CP 229 Fire

Saturday's signal house fire @ CP 229 will have a long term effect on service:

http://www.mta.info/news/2014/05/11/sat ... -10-minute" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If MNR normally operates with 3-1 on the Park Av Viaduct, why does it still need 3-1 in Greenwich? There's no Harlem, Hudson, or Harrison trains to worry about up there.

There's Amtrak trains up there, but I don't think that's a considerable amount of trains at rush hours.

I guess I can throw out my timetable, shame MNR can't get a break.

MN has all the luck of the Titanic's navigator these days.

I hope we find out what the cause of the fire was and whether or not this facility was protected by a gaseous fire suppression system. e.g a system that uses Halon gas to suppress fires. Most major corporations use such systems to protect their mission-critical sites such as data centers.

BenH wrote:I hope we find out what the cause of the fire was and whether or not this facility was protected by a gaseous fire suppression system. e.g a system that uses Halon gas to suppress fires. Most major corporations use such systems to protect their mission-critical sites such as data centers.

Cause of fire under investigation, 229 aka green is one of the oldest technology on the New Haven line and didn't have a fire suppression system installed. Most of the newer CIL's in NY have fire suppression installed. CDOT hasn't in the passed sprung the extra cost of such systems. Maybe this will change there minds.

The MTA put up some photos of the initial cleanup work this afternoon:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos ... 643738195/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/coscob.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Latest update from the MTA.

Would it make sense to install backup equipment at an adjacent CP just to take over in cause something happens to the primary CIL?

no it is just not that simple.
besides each switch has to be wired to this CIL with high current wiring.

The MTA has also posted this video of the damaged signal room on their YouTube channel:

"MTA Video Release: Metro-North Cos Cob Signal Room Fire Damage"
http://youtu.be/0TM9xDM0o1M
Metropolitan Transportation Authority/J.P. Chan
5/12/2014

It would be no small feat to have everything backed up at another CIL. You would essentially have to create a carbon copy of the CIL, which would mean running dozens of redundant cables a mile or more down the track for all the vital relays needed for the interlocking (that is no small number either). Also the switch machines run on 110 volts DC, so the voltage drop would be more than half after a mile with a normal sized switch cable, so you'd have to increase the size greatly to compensate for that. And if you're proposing to do this for every interlocking, some of them are several miles apart, so that only makes things worse. That is not even considering the limited space there is in these huts.

Word is it may take up to 18 months to fully replace all the damaged parts (they are custom made for each location) before the system is back to 100%.

What sort of relays were those on the racks that got burnt out. Aren't vital relays supposed to be all covered in glass?

Contrast with CP-4

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtaphotos ... 8485865565" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is this in the old SS 28/"Green" tower?

Ridgefielder wrote:Is this in the old SS 28/"Green" tower?

Yes. It is at CP 229. AKA "GREEN" AKA SS 28.