Unusual Explanation for Delay (Port Jervis line)

This morning my PJ express was late getting to Suffern and was sent down the mainline instead of the Bergen line. When we arrived at Secaucus the conductor got on the pa and apologized for the delay. He said the train had had to proceed at reduced speed because of "2 defective front shocks on the locomotive." I didn't know locomotives had shock absorbers, but perhaps the conductor was trying to translate the technical details into something the passengers could understand--or maybe locomotives actually do have shock absorbers.
Can anyone enlighten me about what might have happened?

yes locomotives have shock absorbers and on port jervis line it has stick rail so it gets to be a very rough ride.
if a bolt breaks or the shock leaks oil its a done deal reduce speed to were the enginner feels safe enough to not leave the rail, or fall from his seat.

The Port Jervis line still has some stick rail, but only on a couple of stretches. Most of it is CWR.

They have stick rail from MP 31.3 to just east of Harriman. In some spot they have welded rail on the outside of the curves but not all curves.It is also the same from Middletown ST. to CP Sparrow. Except from CP OV- to CP Howells they have welded rail on both the single and the CS.

In days of old--the days of the 5 minute engine change--they could have had a new engine ready at Suffern to swap for the one with the bad shocks.
I wonder why Amtrak, NJT and other passenger rail operators haven't bought equipment with the kind of couplers where all the connections are integrated with the coupler, presumably allowing much faster engine change, train makeup, etc. Is it an issue of cost? Is there an FRA rule that discourages it?

I'm not familiar with "Stick Rail." What is it?

JoeG there are no couplers in use anywere anymore that allow for high voltage connections like HEP.
only thing going trough the electric heads of automatic couplers is Battery voltage control systems.

Stick rail is the old clickety clack rail 35 foot long bolted together.
Welded rail is about 1500 or more feet long. so no low joints etc.

Dutch,
I don't think you're right about couplers. Transit cars have integrated couplers that seem to have power through them. What about the Acela couplers? They aren't standard, anyway.

Transit cars when coupled need the pantograph up on each car to provide traction power, the coupler only sends tru the control voltage.

Acela has no automatic couplers but standard AAR knuckle to be locomotive hauled in emergencies.
it has only the left side loop for HEP to feed a train from other locomotive.

The Acela is not even wired for MU operations other than two sets (only sets 10 and 13) for testing. the plug at bottom of schroud is test plug for when they are in the Acela maintenance buildings.
FRA forbids high voltage conections unless permanently coupled, like marrried pairs etc.

The type N-2 automatic couplers, as used on the Arrows, pass trainline functions between sets of cars. These functions include brakepipe, communication signals, PA, door signals, EP brakes. They do not and never have passed high voltage traction power. Each car or set of cars has its own pantograph and draws its own high voltage. This allows traction power and HEP.

The five minute engine change is a great idea. Now, exactly how many extra motors should NJT buy so there is always one available for such an emergency? How many extra crews should be held on duty to constantly man these emergency relief motors? Where should they be stationed for the quickest response? Who's going to pay for all of this?

DutchRailnut wrote:Transit cars when coupled need the pantograph up on each car to provide traction power, the coupler only sends tru the control voltage.

FRA forbids high voltage conections unless permanently coupled, like marrried pairs etc.

For example: MU married pairs have one pantograph, but the power connection to the unpantographed car is through a cable on the roof.

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TR-00--
I don't understand the reason for your sarcasm. At the time my late train came into Suffern, there were crews in the Suffern yard. There are engines there. I'm not advocating a 5 minute engine change as a regular procedure. I'm only saying that, if a quick engine change were possible, my situation this morning would have been a candidate, since there is an adjacent yard with engines and crews. In days of old, engine changes of 5 minutes or less were done in many places. Now they take longer. One reason for this (given by, among others, Sirsonic) is that current procedure requires that the HEP be turned off before the jumpers can be switched between the new and old engine. It would be nice if a safe way to avoid this could be developed. I thought integrated couplers might be a way.

Joe --

Having personally cut locomotives off of trains before, when the car inspectors were too lazy to venture out of the bunk room when I was in a hurry, I can say for a fact that a 5 minute engine change is not only possible, but could be done ever quicker. Shutting down the 480 requires pushing only one button in the cab of the locomotive. 6 cables must be unpulged from the locomotive, three on each side, and two valves closed. Thats all. All that takes about, maybe two minutes, if only one man is doing it. Then you cut off the engine, put the other one in, plug in the cables, open the valves, push a button to put the 480 up, and do a on and off brake test. Good to go.

We routinely change engines in 5-10 minutes in Hoboken, when we know in advance that it will need to be done. You need to have the replacement locomotive ready and in position, but aside from that, its a quick move.

Now, if they were to change the engine in Suffern, as you suggested, who would bring over the new engine? There are other crews on duty in Suffern, but they might already be on a train waiting to depart behind the express. Also, what locomotive would you use? If you take one off a train, how will that train make it in? Unfortunatly, because your train was still able to move, at a reduced speed, your train took the hit. A train was going to be delayed or cancelled because of this, no doubt as there are no spare locomotives laying around the railroad. Sorry.

Yeah, I've seen engine changes a lot in Hoboken. It is fun to watch.

In Hoboken sometimes, we get on a train, something is wrong with it, the crew tells us to get off and go to another track, another train pulls into that track, and the original crew and passengers depart on the replacement train. From that experience, I figured that there were spare trains and engines for when something broke down. I guess the amount of protect equipment available is very limited. It shouldn't surprise me, since my trains are often short of cars. I suppose that, since NJT is always short of capital, protect equipment is one thing that doesn't get bought.