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Amtrak ‘Keystone’ makes extended run on SEPTA commuter line
What’s the problem? I run my HO’s on whatever track I feel like.
Reminds me of the time I road the Pennsy to Harrisburg from Terra Haute in 1960 or 61. We pulled out of the Richmond, IN station and soon stopped on the track to Dayton. After a brief backup move we were again on the line to Columbus and Pittsburgh.
A German ICE train was mistakenly sent on an unscheduled routing to Berlin in October…
Many years ago in the 1970s when Penn Central was running commuter service out of Grand Central I was on a train headed for New Haven, CT and at Mott Haven junction in the Bronx where the old New Haven separated from the jointly shared tracks with the old New York Central’s Harlem Line, our train was switched onto the Central’s tracks headed for White Plains, NY. We rolled for about a mile before we stopped. It took hours to sort the mess out and to back us up to Mott Haven. We were a twelve car train powered by two FL 9 diesels. The bar car did spectacular business that evening!
I was also told that the 20th Century Ltd. had been known to be routed down the New Haven’s Danbury CT branch which does meet up with the old Boston and Albany in Massachusetts when there was a problem on the Central’s tracks south of Albany, the Century’s normal route.
The revised route would have taken the Century through New Haven teritory to Norwalk, CT where it would join the New Haven’s main into Grand Central.
In re Gaffney Flescoe’s account: it is one thing to plan a detour; it is another thing to misdirect a train to a dead end. In the fifties, I benefitted twice from freight wrecks on the Southern’s Knoxville Division, even adding mileage on the Clinchfield and on what had been the South Atlantic and Ohio (which were freight service only by the time I was detoured over them).
long story short. the crew ran a signal which entailed the entire mess. according to news reports you would have thought there was a Bala Cynwyd station the trin stopped at on the end of the line . no it did not. SEPTA has a bala and Cynwyd station. with Cynwyd being the last one. niether the phila inquier, wpvi , kyw, or any of the news outlets could get any of the facts straight ecept the yahoo rail fan groups. sad world we now live in
you would have thought when they went up the hi-line & over the old hump at 52nd.st.they would have known something was wrong.
And now for something different. Last week, an airline pilot landed at the wrong airport. We are only human, folks. That’s why there are erasers on pencils.
This train already had attention by having a bad cab car what about the dispatching system. Somebody was sleeping.
Mr. Sharp is absolutely correct. The junction is at Woodlawn and not Mott Haven. My error.
My story about the Century diversion through Connecticut New Haven RR territory is from an old timer who worked for the New Haven on that branch route.
Mr. Sharp is absolutely correct. The junction is at Woodlawn and not Mott Haven. My error.
My story about the Century diversion through Connecticut New Haven RR territory is from an old timer who worked for the New Haven on that branch route.
Mr. Sharp is absolutely correct. The junction is at Woodlawn and not Mott Haven. My error.
My story about the Century diversion through Connecticut New Haven RR territory is from an old timer who worked for the New Haven on that branch route.
Two problems: One, the crew went over two miles past their turn point…on foreign RR. Two, the Conductor is a former SEPTA Conductor that clearly should have known where he was… There was no danger of a collision since the track is circuit controlled. VERY embarrassing for Amtrak!
@Mr. Feskoe, the junction of the New Haven and the NYCentral Harlem Division was Woodlawn, not Mott Haven. The latter was the junction of the Harlem and Hudson, with the NH trains proceeding up the Harlem to Woodlawn.
I have no doubt that the tower op at Woodlawn would occasionally get the order of northbound (timetable west, back in NYC&PC days) trains wrong and have a NH lined up the Harlem. And especially during the evening peak, getting that train back south of the plant so it could be lined up the NH would create lots of cascading delays.
In the case of your train, the question is why did the engineer accept the signal? Movements lined straight across Harlem to Harlem would receive signal indications designating the straight route. Movements lined to the NH received ether a “Medium Clear” or a “Medium Approach”, red over green over red/red over yellow over red respectively. The only trap was that if the tower op somehow forgot to line the turnout Harlem Tk3/NH and lined the signal for a NH movement approaching on Harlem Tk1, it would still receive the same indication as above. The engineer would not be able to see that he was lined up the Harlem until he was well into the plant. The signal indications were (and still are for NORAC railroads with or without wayside signals) speed-based instead of route-based.
Note: Present day Metro North is entirely cab signaled with the waysides at interlockings displaying simple “GO” or “NO GO” aspects. The indications are all in the cab. And even though MNR is not a NORAC railroad, its rulebook and signal indications are NORAC-based. So engineers still receive indications that don’t tell them which way they are lined. But approaching Mott Haven (CP5) and Woodlawn (CP112) there are route indicator indications mounted on old signal structures. They display vertical or horizontal lunar arrows: At CP5 Hudsons get the horizontal and at CP112 NHs get the horizontal.
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I can confirm that the NYC detoured its passenger trains over the Harlem Division and B&A via Chatham. I used to live in Chappaqua, and one morning saw a procession of westbound premier trains roll thru town account of a wreck on the Hudson line. Don’t know if the electric to diesel engine change was at Mott Haven or North White (or both) but the PA and E locos would suggest Mott Haven as North White was a hang out for the RS-3s.
Thanks to lots of RRs and tracks, in July 1956 the Illinois Central “Land O’Corn” from Chicago to Waterloo, IA was able to detour around a freight wreck near Jesup, IA by taking the Chicago Great Western NW then SW via Oelwein, IA. Today that wouldn’t be possible. Being in Bala Cynwyd, PA many times, I found this account stunning, and didn’t know about the turning procedures in the 30th St & zoo areas.