Greenport Branch Track Work Effective February 26

It was discussed in the thread about Mattituck that ties are being dropped along the Greenport Branch in preparation for track work.

The schedule effective 2/26/06 shows that on weekdays, only the early AM Peak train from Greenport, the PM Peak train to Greenport, the late PM from Greenport, and the weird afternoon, Yaphank "turn" will run as trains.

The other weekday schedules will be "bustituted" through May 20, to allow for trackwork. 3 months should allow for some serious track work.

Last time there was a pre-scheduled bustitiution for track work, the late morning run out of Greenport missed making it's connection at KO on 2 of the 5 times I used it. Maybe they will have their act together this time.

Ken

This is off topic, but speaking of the Greenport branch when there are no passengers on board the train or no passengers waiting at a station, does the train still make the station stop? Since the line is so lightly used (especially off season), Do they just pass by if no one is riding on a scheduled train?

Thanx!

It still makes the stop.


From my experience railfanning at Yaphank, there has been times where no one got on or off, but the train still made the stop.

One time when railfanning there, the engineer neglected to blow the horn (or it wasn't working) at the grade crossing, just east of the station.

Thanx kussel.
But I wonder if the train stopped because they spotted you and thought you might be a potential passenger.

Even if the train is empty and there is no one on that platform the stop will still be made. The LIRR does not have "flag stops" if the timetable says we stop, we stop,period. Not to mention that the it is a very serious violation of the rules for a train to run ahead of it's schedule in single track manual block portions of the RR.

yeah bluebelly is right. We are not to "Flag" stations, except in unusual circumstances with permission. An example would be, during a service disruption, I was on one of the first eastbound trains out of Penn during the rush hour. The train was extremely overcrowded. As we approached woodside, there was a large crowd on the platform. I got permission to skip woodside, because if we had stooped there and opened the doors, the train would have been stuck there for some time as everyone tried to get on, and we would have had trouble getting the doors closed.

njgrptfan wrote:Thanx kussel.
But I wonder if the train stopped because they spotted you and thought you might be a potential passenger.

Just west of the station is an overpass (Yaphank Ave). There have been times where that's where I was. With eastbound trains, there's no way they could even see me, let alone think that I was a potential passenger.

Banks and railroads have the same regulatory obligation: if the time states the doors open or the train stops at 10am, the doors open or the train stops, whether or not there are customers visable or not, at 10am. Would you believe there are "spotters" or "agents" (or "spies") who might be around to report to authorities any irregularities of doors not opening on time, (or earlier than posted time) or trains not stopping. Not living up to the charter or what you said you would do or not do can come down with fines or revocations of rights. And there are competitors out there who would love to see that happen. So you do it "as advertised".

why do track work on the Greenport Branch its just a waste of time and effort.

AmtrakPhill629 wrote:why do track work on the Greenport Branch its just a waste of time and effort.

And what's your point?

My point is that I think the railroad should spend time and effort elsewhere.

AmtrakPhill629 wrote:My point is that I think the railroad should spend time and effort elsewhere.

Why? Have you ever ridden this line? Do you know the ridership potential? Is there any reason not to run this line verus any other line? LIRR is charged with providing rail passenger services to the Island and its communties. Why should it not provide quality service to one part or another? I don't understand your position.

Ive ridden that branch before and its not that many passengers that ride it and the people who were on the train camplained alot about the service.

AmtrakPhill629 wrote:Ive ridden that branch before and its not that many passengers that ride it and the people who were on the train camplained alot about the service.

Ok so because there are only a few passengers and they complain the RR should endanger them by not properly maintaining the infrastructure? Pardon my sarcasm but ,that would some press confrence after a derailment:

Newsday Is it true that the RR failed to properly maintain the tracks,thus causing the derailment?
LIRR Spokesman Yes that is correct, since ridership is light and those who do ride are whiners we don't care if they get hurt.In fact we encourage it.

Even if the branch carried one person that person is entitled to a safe trip so the tracks must me maintained. And don't forget about freight. NYAR has quite a few customers on the branch. No one wants to see a freight train go on the ground.

The LIRR in fact does an amazing job of providing servcies to all parts of the Island. Not everybody can have a train leaving or arriving at the exact time they need. And the closer to NYC the more frequent the service is, and should be, because of the increased number of people. But it should also be noted that the Island itself is limited: it cannot be "added on to" so to speak. So as population grows, development spreads, the LIRR has to be poised to provide new services. Maybe today Greenport is only good for one round trip commuter run to NYP, but as LI grows Eastward, the LIRR know it has to have a track and a train ready.
This growth continues. Just look at pictures in "Rails to the Sunrise". I compare them to what I knew in the 50's and to today. LI is still growing and developing.