mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) (02/18/86)
Richard Snell asks: >1. Does Amtrak share tracks with freights? Outside of the NE Corridor, yes. The electrified section of the Corridor has parallel freight trackage. >2. Do American freights run on schedules? Some do and some don't. >3. Are there shut off levers (as on many (ALL?) subway systems) which throw > the break on immediately if a train runs a red light? (Otherwise, with > should the engineer have a heart attack, for instance, > the train would just keep rolling). The press is not yet indicating > whether such a system was in place on the freight, but it appears the > engineer was alone at the time of the accident. Such devices exist, but I'm not sure about how widespread is their usage. C. Wingate
jis1@mtgzz.UUCP (j.mukerji) (02/19/86)
> Richard Snell asks: > > >1. Does Amtrak share tracks with freights? > > Outside of the NE Corridor, yes. The electrified section of the Corridor > has parallel freight trackage. > Actually, on most of the New York - Washington DC section, Amtrak does share its own track with freight trains. For example Conrail runs upto 6 freight trains a day between Oak Island NJ and Enola PA (OIENs) over Amtrak tracks between Harrison NJ and Trenton NJ. Similarly, Conrail freight uses Amtrak tracks between Havre-de-Grace MD and Landover MD (just outside Washington DC). There also is some freight traffic on Amtrak between Philadelphia PA and Wilmington Del. > >3. Are there shut off levers (as on many (ALL?) subway systems) which throw > > the break on immediately if a train runs a red light? (Otherwise, with > > should the engineer have a heart attack, for instance, > > the train would just keep rolling). The press is not yet indicating > > whether such a system was in place on the freight, but it appears the > > engineer was alone at the time of the accident. > > Such devices exist, but I'm not sure about how widespread is their usage. On the North-East Corridor, where cab signalling is extensively used, if a train enters a section that is more restrictive and the driver does not take adequate corrective measure within a short time (few seconds) the train comes to a dead stop on its own. The driver cannot intervene once the auoto-stop mechanism has been triggered. S/He can reset the mechanism only after the train has come to a standstill and then proceed. There is a dramatic illustration of this feature in one of the Metroliner Videos that I saw sometime back. Apparently the train passed into a section where it was supposed to slow down to 50mph from the 120mph that it was doing, and the driver failed to do so fast enough, and indeed, the train came to a complete standstill, the controller immediately called up the driver over radio and asked him what had happened, and the driver explained that he had tripped the governer (speed governer?) and that he wuould be out of the way very soon. Jishnu Mukerji
ron@brl-smoke.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (02/27/86)
> Actually, on most of the New York - Washington DC section, Amtrak does share > its own track with freight trains. For example Conrail runs upto 6 freight > trains a day between Oak Island NJ and Enola PA (OIENs) over Amtrak tracks > between Harrison NJ and Trenton NJ. Similarly, Conrail freight uses Amtrak > tracks between Havre-de-Grace MD and Landover MD (just outside Washington > DC). There also is some freight traffic on Amtrak between Philadelphia PA > and Wilmington Del. I think you will find that the Maryland section actually has three tracks. Two which run the passenger trains. In addition, there is a nearly parallel Chessie line from the Susquehanna to the other side of Baltimore. -Ron
jis1@mtgzz.UUCP (j.mukerji) (03/04/86)
> I think you will find that the Maryland section actually has three tracks. > Two which run the passenger trains. In addition, there is a nearly > parallel Chessie line from the Susquehanna to the other side of Baltimore. Yes there are three tracks through most of MD. Two of those tracks are maintained for 120mph and one at 110mph. Naturally the tracks of choice for the passenger trains are the 120mph tracks, but in normal operations both freight and passenger any of the three tracks as convenient. Conrail runs several freights every day, to the Potomac yard from Havre-de-Grace over this Amtrak trackage. If you ever go to the New Carrolton MD station you will notice that the tracks that run next to the platform has a peculiar feature for handling freight trains, which have a wider loading gauge than the passenger trains. Those tracks consist of a pair of gauntleted tracks. The inner track is used by passenger trains, so that there doors come close to the platform when they stop at that station. The outer pair is used by freights to ensure that they do not swipe away half the platform with them when they pass by. There was a very nice article on the operations on the NE Corridor between New York and Washington DC in one of the issues of Trains Magazine (which issue I forget) last year. If any of you are interested in that subject, the article is highly recommended. Jishnu
mc68020@gilbbs.UUCP (Tom Keller) (03/07/86)
I see several references in articles concerned with the rail corridor through
Maryland referring to "AMTRAK owned trackage". I hate to pick nits (but then,
if you'll believe that, I have a few railroad trestles I'd like to sell (-:),
but as *I* understand it, AMTRAK only owns rolling stock. All rights-of-way
are owned and maintained by other railroads (or, in some cases in the East,
perhaps by the Feds). I am unaware of any right of way owned by AMTRAK.
--
====================================
Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim any and all responsibility for disclaimers.
tom keller
{ihnp4, dual}!ptsfa!gilbbs!mc68020
(* we may not be big, but we're small! *)carnellp@usrcv1.DEC (03/07/86)
>If you ever go to the New Carrolton MD station you will notice that the >tracks that run next to the platform has a peculiar feature for handling >freight trains, which have a wider loading gauge than the passenger trains. >Those tracks consist of a pair of gauntleted tracks. The inner track is used >by passenger trains, so that there doors come close to the platform when >they stop at that station. The outer pair is used by freights to ensure that >they do not swipe away half the platform with them when they pass by. Actually, the original reason for these gauntlet tracks had nothing to do with freight service. They were put in by the Pennsy around 1964 when the old Beltway station was built so that the trackage would retain its 100+ mph FRA rating for through trains. You see not all trains stopped at the Beltway station, as a matter of fact most of the through trains were Metroliners. The advantages for freight trafic just came as an extra bennie. All freights are supposed to use the third track, behind the platforms, and so wouldn,t even use the guantlets. I have not been back there for a few years but I think the gauntlets were removed when the station was moved to the Metro station. Instead, large wooden blanks were attached to the platform edge and the freights just chew them up and they get replaced a lot. But if you are a gauntlet fan, there is still the B&P tunnel gauntlet in Baltimore. This one is for the freight trafic. It shifts the northbound track two feet towards the center of the tunnel to allow for hi-cude and other over sized trafic to make it around the one curve in the tunnel without hitting the sides. Amtrak just finished a three year renovation of the tunnel during which they had hoped to widen the area around the curve and thus remove the gauntlet. The result was that an entire block of houses in East Baltimore had their fronts collapse into the street one morning. The gauntlet is still there. Paul Carnell Syracuse, NY "In the end the only thing I can truely call my own are my opinions. Let's keep it that way!"
johnl@ima.UUCP (John R. Levine) (03/09/86)
In article <45@gilbbs.UUCP> mc68020@gilbbs.UUCP (Tom Keller) writes: > I see several references in articles concerned with the rail corridor through >Maryland referring to "AMTRAK owned trackage". I hate to pick nits (but then, >if you'll believe that, I have a few railroad trestles I'd like to sell (-:), >but as *I* understand it, AMTRAK only owns rolling stock. Amtrak really owns the NEC right of way -- they got it as part of the deal which created Conrail. Conrail still has trackage rights, which is what started this whole discussion in the first place. -- John Levine, Javelin Software, Cambridge MA 617-494-1400 { decvax | harvard | think | ihnp4 | cbosgd }!ima!johnl, Levine@YALE.ARPA The opinions above are solely those of a 12 year old hacker who has broken into my account, and not those of my employer or any other organization.
jis1@mtgzz.UUCP (j.mukerji) (03/10/86)
>In article <45@gilbbs.UUCP> mc68020@gilbbs.UUCP (Tom Keller) writes: >> I see several references in articles concerned with the rail corridor through >>Maryland referring to "AMTRAK owned trackage". I hate to pick nits (but then, >>if you'll believe that, I have a few railroad trestles I'd like to sell (-:), >>but as *I* understand it, AMTRAK only owns rolling stock. > >Amtrak really owns the NEC right of way -- they got it as part of the deal >which created Conrail. Conrail still has trackage rights, which is what >started this whole discussion in the first place. >-- > >John Levine, Javelin Software, Cambridge MA 617-494-1400 Yes indeed. AMTRAK *OWNS* the NEC right of way from Washington DC all the way through New York Penn Station, across the Hell Gate Bridge, upto New Rochelle. From New Rochelle to New Haven is owned by Metro-North Commuter Railroad. From New Haven to Boston, I am not quite sure who owns what. I believe that up through RI, Amtrak owns the trackage. In Massachusetts, there may be some joint ownership deal with MBTA, but I am not sure about it. Jishnu Mukerji, AT&T Information Systems, Middletown NJ. The usual disclaimers....