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Employees are fungible, deal with it. I have to say that this is definitely NOT the case. Employees are fungible exactly the same way that you can use a screwdriver as a hammer. The job might get done, but the probability of success is low, the quality will be poor, and you are likely to wind up wi...

While I support the use of wayside speed restriction signs, it is still the duty of the engineer to know where all speed changes happen and I doubt displaying such signs will do anything to avoid what happened in the Bronx. While I agree that more is needed than just posting signs [e.g. physical sy...

Definitely left GCT on the 5:53 to Poughkeepsie today running on diesel.
Head end car is full of exhaust fumes and engine roar...

So then it is totally possible for all you know that MNR has an effective plan in place during testing and maintaining of such equipment so as not to cause failures as we had Thursday. So it might not be management to fault rather just an employee who didn't follow procedure for the outage. Further...

IF lirr42's blog is correct,a contractor "screw-up" created the MN's "nightmare" shutdown that day. For a forgotten wire connection not checked BEFORE the change over to the alt power source, you wind up with a total system failure. :( Right -- this is a typical failure case whe...

...But this was an IT failure, and as an IT pro, with 25 years experience running mission-critical systems, I can state with full confidence that this is my territory . And based upon that experience I can tell you that the fact that the computers went down at all is a major failure on the part of ...

All end door cars just finished a mid life overhaul about two years ago. The Centerdoor cars have not been overhauled yet. I had noticed that -- end-door cars are mostly better (with a few exceptions). There's a few cab cars too which are kind of nasty. The end door cars came back like new, but hey...

Anyone know if there is a plan to give these cars any interior renovation?

Many are starting to get rather nasty, with dirt on the floors which cannot be removed, smells which don't go away, and passenger-area-to-vestibule doors which don't stay closed...

Josh

MNR has plenty of plans for extended signal outage, but it was quicker to fix problem downtown then to setup trains for signal outage. MNR implemented such a plan shortly after hurricane Irene destroyed tracks and signaling equipment. No argument with that - but it is not what I am talking about. I...

If they indeed did not have a backup power supply for the OCC, that is absolutely a management failure, and heads should roll at 347 Madison. From the latest info it appears that they do in fact have dual redundant power supplies, but that due to human error (either yesterday or at installation tim...

LoHud.com: The MTA, Metro-North’s parent agency, said in the press release that the computers that run the railroad’s signal system lost reliable power at 7:45 p.m. when one of two main power supply units was taken out of service for replacement. The technicians didn’t realize that a wire was discon...

To refocus: MTA's press release reads as follows: At 7:45 p.m. power to the computer system that controls all Metro-North train movements was interrupted. Rail traffic controllers took the immediate safe course of action and instructed all train engineers, via radio, to bring their trains to a stop ...

The main purpose of the loop is to yard trains. Inbound trains come into GCT, unload at the passenger loop tracks (38-42), then go around the loop into the yard. The opposite happens to take trains out of the yard. So, trains are looped from tracks 38-42 over to tracks 1-3. Do they just hang out th...

All of the commuter organizations would be better off if they selected their senior officers from the ranks of fine people involved in operations rather than going the more or less political route that they have followed. While I agree that it is helpful to have a leader who is steeped in the tea o...

See, it's posts like these that make us railfans have to practically beg for people not to jump down our throats for asking a simple question. Unfortunately some people can't accept the answer to the simplest of questions no matter what the answer is. Look, I am not trying to be a pain. It's just t...