LIRR And MNRR Random Thoughts Thread

[bobtehpanda]

9 hours ago, Lex said:

I hope it is.

My concern is that he's jumping the gun just to make himself look good.

Remember when Bloomberg declared Hudson Yards finished? lol.

[GojiMet86]

I don't think he's getting ahead with this one. He's eyeing that December/January target again, like the Second Avenue subway and Moynihan Hall, both January 1, even if they still have some minor work to be done.

[danielhg121]

I remember someone saying Jan 2022 but others are saying Dec 2022. This was around when Moynihan opened.

[R10 2952]

4 hours ago, GojiMet86 said:

I don't think he's getting ahead with this one. He's eyeing that December/January target again, like the Second Avenue subway and Moynihan Hall, both January 1, even if they still have some minor work to be done.

That and he's probably trying to distract people from the impeachment investigations.

[bobtehpanda]

On 5/28/2021 at 11:35 AM, R10 2952 said:

That and he's probably trying to distract people from the impeachment investigations.

The dude is delusional enough to think he could get term 4, the first governor in history to do so.

[R10 2952]

Nelson Rockefeller was elected to a fourth term, in 1970.  Anything more than two terms is definitely too long, though.  Hugh Carey was the only governor in recent memory to abide by that.

[bobtehpanda]

3 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Nelson Rockefeller was elected to a fourth term, in 1970.  Anything more than two terms is definitely too long, though.  Hugh Carey was the only governor in recent memory to abide by that.

Unlike Rockefeller Cuomo might actually finish his fourth term.

(I don't think he's delusional enough to think he could win national office ever again. I also don't know that he has any place in the Biden administration.)

[RPC324]

On 5/27/2021 at 6:10 PM, Lex said:

I hope it is.

My concern is that he's jumping the gun just to make himself look good.

I think he's looking ahead and doesn't expect to be governor when the project is actually completed, so he has this press conference to claim the project for his legacy instead of the next gov.

[R10 2952]

Cuomo is definitely living in his own head if he expects to be remembered fondly.  The public are tired of him, people in the state-level party have had enough of him, and apparently the Biden administration is turning their back to him as well.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

7 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Cuomo is definitely living in his own head if he expects to be remembered fondly.  The public are tired of him, people in the state-level party have had enough of him, and apparently the Biden administration is turning their back to him as well.

All that matters is if he could be elected again, and the answer is yes, so people aren't that tired of him. The scandals have subsided a bit. This New York Times article was from April...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/nyregion/cuomo-resign-sexual-harrassment-poll.html

If anyone is hated in this City, it's de Blasio, the most incompetent mayor in NY history. Cuomo is a lot of things, bit he's not a stupid man.

[shiznit1987]

Any idea on when Platform F at Jamaica will see any usage, or is that part n' parcel of when ESA opens?

As for Cuomo, the problem is once you get past him and perhaps Letita James, the state level Democratic Party is quickly being taken over by the DSA crowd. Centrist/Moderate Dems are just about gone outside of some of the working class sections of the city like SE Queens or Staten Island. What's being brought forth nowadays is this:

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-democratic-socialists-abolish-private-property-albany-primaries-20191007-gtpqefrosrfybpdul4dbvaf6ym-story.html

Hopefully the NYS Republican Party gets a clue and dumps Trump and embraces the Bloombergs and Herman Badillos of the world who were centrist in their world view. 

 

[paulrivera]

6 hours ago, shiznit1987 said:

Any idea on when Platform F at Jamaica will see any usage, or is that part n' parcel of when ESA opens?

Platform F had a couple of evening shuttles between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal right when COVID hit.

When I tell you right when COVID hit, I literally mean these shuttles barely lasted two or three weeks until the stay at home restrictions kicked in last year.

Edited June 14, 2021 by paulrivera

[trainfan22]

Today their was 2-3 sets of Metro North M3s running in service during the midday hours, nice! The runs I rode were all M7s but it's nice to see the old classics running in off peak service.

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

49 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Today their was 2-3 sets of Metro North M3s running in service during the midday hours, nice! The runs I rode were all M7s but it's nice to see the old classics running in off peak service.

I wish it was able to list train numbers like the LIRR Train Time app does. I want to be able to get some rides on them when possible (likely weekends, but tough chance with that I suppose), but not knowing where they are/run is a turnoff with how relatively few of them there are.

[paulrivera]

1 hour ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

I wish it was able to list train numbers like the LIRR Train Time app does. I want to be able to get some rides on them when possible (likely weekends, but tough chance with that I suppose), but not knowing where they are/run is a turnoff with how relatively few of them there are.

The next big schedule change is penciled in for August, just hang in there.

[NewFlyer 230]

I saw two sets of M3’s on the storage tracks at the Long Beach Station. I thought they were all gone by this point. 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

This may be a counter that's off, but one of the M9 sets in service right now (on a Babylon Branch train) has a car that apparently has 180 people on it.

Edit: So I kept looking and it went down to 175 after Wantagh, then went down to 10 after Seaford. IDK if I trust that though, because I find it odd how so many people would congregate on that one car (and the others around them had space).

Edited July 7, 2021 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Jsunflyguy]

3 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

This may be a counter that's off, but one of the M9 sets in service right now (on a Babylon Branch train) has a car that apparently has 180 people on it.

Edit: So I kept looking and it went down to 175 after Wantagh, then went down to 10 after Seaford. IDK if I trust that though, because I find it odd how so many people would congregate on that one car (and the others around them had space).

Its not odd at all to see riders congregate in one or two cars with no reverence for nearby space. Trains to Atlantic Terminal are front packed. I've operated many trains this week alone where the last car of a diesel train would be packed but the next three cars would significantly empty, it is my experience that once a passenger decides on a car they will not leave it unless they discover the car won't platform (or if they're looking for a working bathroom). I operated train 126 for several weeks recently at the time it was the busiest train on the railroad with 900-1200 passengers. Even with the astronomical patronage my car would be entirely full, even with standees, all the way to Merrick where a crowd got off and by Bellmore the car was entirely empty. It could very well be a glitch but it is just as possible to be legitimate.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

18 hours ago, Jsunflyguy said:

Its not odd at all to see riders congregate in one or two cars with no reverence for nearby space. Trains to Atlantic Terminal are front packed. I've operated many trains this week alone where the last car of a diesel train would be packed but the next three cars would significantly empty, it is my experience that once a passenger decides on a car they will not leave it unless they discover the car won't platform (or if they're looking for a working bathroom). I operated train 126 for several weeks recently at the time it was the busiest train on the railroad with 900-1200 passengers. Even with the astronomical patronage my car would be entirely full, even with standees, all the way to Merrick where a crowd got off and by Bellmore the car was entirely empty. It could very well be a glitch but it is just as possible to be legitimate.

Something else that happens is if a train is on a line where the platforms are short, that will mean more people packed into certain cars, as some train cars will not platform. Then you have people that pick certain cars because of which exit it puts them near, so yeah, I totally agree with you and see it on trains that I ride.

[bobtehpanda]

On 7/7/2021 at 6:07 PM, Jsunflyguy said:

Its not odd at all to see riders congregate in one or two cars with no reverence for nearby space. Trains to Atlantic Terminal are front packed. I've operated many trains this week alone where the last car of a diesel train would be packed but the next three cars would significantly empty, it is my experience that once a passenger decides on a car they will not leave it unless they discover the car won't platform (or if they're looking for a working bathroom). I operated train 126 for several weeks recently at the time it was the busiest train on the railroad with 900-1200 passengers. Even with the astronomical patronage my car would be entirely full, even with standees, all the way to Merrick where a crowd got off and by Bellmore the car was entirely empty. It could very well be a glitch but it is just as possible to be legitimate.

Yeah, this is part of why systems around the world, even rail systems, are moving towards some open gangways; mentally, people start thinking of a consist as "one car" and are more likely to move along to where seating is available.

Now obviously a 12-car set with only two cabs would be ridiculous, but two or four car sets with open gangways would probably be fine; the LIRR and MNR are already using married pairs, there's not a good reason why at the very least they couldn't be joined together with an open gangway.

[Jsunflyguy]

2 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

Yeah, this is part of why systems around the world, even rail systems, are moving towards some open gangways; mentally, people start thinking of a consist as "one car" and are more likely to move along to where seating is available.

Now obviously a 12-car set with only two cabs would be ridiculous, but two or four car sets with open gangways would probably be fine; the LIRR and MNR are already using married pairs, there's not a good reason why at the very least they couldn't be joined together with an open gangway.

The M9s are almost open gangway with the automatic door. Im not really sold on it, but Im not against it either, though just doing a quick google only shows the Japanese really embracing the concept for heavy rail with BR and DSB dabbling in it.

 

Another thing to consider with greater than 2 car units is track capacity. If you use 4 units youre condeming a lot of branches to 8 car service since places like Far Rock cany support 12 car trains and Brooklyn would have a lot of difficulty as well. You can get away with 3 car units, though thats not much better with 6 or 9 cars. 9 cars may not cut it even with extra seats in a trailer car, but who knows. Short platforms would get really interesting, but thats another story.

[bobtehpanda]

15 hours ago, Jsunflyguy said:

The M9s are almost open gangway with the automatic door. Im not really sold on it, but Im not against it either, though just doing a quick google only shows the Japanese really embracing the concept for heavy rail with BR and DSB dabbling in it.

Stadler FLIRT and KISS are open-gangway pairs. As far as commuter rail service, the Copenhagen S-tog, the S-Bahn systems of Germany, NS in the Netherlands, the Paris Transilien, Stockholm commuter rail, etc. all use open gangways.

It's hard to find a recent European rolling stock order for regional or commuter services without open gangways.

[bobtehpanda]

15 hours ago, Jsunflyguy said:

Another thing to consider with greater than 2 car units is track capacity. If you use 4 units youre condeming a lot of branches to 8 car service since places like Far Rock cany support 12 car trains and Brooklyn would have a lot of difficulty as well. You can get away with 3 car units, though thats not much better with 6 or 9 cars. 9 cars may not cut it even with extra seats in a trailer car, but who knows. Short platforms would get really interesting, but thats another story.

Is there a map of platform lengths at stations? I'm kind of curious as to how many stations would actually need lengthening.

[Jsunflyguy]

An official, public one no. Ithink LIRR42 made one, some of it is no longer accurate given its age. But nothing really needs to be lengthened in terms of platforms, simply open the cars that are appropriate. If you go with a 3 set the trains actually get shorter, though the number of cars that can be opened decreases because of rules and regs (at least assuming the middle car is a simple trailer with no safety accessories).

[Jsunflyguy]

6 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

Stadler FLIRT and KISS are open-gangway pairs. As far as commuter rail service, the Copenhagen S-tog, the S-Bahn systems of Germany, NS in the Netherlands, the Paris Transilien, Stockholm commuter rail, etc. all use open gangways.

It's hard to find a recent European rolling stock order for regional or commuter services without open gangways.

I was specifically referring to walk through MU equipment, all semi-permenant married units could be open gangway with a sturdier rubber hood. I dont think gangway pairs will improve passenger flow as people will walk 1 or 2 cars and then be unable to move. Especially in a 9 or 12 car train I cant see people de/re-embariking over the course of multiple stops (since trains like the Kiss/Flirt dont allow movement inter-unit).