Hurricane Sandy

Jeff Smith wrote:^One minor quibble; Wassaic is not a branch.

This irks me as well... and it was never referred to as a "branch" back when the line ended at Dover Plains. Sure, it might be similar to the New Haven Line branches, in terms of the fact there are a few direct trains in peak direction each day, and shuttle service at all other times... but it's a continuation of the Harlem Line; it doesn't diverge like the NHL branches. And you don't see MNR referring to territory north of Croton-Harmon as the "Poughkeepsie Branch."

I wonder if the term "Wassaic Branch" was brought about by someone from LIRR. That seems to be more of an LIRR-style naming than an MNR name.

Well on the Harlem Line public timetables, the Southeast-Wassaic services are segregated off on the side from the GCT-Southeast Service. On the contrary, Croton-Harmon to Pougkipse is included in the main timetable with the GCT-Croton Harmon service. Thus it gets the "Upper Hudson" designation (also the "Upper Harlem" designation is already taken by NWP->Southeast segment, so maybe they had nothing else to call it)

I just looked at the MTA website, and they're now saying they'll be running regularly scheduled service between Poughkeepsie and NYC.

Holy Jesus! Three days ago all 3 lines looked like a cyclone hit 'em, and now they're running trains on 'em as if nothing had ever happened!

It sounds more like something out of Harry Potter (I'm thinking of the scene in book 6 where Dumbledore and Harry track down Slughorn.) Especially the washouts on the Upper Hudson line, and the salt-water bath that the electrical equipment (and some rolling stock) got.

Granted, they weren't hit as bad as, say, the North Jersey Coast line, but it still must have been a h*** of a lot of work to get everything back to a safe condition to operate electric trains on at full speed.

http://www.mta.info/

^Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that full train service will resume Saturday morning on MTA Metro-North Railroad’s Upper Hudson Line from Croton-Harmon to Poughkeepsie completing the restoration of all main lines east of the Hudson.Replacement of flood-damaged electrical switch components continued Friday afternoon as railroad forces prepared for a regular weekend train schedule on the Upper Hudson Line, which carries 8,500 customers each weekday.With the restoration of service on this 41-mile section of track Metro-North is now providing service to 95% of all its customers.

and....

Regular Train Service Restored on Hudson, Harlem, New Haven Lines Starting Tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 3)With the re-establishment of Hudson Line service from Croton-Harmon to Poughkeepsie, Metro-North will resume operating regular train service on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines starting tomorrow (Saturday, November 3):

On the Hudson Line, regularly scheduled service will be restored between Poughkeepsie and Croton-Harmon/Grand Central Terminal. See a Hudson Line Timetable or Metro-North TripPlanner (Schedules) for details.

On the Harlem Line, regularly scheduled service continues between Southeast and Grand Central Terminal.

See a Harlem Line Timetable or Metro-North TripPlanner (Schedules) for details.

On the New Haven Line, regularly scheduled service continues between New Haven/Stamford and Grand Central Terminal.

See a New Haven Line Timetable or Metro-North TripPlanner (Schedules) for details.

Wassaic Branch service on the Harlem Line and New Canaan, Danbury & Waterbury Branch service on the New Haven Line remains suspended until further notice.

West-of-Hudson service remains suspended until further notice as NJ Transit continues recovery efforts.

Pascack Valley Line Customers: Transport of Rockland will provide additional TAPPAN ZEExpress bus service from the Palisades Center Mall park & ride lot to Tarrytown Station. See www.rocklandbus.com for schedule information.

Monthly and weekly tickets from Spring Valley, Nanuet and Pearl River stations will be honored on Hudson Line trains from/to Tarrytown Station.

Port Jervis Line Customers: Monthly and weekly tickets will be honored on Upper Hudson Line trains.

Customers should expect some delays. Continue to check www.mta.info, listen to news media reports, and listen for announcements at stations and onboard trains.

For the latest information on subway and bus service see http://www.mta.info/status/1 .

on Danbury from a credible source;
Still major damage on the Danbury branch. Don't know if it will be back for Monday. Decade old catenary poles (I'll explain it another time) fell over and have to be removed by crane. Monday is still a possibility but not a definite.

Those poles were left there in case they ever decided to restring from the NH era, right? Or do they still hold communications? I can't remember. In any case, maybe you ought to dust off your Beacon quals, right Dutch?

they hold a fiber optic cable for a communications carrier, they can never ever hold catenay again since all guy wires were removed.
Each Catenay pole use to have a minimum of two but most had 3 guy rods to ground ancors, as bases were not deep enough for catenay support.
the poles are ok but the bases are crumbling.

RE:Hudson Line

I just read the good news about the Hudson line at the mta.info site WOW! actualy I was somewhat surprised when I had learned that svc. would resume from Croton-Harmon south considering that earlier in the week the tracks were underwater - maybe the MOW crew used one of the jet powered track de-icers to dry everything out?

I downloaded the Sandy svc. update map - I see that the upper Harlem line is still out - I figure must have been a major washout caused by the 10 Mile River (the waterway not the station - but the station was most likely flooded by said river) - that river and the area near it are prone to flooding

there was no mention of Amtrak - will have to go to Amtrak forum to check on status

PS:
just a sugestion Mr. moderator but this thread should at this point be renamed "Sandy Recovery"

http://www.mta.info/mnr/

^MTA Metro-North Railroad, which resumed full service on all three of its main lines today, will resume service on its branch lines east of the Hudson River on Monday morning. The New Canaan Branch in Connecticut, which still has severe tree damage to overhead catenary wires, will be served by buses connecting to train service.

MTA Metro-North Railroad, which resumed full service on all three of its main lines today, will resume service on its branch lines east of the Hudson River on Monday morning. The New Canaan Branch in Connecticut, which still has severe tree damage to overhead catenary wires, will be served by buses connecting to train service.MTA Long Island Rail Road will operate a modified schedule on all branches except the Long Beach branch. Trains on the Ronkonkoma Branch will not operate east of Ronkonkoma, and trains on the Montauk Branch will not operate east of Speonk. With two East River tunnels operated by Amtrak into Penn Station out of service due to flooding, train service must operate at reduced levels.Customers are advised to travel in off-peak hours since trains are expected to be crowded. Modified schedules will be posted on the mta.info website. Customers are advised to check the website to plan their travel.

Metro-North RailroadStarting Monday morning (Nov. 5), service will resume on Metro-North Railroad’s branch lines, the last remaining portions of the railroad’s East of Hudson service still not operating.

Beginning on Monday, November 5:

On the Harlem Line, train service will resume on the Wassaic Branch. Regularly scheduled service is in effect between Southeast and Grand Central Terminal. See a Harlem Line Timetable or Metro-North TripPlanner (Schedules) for details.

On the New Haven Line, train service will resume on the Danbury and Waterbury Branches. The New Canaan Branch will have bus service in effect, with buses leaving stations 20 minutes before the scheduled train time. Regularly scheduled service is in effect between New Haven/Stamford and Grand Central Terminal. See a New Haven Line Timetable or Metro-North TripPlanner (Schedules) for details.

To summarize and add to what Mr. Smith said:

Wassaic Branch (err-I mean the desiel portion of the Harlem Line between Southeast and Wassiac and not really a branch): regular service will be restored on a Weekday schedule on Monday.

Danbury Branch: Normal service on a weekday schedule restored on Monday

Waterbury Branch: Normal service on a weekday schedule restored on Monday

New Canaan Branch: Substitute bus service replaces trains between Stamford and New Canaan, with busses leaving stations 20 minutes before train departure times.


Port Jervis Line: NJT is "working hard" to restore limited peak-direction service to Secaucus. Metro-North will then supplement mid-day and off-peak service with buses to some undisclosed location. Monthly and weekly tickets will be honored on the Hudson Line.

Pascack Valley Line: Transport of Rockland will provide additional TAPPAN ZEExpress bus service from the Palisades Center Mall park & ride lot to Tarrytown Station. Monthly and weekly Pascack Valley train tickets will be honored for bus service as well as on Hudson Line trains at Tarrytown.

Yeah, that post was a mess, thanks for clarifying. Now, if only we can figure out what to call Wassaic. As far as I know, it's always just been part of the Upper Hudson, even though it runs shuttle service and through service. Perhaps that's because of the legacy of through service to Chatham.

Now, if only we can get the "Hopewell Junction Branch" or "Lake Mahopac Branch" or "Carmel Branch" or "Danbury Fair Branch" or "Ridgefield Branchlet". mandatory railroad.net wink.

its all part of Harlem line, there are only 3 Branches on MNCR, The New Canaan branch- Danbury Branch - Waterbury Branch.
There are 4 lines, Hudson line - Harlem line - New Haven line and Beacon line.
now retract your Hudson part ...

Oops! Harlem...

Notice I don't abuse my admin powers to correct my post.

DutchRailnut wrote:its all part of Harlem line, there are only 3 Branches on MNCR, The New Canaan branch- Danbury Branch - Waterbury Branch.
There are 4 lines, Hudson line - Harlem line - New Haven line and Beacon line.
now retract your Hudson part ...

Do the Port Jervis Line and/or the Pascack Valley Line figure into that count at any stage? Or are they just NJTransit Lines that stray into NY so we'll call 'em Metro-North to confuse people?

The WofH service is hardly ever mentioned by MNCR forces as its essentially operated by NJT despite them being MNCR lines in New York.