsk wrote:Tunneling under at Cos Cob sure sounds interesting. And taxing the folks there? Heck, they can afford it. Ever drive through Greenwich with anything less than a $70,000 car? They LOOK AT YOU like you're invading their territory...

Actually, that bridge is gonna need a replacement eventually, and I can't imagine the water's that deep there. I wonder if the costs of a tunnel (these days, you can dredge and drop a short length like that) would seriously be *that* much more than a bridge - you'd need a runaround to replace the existing bridge or dredge and drop, you'd want a new bridge to be higher, thus you'd need to redo the trackage leading to it...

The tunnel would give higher speeds and no delays, plus likely a lot cheaper, and the CG gets off your back. Long term -and let's face it, anything done's gonna be there at least a century- it might simply be worth it.
I would think if you added a tunnel you would have to redo the trackage there too. Given the proxmity of the bridge to the station and the parking lots in the area, a tunnel solution may require the depression of the Cos Cob station as well. Depending on who you talk to, that may be a worthwhile improvement :)

  by Noel Weaver
 
Nester wrote:
Nasadowsk wrote:Tunneling under at Cos Cob sure sounds interesting. And taxing the folks there? Heck, they can afford it. Ever drive through Greenwich with anything less than a $70,000 car? They LOOK AT YOU like you're invading their territory...

Actually, that bridge is gonna need a replacement eventually, and I can't imagine the water's that deep there. I wonder if the costs of a tunnel (these days, you can dredge and drop a short length like that) would seriously be *that* much more than a bridge - you'd need a runaround to replace the existing bridge or dredge and drop, you'd want a new bridge to be higher, thus you'd need to redo the trackage leading to it...

The tunnel would give higher speeds and no delays, plus likely a lot cheaper, and the CG gets off your back. Long term -and let's face it, anything done's gonna be there at least a century- it might simply be worth it.
I would think if you added a tunnel you would have to redo the trackage there too. Given the proxmity of the bridge to the station and the parking lots in the area, a tunnel solution may require the depression of the Cos Cob station as well. Depending on who you talk to, that may be a worthwhile improvement :)
A tunnel at this location would require closing for all time of both Cos Cob
and Riverside stations. Having said that, keeping that waterway open for
the pleasure boaters to continue to play seems to be more important to
some people than the thousands of local resident commuters who depend
on Riverside and Cos Cob for their link to the big city or whatever their
daily destination is for work.
Noel Weaver

  by theozno
 
Make a temporary solution:
riverside cummuters temporaily use Old greenwich ( as far as I know you can't move the riverside stop temporaily east...) and move cos cob stop temporarly a little more to the west. could this work?
building a tunnel would take several years
wouldn't it?


Noel Weaver wrote:
Nester wrote:
Nasadowsk wrote:Tunneling under at Cos Cob sure sounds interesting. And taxing the folks there? Heck, they can afford it. Ever drive through Greenwich with anything less than a $70,000 car? They LOOK AT YOU like you're invading their territory...

Actually, that bridge is gonna need a replacement eventually, and I can't imagine the water's that deep there. I wonder if the costs of a tunnel (these days, you can dredge and drop a short length like that) would seriously be *that* much more than a bridge - you'd need a runaround to replace the existing bridge or dredge and drop, you'd want a new bridge to be higher, thus you'd need to redo the trackage leading to it...

The tunnel would give higher speeds and no delays, plus likely a lot cheaper, and the CG gets off your back. Long term -and let's face it, anything done's gonna be there at least a century- it might simply be worth it.
I would think if you added a tunnel you would have to redo the trackage there too. Given the proxmity of the bridge to the station and the parking lots in the area, a tunnel solution may require the depression of the Cos Cob station as well. Depending on who you talk to, that may be a worthwhile improvement :)
A tunnel at this location would require closing for all time of both Cos Cob
and Riverside stations. Having said that, keeping that waterway open for
the pleasure boaters to continue to play seems to be more important to
some people than the thousands of local resident commuters who depend
on Riverside and Cos Cob for their link to the big city or whatever their
daily destination is for work.
Noel Weaver

    tunnel?

      by H.F.Malone
     
    The environmental impact statement ALONE would take ten years, minimum. For what this whole project would cost, the State could buy the affected boatyards/marinas/yacht clubs and CLOSE them. And still save money over building a higher bridge or a tunnel.

    Sometimes, life involves a little inconvienece. That's just the way it is. Some people in the Greenwich area have a rather large sense of entitlement. Or over-inflated egos.

    Re: Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

      by CP230
     
    As the actual operator of this drawbridge, I'd like to clarify a few things.

    1. I need to open ASAP for commercial vessels (Fjord, which is now defunct) and within 20 minutes for all others.
    2. Contrary to popular belief, I have absolutely NO authority or ability to open this bridge until the dispatcher in NYC gives me local control. I could press all of the buttons we have and NOTHING will happen, so yelling at me will not help your cause. Believe me, I don't get any pleasure from delaying boaters because when they are delayed, I have to listen to their whining and that is not fun for me. If it were up to me, all boats would be through the bridge immediately.
    3. Sometimes trains get stuck in the "block" and even though you cannot see them and they are not on the span, the 100% foolproof system prevents me from opening the bridge.
    4. I'm here from 5am-9pm. Unfortunately, the signal maintainers, bridge mechanics, and electricians are not. Due to the potential for mass delays to both boaters AND trains, I need to wait for all of those people to arrive before I can even call my dispatcher to request the bridge. God forbid the bridge malfunction, then I can't get the boat through AND the trains cannot safely pass and both of my phones are blowing up with people screaming in my ear demanding to know when it will be fixed while the necessary personnel bicker about whose department gets to fix the problem. Again, not fun for me.
    5. When something breaks, it's impossible for me to give a time frame regarding the exact moment it shall be back in working order. Calling me every 2 minutes to inquire actually holds things up. Here's a hint, when you hear the bells and see the bridge moving, that's your cue.
    6. The rules clearly state that anybody wishing to pass between the hours of 9pm and 5am need to make an appointment 4 hours in advance from Oct-April and 24 hours in advance at all other times. This is not enforced and I get stuck A LOT on weekends. People know I leave at 9 and call at 845 to say they're coming back at 945 and I have to stay. Then they call at 945 and change it to 1030. Before you know it, it's after midnight, I'm cranky and have to pee and am absolutely starving because I can't go get food. Why? Because I have to sit and wait. Sit and wait. I don't even have a bathroom in there. Newsflash, I have far better things to do than sit around and wait for inconsiderate assholes who make appointments they cannot keep. And it never fails. Every single time I make plans, I get a phone call saying, "You're staying late."
    7. We are here every night. We are here every weekend. We are here on Christmas. We are here on New Year's. We are here on Thanksgiving. We are here for every single holiday. We sacrifice time with our families, we give up our social lives, and we sit around waiting for boats like Maytag repairmen of the seas. Take that into consideration when you get to enjoy your weekends with your friends on your boats and want to throw hissy fits because other people in New York are making us delay you.

    Re:

      by CP230
     
    MNRR_RTC wrote:
    pablo wrote:I completely understand that the many that ride the rails should have first dibs, such as it were, but the rules are the rules. I also highly doubt that these rules could be legislated out, as it were, since the Coast Guard is making the rules here.

    Another point is that, while I am unfamiliar with the area, if that many affluent people use this waterway, I am certain that people would object if the bridge were going to be bolted down. I think you'd be surprised at who came out of the woodwork if it happened.

    Also...is the dispatcher really the one in charge here? I would have thought the bridge operator was the one that gave the heads up, since the waterway has first dibs (man, I can't think of a better word here...argh) and the dispatcher would simply do as he or she could.

    Dave Becker
    Hey Pablo, the way it works is as follows. The bridgetender calls me that the boat is there for an opening. Once I verify that the signal maintainers, B&B (Buldings & Bridges) mechanics and electricians are in place, I go ahead and unlock the bridge via remote control. In order for me to give the bridge control to the tender, I first open the derails and then click on bridge indication on my screen. Once the derails and bridge locks go red on my screen, the bridgetender then has control. Usually, Cob bridge opens by appointment during the off season, on demand during the summer. I cannot open the bridge at Cob until the maintainers and B&B people are present. This why we ask for appointments to be made to get the proper people in place. Ultimately, it is my responsibilty to mke sure the bridge opens in a timely manne for the boats with little or no interefence to rail traffic.

    ...and when you don't give me the bridge, I'M the one getting screamed at
    BTW, I have heard stories about a coast guard captain coming in the Control Center a few years ago with armed personnel, threating the chief to make sure the bridges are open for the boats when they want or else they would arrest him and leave the bridge open permanently. Whether it's true or not, it does sound possible to me.

    Re: Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

      by DutchRailnut
     
    CP230 hope you know your answering post from 4 years ago ??

    Re: Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

      by DutchRailnut
     
    I know time flies on CosCob draw but....................

    Re: Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

      by perpster
     
    Actually, CP230's post was the best one in the thread. Thanks CP230. Maybe you can file an OSHA complaint for a bathroom. :wink:

    Re: Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

      by DutchRailnut
     
    Whizz off the bridge, Just watch out for ss Minnow

    Re: Metro North Rail line faces fines over bridge delays

      by MNRR_RTC
     
    This is exactly the reason why I left the New Haven for greener pastures. No bridges or b.s. :-D I now resume my retirement from RR.net. :wink:
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