Third Rail Halts OB Branch

I was watching new 12 and it said that OB was shut down due to power failure of the third rail around Glenn St.

My question is if OB has DE/DMs why did it have to be shut down, is there morew to this that the news is not reporting because they either do not know or do not care?

Something doesn't sound right because there is no third rail up there. The third rail only extends Eastwards about 1000 feet from Hillside Ave. crossing in East Williston.

There was a transformer fire and a wire down across the tracks at Glen Street. The Railroad had to find a manager who could find the place.

I suppose News12 got the story a bit mixed up.

Clem

Third rail . . . .

Wire down . . . . .

It's all the same electricity to the media.

Dave Keller

Clemuel wrote:There was a transformer fire and a wire down across the tracks at Glen Street. The Railroad had to find a manager who could find the place.

I suppose News12 got the story a bit mixed up.

Clem

So that explains why I saw an LI Bus marked LIRR service heading up Glen Cove road yesterday afternoon. Also up in Glen Cove I noticed the gates going down when there was no train at Glen street. Probably because of the loss of power.
There was quite a large gang of track workers at the crossing gate box just east of Glen street fixing the problem.

Thanks, I kinda figured the news had the info wrong.

One more question, if lets say the power goes out on the signals anywhere in the system, can the MTA monitor the trains via Jamaica and communicate to each train individually. I know it would be a headache, and slow orders would be given, but just curious.

I'd imagine restricted speed would be a big factor in a lot of areas.

do you mean just signal falure or eletric falure, full loss of power means no eletrics will roll, but if just the signals crap out, i beleive that slow orders would be given and and maby a and k cards, it would have to be ran manually till everything gets up and running.

In most places, nobody can monitor the locations of the trains except by knowing the time they are OS (pass) at each tower. Some towers have track indicators on their model boards that who a good part of the railroad. For example, Lead and Valley can see the occupancy of each track circuit on the Long Beach Branch.

Only the Port Washington Branch, which is controlled by a Train Dispatcher in Jamaica can be monitored at Jamaica from beginning to end. Even then, the track circuit indications can be a mile long, so the exact locations aren't too specific.

Of course, in manual block areas there are no signals so nobody knows the whereabout of those trains unless they are observed passing a tower or report clear at a Block Limit.

In DC territory a failure of signal power will also cause all track circuits to indicate occupied, so the towers woun't be able to see anything anyway.

CLem

Don't train crews have the ability to contact the tower operators? Very often, my WH train would get a stop signal before Valley interlocking and the conductor would get on the radio with someone that seemed to be in the tower.

Yes, LI, if their radio is working or if there is a right of way block phone (should be at every signal) the train crew can contact the tower or the Movemebt Bureau (train dispatcher) in Jamaica.

Clem

On the above subject of news media coverage of railroad incidents; it is amazing to me how they can't get the most basic facts straight. Today's young journalists are supposedly bright, well educated people. Well.........on almost every incident where a train hits a car or person on the track, they report that "the conductor was not able to stop the train in time to avoid the accident". Now, I'm not even a college grad, but I've known since I was a little kid that the engineer operates the train and the conductor collects tickets, etc. So ya' have to wonder why the media people can't get those simple facts straight...............

You might notice lately in our country fewer and fewer people in any trade get things right...

It's just one more indication of a declining social society and work ethic.

Clem

Clemuel wrote:You might notice lately in our country fewer and fewer people in any trade get things right...

It's just one more indication of a declining social society and work ethic.

Clem

Seems like people from this generation want instant gratification, and instand results. No body seems patient anymore. Parents don't spend time with their kids raising them anymore, they just dump them infront of a TV or put a PS2 controller in their hand instead of playing with them and taking them to interesting places. People in jobs don't seem to take responsiblility anymore and don't seem to have pride in what they do. It's sad to see this happening. The important thing will be though, for the few of us who still are responsible to keep ourselves at that level of responsibility and maturity.