Water main "brake" @ State Street

Blue Line is being diverted due to substitute shuttle bus service between Government Center and Airport Stations due to a water main brake. 10/14/2009 9:33 PM

Guess it's a pretty big "brake" too... I hear it's raining hard in State Street Station.

Yea I just paged it on my news network. I am listening to it as we speak. Will update it.

Bussing from Govt' Ctr. to Airport?

Totally ridiculous. The Blue Line needs more crossovers so more of the line (like inbound to Aquarium) could be kept in service.

OT: The Red line needs similar treatment plus electrical work so Park St. can remain in service in the case of a mishap on or near the Longfellow Bridge.

The water was flowing down to Aquarium and a bit to Government Center, and even if they did have service the water if got high enough it would short out the 3rd rail. Hence the reason the East Boston Tunnel extension to Revere has overhead catenary, the MTA did not want have shut the line down everytime they had the threat of flooding.

Forget the third rail ... most traction motors cannot be operated if the water is any more than 1-3" higher than the railhead itself ... and even that, only at a walking speed. Most 3rd rails are mounted physically higher than the main rails are.

- litz

The current Blue Line rule is to shut down service if the water is over the running rail. The water gets into the gearbox and contaminates the oil. If I recall correctly, it's an eight hour repair for each truck.

While there was a x-over east of Aquarium a few years ago, it was a very dangerous location with a funky third rail setup. Glad it's gone.

litz wrote:Most 3rd rails are mounted physically higher than the main rails are.

The water level does not have to reach the actual rail to cause a short. Any exposed lead terminals, heating rods, feeding cables, etc. which are lower than the 3rd rail's web will also cause a short. With overhead infrastructure most of the "stuff" is suspended and has no need to go into the ground, therefore is not threatened by a flood.

The Collector at Court St wrote:If I recall correctly, it's an eight hour repair for each truck.

By whose standards... the 589???

LOL Don't forget about Local 600 too