Port Jervis Line out indefinitely

Well apparently today is the day. Metro North is supposed to make some sort of announcement regarding the Port Jervis Line bus service as well as the damage report on the line. I'm guessing they will announce a train-bus-train plan for next week, as was previously mentioned in this thread. What will be said about the line's condition is a mystery right now but hopefully it is not as bad as they thought. I did read that there may be insurance claims filed here so maybe that is one factor in why they have not started any rehabilitation of the line before the "study" has been completed.

The conductor on the train this morning said that shuttle service will start Monday between Port Jervis and Harriman. Apparently, there is additional talk of adding two express trains between Suffern and Hoboken. I'm not holding my breath...but the fact is riders west of Harriman could probably use an express option a lot more than those to the east anyway.

Also, he mentioned that if the same damage was done to the Main/Bergen line under NJTransit's watch, it would have been fixed by now. I found this bit a little amusing...nothing like having a bit of pride for your railroad company I guess. While I don't think it would have been fixed by now, I do think it would have been given a lot more attention which would have in turn would have made the overall repair process faster. A remote railway servicing 2300 people is just not a priority for the MTA.

http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/mnr_port_jervis.html

Announcement from Metro-North, with timetables.

Effective Monday, September 19, shuttle train service will resume between Port Jervis and Harriman stations on the Port Jervis Line. Bus service will be in effect between Harriman Station and Ramsey/Route 17. Five AM peak trains will operate from Port Jervis to Harriman, where express buses will connect to existing trains and newly added express train service at Ramsey/Route 17. In the evening, there will be five PM trains operating from Harriman to Port Jervis. All customers will take a bus back from Ramsey/Route 17 to Harriman. There will be two routes, one that goes express to Harriman and one semi-express that makes stops at Sloatsburg and Tuxedo and then Harriman. In the off-peak, there will be three inbound and four outbound trains operating between Port Jervis and Harriman. All other scheduled trains, including weekend trains, will be covered by bus service between all eight Port Jervis Line stations and Ramsey/Route 17 so that frequency of service is maintained. There will be six bus routes to shorten travel time: 1) Port Jervis/Middletown 2) Otisville 3) Campbell Hall 4) Salisbury Mills 5) Harriman express and Harriman/Tuxedo/Sloatsburg.

Here's more information about what Metro-North plans to do in the coming weeks and months.

http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/mnr_port_jervis_hp.html

-otto-

Maybe this will put some of these conspiracy theorists to rest.

100,000 TONS of Stone?!?! Oh My Goodness. What could possibly use that much? No talk of double tracking but we can all still hope for the best. Hopefully we can see some ballast/stone trains moving to that area shortly.

MTA also released another statement in this article...

The Metro North President released a statement saying, "For the New Yorkers who count on this line every single day, it's a lifeline. And for everyone in the counties west of the Hudson, it's a vital economic link to the trillion dollar downstate economy. The MTA has been unwavering in its support of Metro-North's expedited efforts to restore full service."


http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/top ... en-monday/


So, yes, the Port Jervis Line won't be going away any time soon.

SecaucusJunction wrote:100,000 TONS of Stone?!?! Oh My Goodness. What could possibly use that much? No talk of double tracking but we can all still hope for the best. Hopefully we can see some ballast/stone trains moving to that area shortly.

Yes, this means 1000 fully loaded hoppers, at least. We can speculate on where that will be coming from. JS

100 more parking spots at Beacon? Where is that going to be?

pumpers wrote: Yes, this means 1000 fully loaded hoppers, at least. We can speculate on where that will be coming from. JS

They keep mentioning 2500 dump trucks to bring supplies. I can't see why they would use dump trucks when using rail would seem to be a lot more cheaper and efficient. I would think NS would be willing to haul it relatively cheaply since they technically still own the line and have a stake in it's rebuilding. Unless they are just talking about short hauling trucks to the site past where the trains can safely handle the material.

Also, if they are using highway for any of this, it would take well over 2500 trucks to haul that much material. Their math doesn't really seem to add up.

SecaucusJunction wrote:I can't see why they would use dump trucks when using rail would seem to be a lot more cheaper and efficient.

Maybe because the rail line they'd need to use is currently out-of-service?

It looks like Metro-North customers are going to be riding with NJ Transit customers starting Monday. Hope those trains aren't packed!

Tommy Meehan wrote:

SecaucusJunction wrote:I can't see why they would use dump trucks when using rail would seem to be a lot more cheaper and efficient.

Maybe because the rail line they'd need to use is currently out-of-service?

Its not out of service on either end of it tho

Man, Id be making a boatload of cash if MN decided to get at least some of the rock from the Stavola quarrey at Chimney Rock in Bridgewater, NJ on the Raritan Valley Line - stone trains (mtys in AM loads out in PM) twice a day would be awesome! CHHHAAAA CHHHIIINNNGGGG!!!!! Maybe pay off Tier 1 AND 2 for the year for the first time in my career

Loads would have to be delivered to the OOS section starting west of Suffern and probably unloaded and transloaded to trucks would be easiest to get to the actual sites. but they would probably need to lease different cars i don't think the NJT stone hoppers would be able to handle large amounts of dumping like that to the side of track in a transloading operation, they aren't designed for that, but rather dumping stone in/close to guage.....

I doubt that would happen, but boy, it would be nice!

Jtgshu wrote:CHHHAAAA CHHHIIINNNGGGG!!!!!

Hahaha

I guess the mode of transport will have a lot to do with where they are getting the ballast.

Yes 100.000 tons of ballast seems like a lot. But they will be putting down a deep bed I imagine and the stuff is very heavy. I bet one hopper load, when you dump it, doesn't go very far.

Anybody know the industry standard for ballast per mile by ton on a passenger line?

Its not all ballast, probably 750 000 tons or more is heavy rip-rap.
which can't be dumped with hoppers .
even with Difco Dumpers you need a clear area where each load can be moved away from track with loaders.
The actual dumping on washout sites will probably be done with dumptrucks, backing one loaded Difco to site would take to long.

Hopefully some time this weekend the NJT/MN equipment will make it's way back to transit land via the NYS&W. NJT is keeping 7 sets up in Port Jervis for the shuttle service since MN wants to replicate the original schedule as closely as possible. The sets will be drilled down to 4 cars each and the cars that are due on their inspection cycles will be coming back.

(Edited for content by moderator)

SecaucusJunction wrote:While driving through the town of Ramsey at about 6:20 tonight, I saw a westbound MTA train (F40 and 5 MTA cars ) go flying by. Now I don't even know if he had any passengers on him but there were no scheduled trains at that time. Was this a special move for PJ line passengers or maybe just some sort of deadhead? Anyone know?

What you saw was most likely x15 which is deadhead move to re-position equipment from 1269 for 1126. The fact that it had MTA does not make it an MTA train. It could have operated with any sort of equipment and would not be in a public timetable.