Old Article: 46 New L.I.R.R. Locomotives Must Go Back for Repairs

[Queens Surface]

Stumbled upon this old article:

 

All 46 of the new locomotives that pull the Long Island Rail Road's double-decker commuter trains must be sent back to the manufacturer so cracks that have developed in the steel frames supporting their engines can be repaired, railroad officials said today.

 

The railroad said that the cracks -- discovered by its inspectors and disclosed more than a year ago -- posed no immediate safety hazard to riders. And the repairs, it said, would not disrupt service because locomotives would be sent back only two at a time, starting in September.

 

But the repair plan, which the railroad confirmed today, is only the latest in a litany of sour news about the new fleet, which was introduced with great fanfare as a way for passengers from eastern Suffolk County to ride to New York City without having to change trains.

 

Soon after the first train hit the rails in November 1997, myriad problems arose -- with the radio equipment, heat and air-conditioning systems, lights, horns that were too loud, doors that opened at the wrong times, and cracks that developed in shock absorbers and the steps to engineers' cabs.

 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/20/nyregion/46-new-lirr-locomotives-must-go-back-for-repairs.html

 

Another link of interest of when the DE/DM-30s were new:

 

http://www.railpace.com/stories/de30/

[dman1455]

Great Find and that is shocking News!! :eek:

[Justlurkin]

Hearing all the problems the LIRR had with the DE/DM30ACs, it makes me wonder why the LIRR rejected buying the GE P32AC-DMs with Metro-North and Amtrak.

 

I know the LIRR had stated the P32AC-DMs "does not meet its needs," but anybody know the specific reasons?

 

The MNRR didn't seem to have much trouble with their Gennies..

[Kamen Rider]

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[Nova RTS 9147]

the C3s are electicly unquie, they decided to go the extra mile and build a new model locomotive from the wheels up. You can see the oval stragies difrences in that MNRR almost never has to locomotives on a train, where as LIRR and NJT do it all the time.

 

Trains going north of Croton Harmon, Trains going north of Southest, trains going to Danbury, Waterbury and in some cases New Haven all have locomotives on them.

[Kamen Rider]

Please, watch the Nazi Banksters Crimes Ripple Effect at http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[Joel Up Front]

New fleet? They're reaching 14 years old...

 

And I thought they had problems when they were first rolled out, too.

[Nova RTS 9147]

New fleet? They're reaching 14 years old...

 

And I thought they had problems when they were first rolled out, too.

 

You're like the third person I know who thought this was recent. This is living proof that reading comprehension isn't a strong suit in the railfan community.

 

Its from June of 2001!

[Matt91]

They still have problems, constantly breaking down. The cab cars too. Look on railroad.net in the LIRR forum, there are tons upon tons of threads about these lemons. If only they'd replace the locos and keep the C3s because those have the best ride of the entire fleet.

[Joel Up Front]

Sarcasm flies right over everyone's head on the interwebs.

[theaveragejoe]

Hearing all the problems the LIRR had with the DE/DM30ACs, it makes me wonder why the LIRR rejected buying the GE P32AC-DMs with Metro-North and Amtrak.

 

I know the LIRR had stated the P32AC-DMs "does not meet its needs," but anybody know the specific reasons?

 

The MNRR didn't seem to have much trouble with their Gennies..

 

Remember the DE/DM30AC's were custom designed just for the LIRR.

[Vistausss]

They still have problems, constantly breaking down. The cab cars too. Look on railroad.net in the LIRR forum, there are tons upon tons of threads about these lemons. If only they'd replace the locos and keep the C3s because those have the best ride of the entire fleet.

 

That's not even the biggest problem. They're just too expensive to maintain, that's the problem here. The DE30's were designed for trains with 10-12 cars, but so far, no 10-12 car trains have operated on LIRR in egular service (apart from some special events). That's why they're to expensive and that's also why the LIRR is looking for an alternative (see the DEMU-thread).

[Matt91]

That's not even the biggest problem. They're just too expensive to maintain, that's the problem here. The DE30's were designed for trains with 10-12 cars, but so far, no 10-12 car trains have operated on LIRR in egular service (apart from some special events). That's why they're to expensive and that's also why the LIRR is looking for an alternative (see the DEMU-thread).

 

Well the reason they're too expensive to maintain is because 1) they're custom built (huge mistake on the LIRR's part) and 2) they don't work properly to begin with, so yeah it is a big problem. The cannonball regularly runs with 2 engines and 12 cars. One DE/DM can only provide HEP to 6 cars and the DM runs to Penn require an engine on each end to prevent gapping. This along with cab car shortages/problems is why we see double engines.

[Vistausss]

I was not talking about the Cannonball here. I was talking about regular service. I don't see a 12 car train on regular service on the lines the DE30's serve, like Port Jeff, Montauk (except for the Cannonball), Greenport, Oyster Bay, Far Rockaway (sometimes they do serve FR instead of an M7) etc.