Amtrak Grand Central Terminal Operations

Many thanks for the very interesting replies

Usual practice in the days before you "snowflakers" was standard trains arrived on the loop and Turbos went to Tks. 23 & 24.

Standards unl;oaded, went around the loop and through the washer, then into the East Yard. Long trains had to be split to fit, and there was some switching in the event of replacement food cars or bad orders.

One evening, Amtrak President Paul Resitrup was meeting his wife who was arriving on #64. Since the train was late, I asked him if there was anything that he would like to see while he waited. The answer was that he would like to ride around the loop, so we put him with the yard crew that was looping a consist with an S-motor. He said that he enjoyed it, especially since he had not ridden an S-motor before.

Interesting, in all my years in New York I don't recall ever riding an "S" motor. I did ride "P" Motors up to Harmon a few times and I rode a "T" motor once or twice. One of the more interesting motors in GCT was the old Niagara Junction Motors, I moved them around my share of times while on an emergency j0b. They still had the old 14 brake, the last time previous that I used a number 14 brake was in my "boot camp" days in Oak Point or Harlem River. I can still remember many a cold night on the old 0900's on the New Haven down along the water in Harlem River. I'll never forget those days.
Noel Weaver

Noel, I was working in my office one evening and received a phone call from Hudson Engr. John Xifos who asked if I would like to take a ride up to HM with him.

He had Amtrak 79 Electric 9PM Dp. and would be using an S-motor as the Turbo had cleared off most of the 3rd rail shoes while inbound. When I asked him how much time we would lose en route, he asked why we would lose any time at all.

It was a great trip, one of those that makes for permanent memories.

YES!! I can today go through my old timebooks and even now remember something that happened on a few trips. One thing, every trip was different but no less interesting. I loved some of the old electric motors from my New Haven days. The flash boilers on the old box cab (GE) electrics (350 class) OH would they heat a train and once you got steam up they would continue to heat even if there was no power in the wires. 358 was used to provide steam for Harlem River when the heating plant there had an explosion back in the late 50's and the location where that motor was spotted for ground steam did not even have overhead wires. I liked the challenge of working on these boilers, the fireman had to stay with them at all times but they would really heat a train.
Noel Weaver

Noel wrote above:
[[ Interesting, in all my years in New York I don't recall ever riding an "S" motor...]]

Gee, Noel, even I had a ride on the S-motors, and that was 'way back before I got hired. It had to be around 1966, '67 or so, don't remember exactly. I was roaming around G.C.T. with someone else whose name you'd know well (and who will remain unnamed here). A gracious engineer gave us two young guys a ride. I remember the cab being relatively roomy, and the sound of breaker contacts opening and closing.

Later on, during the summer of 1983, I recall moving one of the last S-2's up at Croton-Harmon yard (I was one of the "forever firemen" and hostled up there that summer before defecting back to CR in the fall).

There is also a link, courtesy Mr. Norman, in the Penn Trackwork thread. However, I felt the article was worthy of it's own topic, or should I say, the resurrection of an old topic:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/nyre ... eaven.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some pretty good historical stuff in here.

In a ‘Summer of Hell,’ Grand Central May Be a Bit of Heaven

This is Grand Central Terminal’s summer in the sun.

The greatest monument to transportation in New York, its fabled “Gateway to a Continent,” Grand Central has never been as visible from the outside or as luminous from within. Nearby demolition for a major development, One Vanderbilt, can be credited for that.

And soon, for the first time in 26 years, Grand Central will briefly reclaim its role as the Beaux-Arts portal to America’s inland empire. This summer, it will be possible to reach destinations along the Hudson River Valley — Rhinecliff, Hudson and Albany — from under the constellation-flecked ceiling that has had travelers craning their necks for more than a century.

Six of Amtrak’s Empire Service trains will be rerouted every weekday to Grand Central from Pennsylvania Station, Veronique Hakim, the interim executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said recently. (Amtrak says on its website that a service adjustment on the Empire line from July 10 to Sept. 1 will be announced shortly.)
...

Cross-posting, then moving back to Amtrak.

How was it that the turboliners were able to use Park Ave tunnels and loop track even though they didn't have a nose escape hatch?

Turbo's did not loop, and were normally restricted to track 1 and 2

Amtrak had installed 480 volt AC ground power plug ins on a few tracks at GCT for Rohrs to plug into as soon it stopped at the platform.
You could smell it when the turbos arrived, in less then 5 mins,plugged in and the turbines went silent.

What about the newer trains that we aren't supposed to mention that had 3rd rail shoes? Did they stop working? Did the French versions that migrated East ever get 3rd rail shoes added?

The Rohrs had 3rd rail shoes for GCT,but no HEP inverter,the turbine was the HEP as well as traction power supply.

The French design was adapted to US standards by Rohr for the Empire service,were built on the west coast then shipped east.
The French turbos stayed in the midwest near their shop in the Chicago.

I don't know about later years but when I had a regular jov on Track 19 (emergency job) at least some of the turvo trains went in on the loop. The entire Amtrak crew got off and an emergency engineer would take the train around the loop with the technician change end and sometimes take the train to a station track, often 18 or 23 and sometimes to the East Yard. If the train was an FL-9 and coaches the yard crew would make the move uaing the road power. I have heard from what I consider a very reliable source that Amtrak trains will arrive on the loop and the yard crew will loop the equipment using the road power and place it on a station track just like we did back in 1985 and 1986.
Noel Weaver

Noel the 3 turns that Amtrak will run into GCT will have a P42 (modified) and a P32acdm at other end , there will be no need for looping unless there is a failure of a unit.
The P42's have added switch to change mode for P32acdm at other end . a Technician will ride and assure the units will be shut down, with the P42 killed before park avenue tunnel.