minimum cars open

Does anyone know why the minimum cars open is changing back to the way it was this weekend?

Please explain.

See General Notice 1-22. Special Instruction 1901-M has been modified, allowing for more cars to be closed at certain hours.
I think maybe the RR just realized it was not practical or safe to have all cars open with only 2 crew members at 3am.
also, as some insiders here have acknowledged fare collection had suffered with the old policy, as some people were not racing up and down 5 cars to get the 1 or 2 people that boarded at each stop, they would just wait until just before jamaica and get them all at once, but this allows the short riders to slip out for free.
it seems finally some common sense has arrived at the RR, maybe for once they are considering the needs and safety of the crew over the occasional complaint by someone who has to walk up two car lengths on the platform to board the train.
I'm sure Datenail will disagree, lol.

"Pine power" might explode when he finds out he has to share a car with another passenger!

Although on the other side of the argument, fewer cars means those drunk idiots will be even closer together on the weekends.

I do think it is a good idea. At least they stopped blaming the fare collectors for a bit?

They should just collect fares at the stairs after midnight, you'll make some $$$ probably...

In the middle of the night, we all went 2 behind 2 anyway, unless it was a train out of NY, then maybe 4 behind 2.
One person could see what was going on in both cars. A lot safer that way.
Not too many supervisors would show up those hours anyway, and if they did, most of them understood the logic of having only 2 cars open when there were only 4 or 5 people on the train.
Once the 140 Vomit Comet was past Jamaica, the RR got very quiet, especially on weekdays.
Lets face it, if you were a supervisor at 3 am on the LIRR, what would YOU be doing at 3 am? duuhhh.
Only ones awake at 3am are the Engineers, and maybe one crew member to open and close the doors.

Tun, in circumstances such as late night trains, some which rank of elite status such as the "vomit comet" it is not at all uncommon for crews to contain the crowd. Different people have different ways of running ship, but for the most part the majority of them would rather prefer containing the crowd for safety purposes. For the record, there are rules pertaining to the passenger count in which more cars are expected to be opened. It's easy to critique from the outside looking in, but until you are working in an environment such as the vomit comet and being responsible for the safety of everyone on board, you make decisions to meet your criteria.

Almost all late night trains are junior and all of them want it to go by as quickly and as quiet as you can. It's no picnic having to confront people who are on a different planet since they drank to oblivion, breaking up fights and holding up the train until the cops get on because it makes it that much longer to get home.

This "piney" person whom I had the displeasure in watching several of his Youtube broadcasts and his ignorant contributions on public forums should not be taken as gospel by any means. This person does not work for public transportation and is always complaining about his glass being half full. If he had it his way, there would be all 12 cars open on a late eastbound headed for Ronkonkoma with only 150 people onboard with 2 crew members. All so he could sit in a 5 seater by himself and kick up his feet on the seats.

lirr415, the practice you describe are done here on MNCR on late night trains and the first train going up to New Haven (super local) on the weekend. Before they even pass out fares are collected and anyone who wishes to get over are immediately thrown off before the train departs.

Funny, because I always prefer to spread out the drunks on late night trains. I figure it this way: if they're more spread out less likely they'll come in contact with one another and start fighting. The sooner they can find a seat and pass out the better. Sometimes we'd call ahead once we left the Bronx that we would need police to get them before going into the yard.

*Correction*
it was General Notice 1-23 Paragraph B that changed SI 1901-M (not GN 1-22 as i had stated earlier).

As a railfan then tend to close off the front cars ...
but then there are fewer & fewer Budds in service ...

workextra wrote:"Pine power" might explode when he finds out he has to share a car with another passenger!

You got it all wrong. I think closing cars on empty trains is a GOOD idea. Its just when its crowded that I think cars should be open. If those cars arent needed, then the RR should shorten those trains. They should be doing more of that instead of eliminating trains (and branches).

[quote="Steamboat Willie"]
This "piney" person whom I had the displeasure in watching several of his Youtube broadcasts and his ignorant contributions on public forums should not be taken as gospel by any means. This person does not work for public transportation and is always complaining about his glass being half full. If he had it his way, there would be all 12 cars open on a late eastbound headed for Ronkonkoma with only 150 people onboard with 2 crew members. All so he could sit in a 5 seater by himself and kick up his feet on the seats.
quote]

Wrong again. I love how ppl twist what I say around. If the train cars are crowded (most seats are taken) then another car should be opened. If you have a train with light ridership (70% or less) than cars should be closed. Running a train with 12 cars open and only 150 passengers is not only stupid, but dangerous.

Steamboat Willie wrote:Tun, in circumstances such as late night trains, some which rank of elite status such as the "vomit comet" it is not at all uncommon for crews to contain the crowd. Different people have different ways of running ship, but for the most part the majority of them would rather prefer containing the crowd for safety purposes. For the record, there are rules pertaining to the passenger count in which more cars are expected to be opened. It's easy to critique from the outside looking in, but until you are working in an environment such as the vomit comet and being responsible for the safety of everyone on board, you make decisions to meet your criteria.

Almost all late night trains are junior and all of them want it to go by as quickly and as quiet as you can. It's no picnic having to confront people who are on a different planet since they drank to oblivion, breaking up fights and holding up the train until the cops get on because it makes it that much longer to get home.

This "piney" person whom I had the displeasure in watching several of his Youtube broadcasts and his ignorant contributions on public forums should not be taken as gospel by any means. This person does not work for public transportation and is always complaining about his glass being half full. If he had it his way, there would be all 12 cars open on a late eastbound headed for Ronkonkoma with only 150 people onboard with 2 crew members. All so he could sit in a 5 seater by himself and kick up his feet on the seats.

lirr415, the practice you describe are done here on MNCR on late night trains and the first train going up to New Haven (super local) on the weekend. Before they even pass out fares are collected and anyone who wishes to get over are immediately thrown off before the train departs.

Actually, there are quite a number of runs where senior crews operate these trains (fifteen years plus) for a whole host of personal reasons (coaching, kids, college, etc). While ridership is low Monday to Wednesday (unless a sporting event or concert is in play), the Babylon's or Ko's can be standing room only the rest of the week, depending if there is a connection in Jamiaca.

Then there are the Southwest Airlines passengers going to McArthur Airport to catch a 7am flight. There are at least two dozen of these passengers on any AM KO train, and dozens during the day per train, which the carrier has never fully exploited due to machimso turf wars in various "marketing" and "planning" departments. God forbid the carrier works on a quasi "Train to the Plane" fare deal lest LIRR ruffle feathers on the JFK Air Train and the heavy Pataki Political influence bestowed upon it.