Danbury service suspended due to high water.

[alewifebp]

As much as I wish there could be a fan trip, I think with maintenance issues on the line, and no bucks for fixing those issues, it won't happen for a while. Shame; now that Dutch and others are qualified again, you have a ready crew. Still, the necessity of this move can't hurt by drawing attention to getting the line back in shape.

The original itinerary for the Farewell to the FL-9 trip was to go via Maybrook, but it was changed at the last minute to go via Danbury. I think the ofificlal reason was that the tracks were in too bad condition.

Side note. A week or two before the FL-9 trip, there was a washout on the Housy that jeopardized the trip, but they worked double-time to get it repaired. That washout was much smaller in scope than this one. See my sig link for pics from that excellent trip.

[MNCRR9000]

I havent driven past the Branchville Station the past couple of days. Are they storing the 3 maxi-bomb PM rush hour trains in Branchville, I know the passing siding can handle 1 maxi-bomb train. Are they storing the other 2 on the mainline north of the crossings so they dont trip them or do they deadhead them back to Stamford at the end of thre rush?

[DutchRailnut]

No the 3 trains used from Branchville are deadheaded up from Stamford in morning.
In after noon the 3 trains deadhead back to Stamford for storage and inspection.

[theozno]

Dutch, should I be expecting 1895 to be a Train from Branchville?
I just spotted in Wilton from the bus (Route 7 link) what looked to be a huge stone train with several cars.
I was wondering why there might be no shuttle service to Branchville off rush hours. now with this seen it makes a little bit more sense.

[DutchRailnut]

Dutch, should I be expecting 1895 to be a Train from Branchville?
I just spotted in Wilton from the bus (Route 7 link) what looked to be a huge stone train with several cars.
I was wondering why there might be no shuttle service to Branchville off rush hours. now with this seen it makes a little bit more sense.

you obviously have problems reading schedules, The Answer is no, only the 3 trains in morning and 3 rush hour trains in evening, rest is buses as described in previous link to MTA page.

[L'mont]

To the guys at the throttle:

What was the ROW like? Looked fairly overgrown in the photos. How was it running the train on that line, tell us all about it.

Was the Genny the only power for this consist?

[DutchRailnut]

from Danbury to Brewster only Gennie provided traction power, on Harlem the two BL20's provided power.
As for condition of line, lets say it looks scary the vegitation was not much of problem.
but the line could use some old welded rail and a sh*tload of ties, time to scrap the old stickrail.
pound for pound in scrap it would not make a difference.

[Ridgefielder]

Anyway, it seems that all off-peak service is being handled by shuttle buses to South Norwalk. Most ridership on the Danbury Branch is from Danbury, there's no need for shuttle trains for off-peak.

Is that really true? It always seemed to me that a significant amount of the ridership was from stations south of Danbury, particularly Branchville, Cannondale and Wilton.

[theozno]

Dutch, should I be expecting 1895 to be a Train from Branchville?
I just spotted in Wilton from the bus (Route 7 link) what looked to be a huge stone train with several cars.
I was wondering why there might be no shuttle service to Branchville off rush hours. now with this seen it makes a little bit more sense.

you obviously have problems reading schedules, The Answer is no, only the 3 trains in morning and 3 rush hour trains in evening, rest is buses as described in previous link to MTA page.

Thanks for the clear up Dutch!
as you explained it earlier, the 3 maxi bomb trains go back to Stamford. I figure it did not hurt to ask if one of the Maxi Bomb's could go back to Stamford in service since it is up there anyways. 1895 as you know usually goes to Stamford and not just South Norwalk.

[Amtrak7]

Ooops, I made a mistake about the ridership data. What I posted is true for weekends, but not for rush hours.

[L'mont]

from Danbury to Brewster only Gennie provided traction power, on Harlem the two BL20's provided power.
As for condition of line, lets say it looks scary the vegitation was not much of problem.
but the line could use some old welded rail and a sh*tload of ties, time to scrap the old stickrail.
pound for pound in scrap it would not make a difference.

Interesting, thanks for the info Dutch. I imagine it was a rocky trip even at 10mph. Was the route hi-railed to check the basic geomertry (gauge) before the run?

How was the Genny with all that weight!? I know it didn't have to go very fast...but

[AMK0123]

Also Dutch, was wondering how radio communication was. Figure the engineer from HRRC was calling out to his dispatch to the state line. Then I assume you switched over and called out to District C. Did you have to get permission from them to enter the line and did you also have to call out mileposts or locations with them. Also, how was going over the bridge that spans Brewster Honda....
P.S. Even though I was unable to make it over there to watch the move, my wife who happened to be working that day in Brewster was able to catch the move. You can actually see her work tahoe with the gold stripe and red lights on it in one of FL9AC's pictures by Pumphouse Road. To reiterate what others have said and what she advised me, everyone from the staff of Metro North that were at the crossings were very nice, informative and professional. She enjoyed talking to several of them along with some of the railfans that came out and all acted very professional at all of the different locations!

[Clean Cab]

The Beacon Line is controlled by RTC B (upper Harlem Line).

[DutchRailnut]

coorect the line was hi-railed before first move on monday.
The HRRC has yard limits between Danbury and Stateline so only permission was needed.
On MNCR part we got a form M and yes we talked to district B to keep him updated when we got close to Brewster.
and yes according to rules we monitored HRRC radio channel while in HRRC property, but nothing communicated

[M Train Via Loop]

Would concrete ties have changed the situation here significantly? Would they have possibly eroded, or would the additional weight have caused the tracks to collapse into the void, or would they have not made a difference?