Blizzard comes from nowhere 10/29/11, Possible disruptions?

Service is wiped out here by the Gladstone Branch, time to bring out the diesels!

Does anyone know what the issue is that service on M&E is suspended - are there wires down? I realize I'm dating myself but in the "old" days EL/Lackawanna would have just kept trains running around the clock (either a couple of the old green electric sets or a couple of geeps shuttling back and forth). Growing up along the Morristown line I don't remember any instances of my father being unable to commute to the city because the trains weren't running and I recall only one total "we're closed" in my years of daily ridership 1985-2001. It just seems like NJT is becoming much more willing to throw in the towel at the sign of trouble rendering "take mass transit" an unreliable choice or alternative. There are times (Irene for example) when it makes sense but it's a slippery slope.

I imagine the M&E is not running because of signal outages related to power problems, coupled with a few fallen trees on the ROW. Much of Essex and Morris counties are without power right now and this might affect the signals, and its trees along the ROW that make those classic commuter towns on the stretch South Orange-Morristown so picturesque.

the M&E is out because of trees and wires down/ across the tracks

RS115 wrote:Does anyone know what the issue is that service on M&E is suspended - are there wires down? I realize I'm dating myself but in the "old" days EL/Lackawanna would have just kept trains running around the clock (either a couple of the old green electric sets or a couple of geeps shuttling back and forth). Growing up along the Morristown line I don't remember any instances of my father being unable to commute to the city because the trains weren't running and I recall only one total "we're closed" in my years of daily ridership 1985-2001. It just seems like NJT is becoming much more willing to throw in the towel at the sign of trouble rendering "take mass transit" an unreliable choice or alternative. There are times (Irene for example) when it makes sense but it's a slippery slope.

Wouldn't it be great if people could check NJT's website for the information that's there instead of posting here first?

I love how people can draw comparison to "the old days" and complain about decisions made in today's environment. It's particularly nice when you say that shutting down a rail line is warranted sometimes and give NJT credit but then whine and moan about this storm even though you have admitted to having absolutely no knowledge about why the decision was made. Oh well, thanks for coming in!

And just a heads up so no one has to ask about it here. As reported on the website, Service on the M&E, Gladstone Branch, and M-B line will remain suspended tomorrow (10/31) unless otherwise noted.

RS115 wrote:Does anyone know what the issue is that service on M&E is suspended - are there wires down? I realize I'm dating myself but in the "old" days EL/Lackawanna would have just kept trains running around the clock (either a couple of the old green electric sets or a couple of geeps shuttling back and forth). Growing up along the Morristown line I don't remember any instances of my father being unable to commute to the city because the trains weren't running and I recall only one total "we're closed" in my years of daily ridership 1985-2001. It just seems like NJT is becoming much more willing to throw in the towel at the sign of trouble rendering "take mass transit" an unreliable choice or alternative. There are times (Irene for example) when it makes sense but it's a slippery slope.

FWIW, as of late afternoon Sunday, there is a train consist (ALP 46/ML) parked at Denville (west of the interlocking, out by the lakes) that's been there since mid day Saturday. I don't think that was part of any "we're closed" plans; seems like things were still running when problems occurred. Also, Denville station has no power (no TVM, no PA, etc.).

I've been out of power since 1:00 or so saturday afternoon, due to storm, (and so I haven't been able to log on, using someone else's computer)and take it from a tree guy, this is/was BAD. Damage to trees was really bad. Now all things considered, the railroad seems to have fared pretty good from this. But anyone who says this isn't that bad hasn't seen the devestation that I've seen (and worked on) personally. (no offense intended to anyone) I'm actually surprised that the railroad fared so well, because this storm was WORSE than predicted. And the sound of the trees popping and snapping was like gunshots, very eerie. Anyway I guess NJT fared well, but this was bad.

airman00 wrote:I've been out of power since 1:00 or so saturday afternoon, due to storm, (and so I haven't been able to log on, using someone else's computer)and take it from a tree guy, this is/was BAD. Damage to trees was really bad.

That's what happens when you have snow falling extremely early and when the trees still have leaves on them for the most part. If this had happened about a month later this wouldn't have been a problem, but because of the leaves being on the trees it added extra weight which bought down branches which fell onto power lines and whatnot. A similar situation happened in Buffalo back in 2006 except in their case the snow came on Friday the 13th in October of that year. I'd expect it could take up to a week if not more to restore power to affected areas and in some cases even restore transportation completely.

Granted for those in the affected area ( if they can get out of their houses that is ), well they probably aren't thinking of whether rail service has resumed yet. They're probably thinking about cleaning up the mess left in the wake of the early season snowfall. The storm was as predicted, here on Long Island it was for the most part rain, although supposedly some parts received 2-5 inches of snow ( most of which probably melted on contact or was washed away by rain ). The expectation was that there were going to be widespread power outages, and travel impacts, and that the snow would melt rather quickly.

Yes, lots of "disruptions" all over Morris, Essex lines!! Nothing is running.

To those whining about the service disruption, you should realize how affected these towns are. I got a phone call from my parents in Maplewood saying that power is still out throughout the entire town, most streets are blocked off, and people don't gas for heat. My parents are fortunate enough to have invested in a generator before Irene, keeping the sump pump that keeps our basement unflooded up and keeping power for lights, an electric space heater, and the fridge, but most are not so fortunate. Many of their friends are sleeping over at our house tonight in order to not freeze overnight. It is no wonder service is still out on the train line.

It was pretty bad in the Bucks County area of PA. We had alot of snow and ice and my whole town of Yardley was without power and finally came back yesterday afternoon. On I95 they had a couple of real bad accidents with 1 accident involving 30 cars with 2 people dead. I think this storm was WORST then what was predicted. If NJT has no service on the M&E then Im not surprised. Surprisingly Septa had no issues and continued running. Amtrak had signal issues all day between NYP and Hunter which is really becoming an almost daily occurence so Im not sure we can blame the weather on that. The NEC was fine other then that. The HBG was out after train 42 hit a tree(with significant damage to the front of the P42) near Elizabethtown and ended up ripping lots of wires down. I imagine that service will probably start later today or tomorrow.

cruiser939 wrote:Wouldn't it be great if people could check NJT's website for the information that's there instead of posting here first?

I love how people can draw comparison to "the old days" and complain about decisions made in today's environment. It's particularly nice when you say that shutting down a rail line is warranted sometimes and give NJT credit but then whine and moan about this storm even though you have admitted to having absolutely no knowledge about why the decision was made. Oh well, thanks for coming in!

But that's the fun of it! And, if no one posted here, where would I rule?

As a member, not admin, I will say that the title is somewhat over the top. A bolt of lightning on a clear day would come from nowhere; a winter storm (early as it is) which is hyped ad nauseum by The Weather Channel does not.

I also rue the operational criticisms. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

Amtrak67 of America wrote:Amtrak had signal issues all day between NYP and Hunter which is really becoming an almost daily occurence so Im not sure we can blame the weather on that.,,.

A tree down at Cliff took down the signal line. ET repaired and service resumed.

OportRailfan wrote:

Amtrak67 of America wrote:Amtrak had signal issues all day between NYP and Hunter which is really becoming an almost daily occurence so Im not sure we can blame the weather on that.,,.

A tree down at Cliff took down the signal line. ET repaired and service resumed.

Yes but it was out for quite a few hours. Those disruptions lasted thru most of the night til at least 8pm. I dont know of any trees along the ROW in the Cliff vicinity but this is an occurence thats increasing in frequency along this stretch. Its almost every other day a signal cable is cut or power is lost in the Elmora to NYP stretch. Thank goodness the HBG is usually pretty quiet although trees are a major issue on that line. At least the signals work