LIRR And MNRR Random Thoughts Thread

[nightmare402]

Results for Ronkonkoma

Planned Work

No trains between Jamaica and Hicksville

Jan 22 - 24, Sat 12:15 AM to Mon 12:30 AM

Trains run in four sections while we install switches near Queens Village:

Between Greenport and Ronkonkoma

Between Ronkonkoma and Hicksville (bypassing Bethpage)

Between Hicksville and Babylon (stopping at Bethpage)

Between Babylon and Jamaica/Penn Station

Transfer at Hicksville and Babylon for continuing service. Please allow up to 60 minutes of additional travel time or consider using the Babylon or Montauk Branches instead. Click here to see a map of this service change.

Bethpage riders: To travel towards Jamaica, wait on Platform B for a bi-level train to Babylon. To travel towards Ronkonkoma, wait on Platform A for a bi-level train to Hicksville. Use caution when crossing the tracks at Stewart Ave.

The last through trains to operate on Friday night are the 11:14 PM from Penn Station and the 11:16 PM from Ronkonkoma. Service resumes with the 12:14 AM from Penn Station and 12:45 AM from Ronkonkoma on Monday morning.

 

oh!

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:22 PM, nightmare402 said:

(not sure if this goes here)

interesting service change for LIRR

 

Results for Ronkonkoma

Planned Work

Trains run every 2 hours, bypass Hicksville and Bethpage, and take up to an hour longer than normal

Jan 29 - 31 and Feb 5 - 7, Sat 12:15 AM to Mon 3:15 AM

Bi-level diesel trains will run every two hours between Penn Station and Ronkonkoma while we test signals near Carle Place as part of the LIRR Expansion Project. Between Jamaica and Farmingdale, they will travel via Babylon and will change directions twice, but not make any station stops. This means that your trip will take up to an hour longer than normal.

If you typically use Bethpage, or travel between Hicksville and points east of Farmingdale, a bus will run between Mineola, Hicksville, Bethpage, and Farmingdale.

The last normal trains to operate are the 11:14 PM from Penn Station and the 11:16 PM from Ronkonkoma on Friday night. Service resumes with the 3:15 AM from Penn Station and 4:06 AM from Ronkonkoma on Monday morning.

If possible, consider using the Babylon or Montauk Branches. Detailed schedule information will be available as the work approaches.

Posted: 01/18/2022 04:47PM

There is a service changes thread, for future reference. 

23 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

It's actually a modification of recent service changes. Instead of a shuttle between Hicksville and Babylon involving a change of trains you get a DM one seat ride for a change. Central Branch sightseeing.  Wonder what made them change to this operation ? . Carry on

I'm not aware of where the trackwork was on previous weekends, but it looks like for this weekend in particular, none of the work is happening at or west of Mineola.

They're providing train service between Penn and Mineola, so it probably would be faster to just catch a shuttle bus to/from Hicksville instead of going out to Babylon and then transferring. 

[Jsunflyguy]

23 hours ago, trainfan22 said:

Dual Modes running on the Ronkonkoma line off peak, nice! Sometimes I wish the LIRR used the dual modes off peak more often, in an perfect world ethier Speonk or Port Jeff would have an one seat ride off peak to NYP. I hope the LIRR considers this whenever they get replacements for the DM30 locomotives.

 

 

I loved that service change a few years ago where Dual Modes ran between NYP and Port Jeff on a weekend.

The Port Jeff dual mode wasn't a service change, it was regularly scheduled service. It was a nightmare run as a trainee, it was a combo run of a Port Jeff and Huntington train. All stops Port Jefferson to Hicksville and Huntington local stops to Penn. An 845/1014 departure, 1045am/12:15pm arrival.  2:53 and 4:22 departure out of New York. Of course, all these trains operated under MU timings west of Huntington so the train was often behind schedule on the Mainline. Ridership wasn't anything incredible, I was new at the time but it wasn't radically different to any of the other trains I operated before it was discontinued. 

 

[Jsunflyguy]

On 11/2/2021 at 1:05 PM, Lawrence St said:

I don't get why this has a completion date of Dec 2022 if all the required components are already online.

Because that key assumption is wrong. 

I went in for one part of training and still ironing out kinks and troubleshooting. Hopefully going into the 'live demo phase' later in the year  and of course the entire roster needs to train on the route and everyone can't take the day off to do it.

[trainfan22]

After having the game for nearly a year, I FINALLY got the train simulator M2 to move, didn't know you had to hold down the right side of your mouse to move the camera to put the master key in the console, THEN set the train set up for movement. The M2 is the ONLY Metro North rolling stock in the game where you have to do this...

 

I got the M7 to move on the first try...

I got the M8 to move on the first try..

I got the P32DM to move on the first try...

 

But these damn M2s? Couldn't do it until I realized you can move the camera around the cab by holding down the right side of the mouse... first run first I did was from New Caanan to Stamford. This train is VERY well done, kudos to the people who created it. To anyone here who plays this game or is lurking and couldn't get this train to move, I hope this helps. Here's some screenshots..

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by trainfan22

[trainfan22]

They are now storing trains in that new yard the LIRR built next to Sunnyside Yard, seen some M7s layed up in there. 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

On 1/27/2022 at 8:46 PM, trainfan22 said:

After having the game for nearly a year, I FINALLY got the train simulator M2 to move, didn't know you had to hold down the right side of your mouse to move the camera to put the master key in the console, THEN set the train set up for movement. The M2 is the ONLY Metro North rolling stock in the game where you have to do this...

 

I got the M7 to move on the first try...

I got the M8 to move on the first try..

I got the P32DM to move on the first try...

 

But these damn M2s? Couldn't do it until I realized you can move the camera around the cab by holding down the right side of the mouse... first run first I did was from New Caanan to Stamford. This train is VERY well done, kudos to the people who created it. To anyone here who plays this game or is lurking and couldn't get this train to move, I hope this helps. Here's some screenshots..

 

 

 

 

 

Or this a video game or what? Forgive me, as I know nothing about this.

[Lex]

56 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Or this a video game or what? Forgive me, as I know nothing about this.

It is.

Honestly, I would've posted that elsewhere.

[trainfan22]

2 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Or this a video game or what? Forgive me, as I know nothing about this.

Yeah it's a video game where you can operate Metro North trains on the New Haven and Hudson lines. It just was an random thought that happened related to Metro North.

 

 

As a kid I never thought I would be able to virtually operate NYC area rail lines in a game. Usually model toy trains was as good as it gets. 

Edited February 4, 2022 by trainfan22

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Got royally screwed trying to get some footage of the Ronkonkoma Branch Dual Mode Z train this weekend. I fretted so much about missing any of my previous bus connections to Mineola that I didn't think the LIRR shuttle bus was gonna be the death of me.

The QBL towards Jamaica is all express this weekend, so I took the Q88 from QCM to Hillside Ave for the n22, which was a lifesaver. I might actually do that more if I go out to Nassau by bus, it's so much more faster, direct, and convenient than taking the subway out to Jamaica (especially on weekends ). 

Anyways, I got on the LIRR shuttle bus to Farmingdale (Coach USA - Suburban Van Hool in case you're wondering). It left on time, and there were several employees there. Well, turns out that the bus lost quite some time at Hicksville because it had trouble turning or something, and the got to Farmingdale a whopping 20 minutes late (10 minutes after the train to Ronkonkoma was scheduled to arrive). Also, there was no employee at Farmingdale, and the train is operating every 2 hours.

So I missed the connection, which is outrageous and absurd, you would think there would be SOME type of coordination on the Farmingdale side. Apparently not, and the Bethpage shuttle that was supposed to connect with the train never ran either....so there's no accountability going on in terms of the Ronkonkoma shuttle bus operation. So I gave up and said f**k it, spent 50 minutes in the waiting room before walking to Hempstead Turnpike to catch the n72, and called it a day. 

Worst part is that I paid a ticket to go to Ronkonkoma (part of a bigger itinerary I had planned). I also have 14 $1 coins in my pocket, so maybe I might try again tomorrow. 

On a sidenote, trains are single tracking on the Ronkonkoma Branch (at least at Farmingdale, don't know about the other parts of the branch). All trains are using the eastbound platform. 

Edited February 5, 2022 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Trainmaster5]

59 minutes ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

Got royally screwed trying to get some footage of the Ronkonkoma Branch Dual Mode Z train this weekend. I fretted so much about missing any of my previous bus connections to Mineola that I didn't think the LIRR shuttle bus was gonna be the death of me.

The QBL towards Jamaica is all express this weekend, so I took the Q88 from QCM to Hillside Ave for the n22, which was a lifesaver. I might actually do that more if I go out to Nassau by bus, it's so much more faster, direct, and convenient than taking the subway out to Jamaica (especially on weekends ). 

Anyways, I got on the LIRR shuttle bus to Farmingdale (Coach USA - Suburban Van Hool in case you're wondering). It left on time, and there were several employees there. Well, turns out that the bus lost quite some time at Hicksville because it had trouble turning or something, and the got to Farmingdale a whopping 20 minutes late (10 minutes after the train to Ronkonkoma was scheduled to arrive). Also, there was no employee at Farmingdale, and the train is operating every 2 hours.

So I missed the connection, which is outrageous and absurd, you would think there would be SOME type of coordination on the Farmingdale side. Apparently not, and the Bethpage shuttle that was supposed to connect with the train never ran either....so there's no accountability going on in terms of the Ronkonkoma shuttle bus operation. So I gave up and said f**k it, spent 50 minutes in the waiting room before walking to Hempstead Turnpike to catch the n72, and called it a day. 

Worst part is that I paid a ticket to go to Ronkonkoma (part of a bigger itinerary I had planned). I also have 14 $1 coins in my pocket, so maybe I might try again tomorrow. 

On a sidenote, trains are single tracking on the Ronkonkoma Branch (at least at Farmingdale, don't know about the other parts of the branch). All trains are using the eastbound platform. 

One question for you. Since I don’t know where you started your adventure from wouldn’t it have been easier to get a KO train at Jamaica and ride it eastbound ? In other words were you interested in the equipment or the scenery ? Just curious. Carry on.

[checkmatechamp13]

@BM5 via Woodhaven Maybe you could take the Q88-n6-n72 to reach Farmingdale and avoid Mineola entirely. The n6 is just a few blocks from Queens Village.

Out of curiously, what was your plan once you caught the Ronkonkona Branch?

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

8 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

One question for you. Since I don’t know where you started your adventure from wouldn’t it have been easier to get a KO train at Jamaica and ride it eastbound ? In other words were you interested in the equipment or the scenery ? Just curious. Carry on.

I avoided doing that for several reasons. For starts, the  train was operating express towards Forest Hills, bypassing local stops, so going to Jackson Heights for the  , or taking the Q60 to Archer Ave, followed by the train making the Z route would have taken the same amount of time. The second was that I was planning on riding the entire westbound train from Ronkonkoma to Penn (so I would have essentially done what you mentioned, just in reverse). Third was that I was trying to incorporate some bus travel in this, and lastly because I wanted to take the most affordable option (since the fares are somewhat more reasonable once you cross the city line). 

So to answer you question, a mix of both. 

4 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@BM5 via Woodhaven Maybe you could take the Q88-n6-n72 to reach Farmingdale and avoid Mineola entirely. The n6 is just a few blocks from Queens Village.

Out of curiously, what was your plan once you caught the Ronkonkona Branch?

I considered it, but the n72 would either get me there way too early or miss the train. As far as my plans, I was planning on getting some SCT shots & footage at Ronkonkoma, along with the Greenport Scoot, then take the full ride on the dual mode into Penn. I was initially trying to get to Ronkonkoma by bus, which is much harder than I thought. Here's all the plans I initially considered (to get to Ronkonkoma to catch the dual mode):

• n6 - n54/55 - S20 - S40 - S57/59 (The S59 makes it 5 minutes before the train is set to leave, the S57 arrives at the time, too risky for me)
• n22 - LIRR Bus to Huntington - H10 - S58 - S59 (The H10 gets to Commack 3 minutes after the S58 departs )
• n22/24 - n79 - S54 - S58 - S59 (The damn n79 doesn't run during the midday period, so that was ruled out)

 I finalized with taking the LIRR instead, which wasn't my preferred way but it was the best way (although clearly that wasn't the case since even the shuttle bus couldn't make the train). It's also the safe option, because even though missing the train and going back from Farmingdale was annoying and infuriating, missing the train at Ronkonkoma would have been a lot worse. 

[checkmatechamp13]

@BM5 via Woodhaven On a side note, the lack of connectivity between Ronkonkoma Branch stations will be mostly addressed by both versions of SCT's redesign (the 52 from Ronkonkoma to Central Islip, followed by the 4 from Central Islip to Wyandanch, which ends in Amityville).

How are the connections from the 7A to the train? (First itinerary, but with the 7A instead of the S57/59)

Edited February 6, 2022 by checkmatechamp13

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

11 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

@BM5 via Woodhaven On a side note, the lack of connectivity between Ronkonkoma Branch stations will be mostly addressed by both versions of SCT's redesign (the 52 from Ronkonkoma to Central Islip, followed by the 4 from Central Islip to Wyandanch, which ends in Amityville).

How are the connections from the 7A to the train? (First itinerary, but with the 7A instead of the S57/59)

The 7A would have arrived after the Ronkonkoma train left, and with the one before that, while the SCT connections work well with enough time, both the n55 and the n71 arrives minutes after the S20 departs to Babylon. It wouldn't be worth the additional amount of time (especially to wait at Sunrise Mall). 

---------

So I actually tried to redo my trip from yesterday, today and the shuttle bus side of things was much better. I called in to complain yesterday and kinda blew up their social inbox because of the issue and the lack of coordination and employees. Today, there were 2-3 employees at Farmingdale, and I was able to catch the train going east to Ronkonkoma. 

The westbound trip to Penn Station...JFC. The devil was busy today. What was supposed to be a one-seat ride ended up being a three-seat ride (and the latter being an electric train from some other branch at Jamaica, which made an added stop at Woodside to accommodate riders from our train). The train from Ronkonkoma was taken out at Babylon due to an "out of service" bathroom (which could mean a variety of things). Then, the replacement set started crapping out a while after leaving Babylon and died at Jamaica. I got into Penn 40 minutes later than the scheduled time, a 2.5 hour trip. I got to ride an M9 train though. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by BM5 via Woodhaven

[Mtatransit]

23 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

lastly because I wanted to take the most affordable option (since the fares are somewhat more reasonable once you cross the city line). 

SIGNIFICANTLY more reasonable once you cross the city line, same thing with MNR, much more reasonable fare from Fordham than GCT. Zone 1 (and even Zone 3 for LIRR) tickets are horrendously overpriced, and doesn't even provide free subway transfers as extra sweetener. (Before COVID you could take a bus trip all the way to Boston if you book in advance for the price MNR wants to go to New Haven). The price for Stamford- Fordham is half the cost it is to GCT.

What I like to do when fanning SCT is to take the bus to Babylon, and buy an intermediate Babylon - RVC ticket for $3.25 and take the n4/ the rest of the way into the city. if you take it one stop more to Lynbrook (ignoring the fact that a lot of Babylon train skips it)it will cost almost double the $3.25. Never really sure why Lynbrook is in Zone 4 when the rest of Babylon/Long Beach is in Zone 7/9

23 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

n6 - n54/55 - S20 - S40 - S57/59 (The S59 makes it 5 minutes before the train is set to leave, the S57 arrives at the time, too risky for me)

n22 - LIRR Bus to Huntington - H10 - S58 - S59 (The H10 gets to Commack 3 minutes after the S58 departs )

n22/24 - n79 - S54 - S58 - S59 (The damn n79 doesn't run during the midday period, so that was ruled out)

I wouldn't try to transfer to anything SCT related without a huge buffer or an alternative travel plans. The schedules are laid out way too tight (probably because haven't changed since 1980s)

Made the mistake of trying to catch the PJ Ferry using SCT. What was intended to be a 10 minute layover turned into a minute and a half sprint to the ship

Regarding the n79, its a shame, I used to use that route to fan SCT northern routes out to Smith Haven etc, now I primarily go through Sunrise Mall, and once through Farmingdale State

Edited February 7, 2022 by Mtatransit

[danielhg121]

5 hours ago, BM5 via Woodhaven said:

The westbound trip to Penn Station...JFC. The devil was busy today. What was supposed to be a one-seat ride ended up being a three-seat ride (and the latter being an electric train from some other branch at Jamaica, which made an added stop at Woodside to accommodate riders from our train). The train from Ronkonkoma was taken out at Babylon due to an "out of service" bathroom (which could mean a variety of things). Then, the replacement set started crapping out a while after leaving Babylon and died at Jamaica. I got into Penn 40 minutes later than the scheduled time, a 2.5 hour trip. I got to ride an M9 train though. 

Those diesels really suck lol. Speaking of which, one of the Penn directs from Port Jefferson was cancelled today due to equipment trouble. Having not only 1 cancellation but 2 on the same trip, you deserve a refund!

[XcelsiorBoii4888]

11 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Those diesels really suck lol. Speaking of which, one of the Penn directs from Port Jefferson was cancelled today due to equipment trouble. Having not only 1 cancellation but 2 on the same trip, you deserve a refund!

I rode the diesels a lot between 2016-2020 when I was at Stony Brook. I rode the direct 5:54am direct DM (500 series) train to Penn 3 times a week, and rode the express in the PM. Weekends I rode the DE (400 series) whenever I either went home or to Jamaica. Never had an issue with them, except for the 4:18 express train leaving like 40mins late one time because of equipment issues. That train was ridiculously crowded, its when I learned to never activate my ticket until they actual come and check. So many times we had free rides because the train was just too crowded to maneuver through. They are just super slow and service on that branch sucked. Transferring at Huntington was annoying, especially when trains are packed with Stony Brook students who act like they're doing this commute for the first time every time. I hope things are smoother over there now with TrainTime available.

 

For some reason when I used to use the Port Jeff branch, them trips were always so peaceful and quiet. You'd get lonely on those trains at times, and when I commuted rush hour AM to Penn, a super crowded train was peaceful and everyone was either sleep or relaxed. Now I use the Ronkonkoma branch 3 times a week and its so ghetto. Every time there's a least people talking super loud or someone playing their volume max on their phone, and its like all these annoying people get into the car that I'm in.

 

The Babylon is the same way, but not as bad. But sheesh I see why people claim LIRR riders are trashy. I used to defend them until I rode the Ronkonkoma/Babylon. When I did strictly Port Jeff/Atlantic Term it was super classy compared to the subway.

 

Anyways, back to the diesels. I love them, but I do wish they can go because they're so limited. Can't wait to hear how the battery-electric project turns out.

 

Question...is the Montauk branch capable of doing 80mph? I'm referring to the area between Montauk-Babylon. Most trains go no faster than 55-65mph, so I'm curious is that because of the diesels or because the area is just geographically limited to that speed?

 

[danielhg121]

1 hour ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Anyways, back to the diesels. I love them, but I do wish they can go because they're so limited. Can't wait to hear how the battery-electric project turns out.

 

Question...is the Montauk branch capable of doing 80mph? I'm referring to the area between Montauk-Babylon. Most trains go no faster than 55-65mph, so I'm curious is that because of the diesels or because the area is just geographically limited to that speed?

 

Yea, speaking of the battery-electric project, they said they were gonna start conducting tests on OBY around Dec 2021, it's now February and not a peep. 

Pretty sure the diesels are capable of going 80 mph as they do it on the Main Line. Between Montauk and Babylon, there's a lot of curves that limit the speed, there's not many straightaways that allow the train to pick up speed. Not to mention that there's a good chunk of single-tracking which prob limits train speed due to signals and switches. 

[trainfan22]

This may seem selfish but I hope the battery powered M7 project flops lol.

 

I like my Diesel trains to hauled by a locomotive with passenger cars. I love those DE/DM locomotives. Diesel powered trains is part of the charm of American commuter railroads. Like how loud they are and is one of the best things about LIRR from railfan POV IMO. I want LIRR to buy new diesel engines and loco hauled passgener cars when the DE & C3s are up for retirement. Not no battery powered MUs, Ewww lol.

 

 

Speaking of LIRR Diesels, when do they plan to replace the MP15s? they have been around since like the 70s..

[Lex]

1 hour ago, trainfan22 said:

This may seem selfish but I hope the battery powered M7 project flops lol.

 

I like my Diesel trains to hauled by a locomotive with passenger cars. I love those DE/DM locomotives. Diesel powered trains is part of the charm of American commuter railroads. Like how loud they are and is one of the best things about LIRR from railfan POV IMO. I want LIRR to buy new diesel engines and loco hauled passgener cars when the DE & C3s are up for retirement. Not no battery powered MUs, Ewww lol.

 

 

Speaking of LIRR Diesels, when do they plan to replace the MP15s? they have been around since like the 70s..

As opposed to oil companies trying to funnel tax money into their coffers and neoliberals trying to otherwise cut all spending aside from car infrastructure and war?

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

17 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

Those diesels really suck lol. Speaking of which, one of the Penn directs from Port Jefferson was cancelled today due to equipment trouble. Having not only 1 cancellation but 2 on the same trip, you deserve a refund!

Yeah well I wish....the only refund option they have is with a $10 processing fee 😒.

[Joyjliradio]

Train number 7170 make lot noise from flat wheels 

 

[danielhg121]

It says right now that Train 2015 is operating with head car 9909, is this an input error or are the M3's actually back?

 

EDIT: the M9 head car is 9099 is on Train 2021 so it might not be input error...

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by danielhg121

[Jsunflyguy]

1 hour ago, danielhg121 said:

It says right now that Train 2015 is operating with head car 9909, is this an input error or are the M3's actually back?

 

EDIT: the M9 head car is 9099 is on Train 2021 so it might not be input error...

 

9909 has been OOS for a while. Probably a type of 9109 etc.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Jsunflyguy