Gladstone Branch Diesel Service 8/5 and 8/6

I almost called this thread "Gladstone Branch Embarrasment." Well, I was blasting the organ in Gladstone early this morning when something else blasted and got my attention: diesels.

This is a story of a small branchline out in the country that needs 6 trainsets to run properly for hourly service on weekends but only had 4 (for most of the day) then five. As a result, delays of 50 minutes quickly developed which meant many missed connections to or from MidTOWN Direct trains (MidTOWN directs ran pretty much on time). Something happened along the line I presume that created this equipment shortage. And some trains just magically didn't show up. Overall, most trains (90%) were running usually around 30 or more minutes late with the worst being around 2+ hours late. You get better service on the Southern Tier.

NJT tried to fix the problem by terminating one train at Stirling and bussing them in and out from there- but that didn't help. They also tried holding one particular already late westbound at Murray Hill for 20 minutes to allow two late eastbounds to go by. Unfortunately, that meant really screwing later eastbounds with the aforementioned 2+ hour lull of service.

Oh, and plus, the Far Hills passing siding was OOS leaving the only spots on the branch to pass to include: Gladstone, Bernardsville, Stirling and Murray Hill. They could have used the Lyons (non-controlled) siding. I'm not sure if the wire is energized, but it wouldn't matter for diesels and it has switches at both ends and is fairly long. At least 2 trains today could have had good meets there that would have saved time and reduced delays. That would mean probably a form D for the meet and a crewman getting out to throw the switches though. But, they didn't do this and I was amazed at how long they held trains when that train could have easily made it to the next controlled siding.

A supervisor of sorts was deployed around Stirling to help guide passengers at stations. He did do a very good job trying to keep things moving the best he could under bad conditions.

Overall, things got bad today. Maybe tomorrow will be better (I hope.) I chased trains all day on the branch but cannot tomorrow.

Sets included:
Metro North: 4190 and 4186
and NJT: 4023, 4120 and 4110.

I imagine tomorrow will be more of the same as it usually is.

Nick,
Like I said in the previous message, I was surprised to see the diesel from the Midtown Direct. I caught the 4:11 out of Penn Station. We were running almost 10 min late into Orange. I just hope the service won't be bad tomorrow. I'm not sure whether if I will be out in horse country.

The siding at Lyons, they could have used if they haven't. By any chance, is that the same one that stretches to the point just west of the Millington trestle? The last time I rode the Gladstone was in Feb of 2003. I don't remember seeing any catenary.

njt/mnrrbuff wrote:Nick,
Like I said in the previous message, I was surprised to see the diesel from the Midtown Direct. I caught the 4:11 out of Penn Station. We were running almost 10 min late into Orange. I just hope the service won't be bad tomorrow. I'm not sure whether if I will be out in horse country.

The siding at Lyons, they could have used if they haven't. By any chance, is that the same one that stretches to the point just west of the Millington trestle? The last time I rode the Gladstone was in Feb of 2003. I don't remember seeing any catenary.

Yes, that is the same stretch. About a mile west of the Millington Trestle. And the last time I rode it, I'm pretty sure it did have catenary.

Oh, and this morning around 10:50, there were some passengers waiting for the 10:50 eastbound. Being that the eastbound nor the westbound were in sight and the westbound was already about 20-30 minutes late and had to be turned around for the eastbound which would take a minimum of 10 and they wouldn't hold the MidTOWN for the Gladstone, I shuttled the Gladstone passengers from there to Summit and allowed them to catch the MidTOWN train which was on time. 50 minutes later, the Gladstone train showed up at Summit.

Lyons siding is in service for AC electrical operation, however, as it is hand operated on both ends, by the time the eastbound got in the clear there, they could have made it to the controlled siding at Sterling. For a westbound to use the siding would require the eastbound to wait at Bernardsville until the westbound was in the clear. The signal system will not allow opposing moves between interlockings (ie, sending trains west from Sterling and east from Bernardsville at the same time). The siding at Far Hills being out of service is not a problem for normal operation as it is not used on the weekends. When trains are late, however, it can cause problems as it removes flexibility.

Sirsonic wrote:Lyons siding is in service for AC electrical operation, however, as it is hand operated on both ends, by the time the eastbound got in the clear there, they could have made it to the controlled siding at Sterling. For a westbound to use the siding would require the eastbound to wait at Bernardsville until the westbound was in the clear. The signal system will not allow opposing moves between interlockings (ie, sending trains west from Sterling and east from Bernardsville at the same time). The siding at Far Hills being out of service is not a problem for normal operation as it is not used on the weekends. When trains are late, however, it can cause problems as it removes flexibility.

Yeah, they usually don't use Far Hills on weekends- last time they had diesels, some of the sets wouldn't fit in the run around track comfortably (they might have, but it would be close) so they always held the westbound at Far Hills for the eastbound. Today, they couldn't do that though. Although, most trains today were on the shorter side so it wouldn't be a problem.

And thanks for the explanation on Lyons. Yes, there is a signal at the west end I believe but none on the east end. And interesting that the system won't allow two trains operating in the same direction b/w interlockings. Well, if it were possible, it could have helped today.

M&EMan wrote: thought they try to put PL42s on the Gladstone when they need to run dieseliners becuase the acceleration of one of the engines with 2-3 cars can keep up with the Arrows.

Last time (about a month and a half ago) they didnt try to put mostly PL42s on the branch- it just worked out that way. For weekeend diesel substitution, they get whatever sets they have in Port Morris.

Everything seemed to run fine today, at least of the few trains I saw today. Was not able to see all of the sets, but did see the 4110, 4023, and the M-N 4190. All in all a great day to be outside and an even better day to railfan the Gladstone line.
...Also, there appears to be some sort of track inspection type of equipment (not the TGIV) parked on the Lyons siding, couldn't see exactly what, though, since it is a fair distance from the trestle at Millington.

Add 4123 and 4016. They made appearances today.

Yes, everything ran fine today for the most part. I far cry from yesterday.

Great to hear those horns blasting even right now in the distance....

The main at Bernardsville station was OOS on Saturday - in fact it was gone - as work progressed to install panels of new rail with concrete ties. Passing siding was in use here.

The passing siding at Far Hills was chuck full of numerous MOW vehicles.

There was a posted detour/road closure due to RR bridge work on Peapack Road.

Tri-State Tom wrote:The main at Bernardsville station was OOS on Saturday - in fact it was gone - as work progressed to install panels of new rail with concrete ties. Passing siding was in use here.

The passing siding at Far Hills was chuck full of numerous MOW vehicles.

There was a posted detour/road closure due to RR bridge work on Peapack Road.

No, the bridge closure on Peapack Road is not from the RR bridge but rather for the road bridge over the river. It has been driving me nuts for the past 2 months as I have to drive back and forth between St. Elizabeth in Far Hills and St. Brigid in Peapack. That road should reopen near November.

And they must have installed the track at Bernardsville by evening as I heard the MandE dispatcher direct trains to meet at Bernardsville.

Any clue if they will be running diesel sets on the Gladstone Branch next weekend??

Thank You@!

blockline4180 wrote:Any clue if they will be running diesel sets on the Gladstone Branch next weekend??

Thank You@!

I've never known them to run diesels two weekends in a row. That being said, it doesn't mean it's not going to happen....

Hey, just put some of the shots I got from that glorious weekend up. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archiv ... x?id=14993

Nice shots nick! I like how 5106 has the full K5LA horn on the engineers side while 5129 has its two-tone horn.

Great shots Nick, especially of the Basking Ridge area.