Service suspended between STM and GCT

I forgot to post this earlier. I don't want to be mean here or anything, I'm glad the mbta up here runs diesels. If the mbta had extra diesels I'm sure they would be sent down by now. Unfortunately we have our own power crunch when it comes to locos. If anyone has to commute by train tomorrow, the best of luck to you, everyone else on the train and the train crew. It will be a long rush hour.

Mbta fan wrote:I forgot to post this earlier. I don't want to be mean here or anything, I'm glad the mbta up here runs diesels. If the mbta had extra diesels I'm sure they would be sent down by now. Unfortunately we have our own power crunch when it comes to locos. If anyone has to commute by train tomorrow, the best of luck to you, everyone else on the train and the train crew. It will be a long rush hour.

They aren't dual modes though so no chance they'd ever get used into GCT no matter how many times MNR used to run the FL-9s, etc. in diesel mode. Plus IIRC the F40s and Geeps are too tall for the Park Avenue Tunnel and the low bridges on the Harlem Line as well as the New Haven Line through Mt. Vernon.

Ok, I forgot about the park street tunnels. Sending coaches isn't an option either since that's a limited supply until the new rotems have no more problems. For the sake of metro north engineers and commuters I hope this temporary system set up by Con Ed holds up and they fix the feeder cable as soon as possible to get back to a normal schedule.

I see Amtrak is showing half the Acelas are cancelled for Monday (and presumably the rest of the week -MTA is saying regular service is planned to resume Tuesday Oct. 8th).

The Acelas that would operate through the affected zone during rush hour are cancelled. So I guess Metro-North will run electric trains during the rush hours and diesel the rest of the time while Amtrak will do the reverse.

The concern I have is this: The single feeder cable they were using had been tested to see if it could handle the whole load. It passed the test but when they tried it in actual service it failed. I hate to be pessimistic but it sounds to me like they are doing a variation of this. They're feeding power in from a residential grid. They tested it and it passed. What's going to happen after it's been in service for a few days? I'm afraid they're going to have more problems. I hope not but I really wonder.

Tommy Meehan wrote:The Acelas that would operate through the affected zone during rush hour are cancelled. So I guess Metro-North will run electric trains during the rush hours and diesel the rest of the time while Amtrak will do the reverse.

I think the plan for off-peak is to run MU's from New Haven through to Grand Central and push-pulls local from Stamford to Grand Central. It would only take an MU train 8 minutes to clear through the affected area, so at one train an hour in each direction that leaves 44 open minutes each hour for an Acela to sneak through.

Tommy Meehan wrote:The concern I have is this: The single feeder cable they were using had been tested to see if it could handle the whole load. It passed the test but when they tried it in actual service it failed. I hate to be pessimistic but it sounds to me like they are doing a variation of this. They're feeding power in from a residential grid. They tested it and it passed. What's going to happen after it's been in service for a few days? I'm afraid they're going to have more problems. I hope not but I really wonder.

From what I understand, the original single feeder cable didn't really fail due to the increased pressure, it failed when it was slashed open by a backhoe. So as long as this temporary feed doesn't get worked over by a sloppy set of ConEd crews, it should stay working (hopefully!).

Tommy Meehan wrote:There's also new information coming out as to how exactly the failure occurred. Before taking one of two main feeder lines out of service, Metro-North reportedly ran extra trains through the affected section to test if the single feeder cable could carry the load.

However the power failure may've been a result of that lone cable failing after all.

Though it may take officials weeks to determine the cause, it appears the 138,000 volt line that was left to bear the burden of energizing trains along an eight-mile stretch of track in Westchester County, N.Y. from Pelham to Rye became overwhelmed and superheated.

Here's a link to a Stamford Advocate news story.
..

I saw that comment here, that a backhoe struck the cable but neither the media, Con Ed or Metro-North has said that. How far down could a backhoe reach? Would the cable be unprotected? Hitting a 137kV cable with a metal object, wouldn't that cause a major electrical arc? This Con Ed photo seems to show the cable is located in a utility conduit pretty far below the surface.

The cable failed next to the train station in Mount Vernon, New York, on Sept. 25. It had an oil leak, the cause of which is under investigation, said Allan Drury, a Con Edison spokesman. Link

Edited to add - Maybe not clear, but the photo below was posted by Con Ed on their Twitter account. It is supposed to show workers accessing the site of the cable breakage in Mt. Vernon.

Heard someone broke down in "the restricted area" this morning, was it electricity related or just a crap-out?

MNR is also limiting trains to 50% power from change over to CP 223, mechanical department is marking the midpoint on the MC of NHL EMUs, is the same being done to Amtrak electrics?

Associated Press -- NY: In Rough Year, NYC-Area Rail Has High On-Time Rate

The nation's second-busiest commuter railroad has had a rocky ride this year as a collision, a freight-train derailment and now a power problem disrupted the Metro-North Railroad, spurring commuters and officials to paint it as trouble-plagued.

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/1118 ... -time-rate" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mbta fan wrote:Ok, I forgot about the park street tunnels. Sending coaches isn't an option either since that's a limited supply until the new rotems have no more problems. For the sake of metro north engineers and commuters I hope this temporary system set up by Con Ed holds up and they fix the feeder cable as soon as possible to get back to a normal schedule.

Thing is, the trucks and steps on MBTA rolling stock might not clear the under-running third rail in the ex-New York Central electrified territory leading into GCT. I know this is an issue with even Shore Line East equipment.

Anybody know if it's been predominately M2/M4/M6's today or has it been a mix of both those and M8's?

Cant imagine MN is really gonna pick and choose, i think theyd send out whatever they have. That being said, the M2/4/6 have less of a chance of popping the frankensubstation then the M8s.

CTRailfan wrote:

Overtime wrote:I went to the Harrison Station on Saturday to get some pictures of the electrical work being done, you can view my pictures at http://snapshot.phanfare.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . I took a lot of pictures and basically just uploaded all of them. You will find pictures of Con Ed workers, MTA workers and pictures of both Metro North and Amtrak trains at the station

Fantastic pictures! What are the three 100kW transformers for? Now for bets on how long until they blow up/ melt/ trip out the frankensubstation? Hopefully the schedule shows pretty clearly what's Maxi's and what's EMU's, I'll aim for a Maxi tomorrow when I'm headed to JFK...

I assume you are referring to the three pole top transformers? Each is a single phase, so there are three, one each for the three phases. These are likely to provide lower voltage for operation of systems other than traction power.

The portable substation has circuit breakers evident in a number of the photos. So long as the protection system relays are properly set, the station should trip prior to any damage from an overload or fault.

beanbag wrote:Cant imagine MN is really gonna pick and choose, i think theyd send out whatever they have. That being said, the M2/4/6 have less of a chance of popping the frankensubstation then the M8s.

Actually, I would imagine they would pick and choose if the Cosmopolitans really do draw less power than the newer M8's. But I haven't been out standing beside the New Haven Line this morning so I can't say for sure.

lirr42 wrote:

beanbag wrote:Cant imagine MN is really gonna pick and choose, i think theyd send out whatever they have. That being said, the M2/4/6 have less of a chance of popping the frankensubstation then the M8s.

Actually, I would imagine they would pick and choose if the Cosmopolitans really do draw less power than the newer M8's. But I haven't been out standing beside the New Haven Line this morning so I can't say for sure.

How many of the M2s/4s/6s are even left? Is it even enough to handle a full plate of service on the NHL? If not, they kind of put themselves in a bind on this one,

lirr42 wrote:Anybody know if it's been predominately M2/M4/M6's today or has it been a mix of both those and M8's?

The 7:25 out of NHV was M-8's, it came in from the new yard south/west of the station. The yard across from the platforms was crammed chock full of M-2/4/6 sets. The little maintenance building, everything. Even some (10 or 11 cars) just chilling on a platform not going anywhere soon. Either it's always crammed that way at the end of the day, or they moved some stuff up to NHV to clear out some room at STM for the Maxis. I couldn't really see the new M-8 yard. We had a 10-car train, they kept telling people to move back because there were seats in the last two cars that don't platform.

Ridgefielder wrote:

Mbta fan wrote:Ok, I forgot about the park street tunnels. Sending coaches isn't an option either since that's a limited supply until the new rotems have no more problems. For the sake of metro north engineers and commuters I hope this temporary system set up by Con Ed holds up and they fix the feeder cable as soon as possible to get back to a normal schedule.

Thing is, the trucks and steps on MBTA rolling stock might not clear the under-running third rail in the ex-New York Central electrified territory leading into GCT. I know this is an issue with even Shore Line East equipment.

Likely. The NJT stuff would clear. SLE or MBTA would be helpful for the Danbury and Waterbury. MN has a lot more diesel gear that they could be using for STM-GCT.

All the midday trains could be Maxi's in order to let Amtrak have some electric slots...

The 7:25 out of NHV was running within 5-10 minutes of schedule. We did between 20 and 40 through the temporary power section, it felt like an overloaded diesel accelerating, so they definitely were being careful with power draw. We were real nervous for a second when the power dropped out, but it came back on a few carlengths later, so it must have just been a normal section of dead wire. We saw a bunch of Maxis and an Amtrak set being towed with P42's, as well as the Danbury Mini.

The schedule really sucks, but from what we saw, they are doing a good job executing what's on the schedule.

Actually, I would imagine they would pick and choose if the Cosmopolitans really do draw less power than the newer M8's. But I haven't been out standing beside the New Haven Line this morning so I can't say for sure.

I thought the same thing... until an M-8 train pulled up.

How many of the M2s/4s/6s are even left?

A decent number of them judging by how crammed the New Haven yard is. They were fit in like a puzzle.