Re: (erielack) Bingo East, etc.

["Gary R. Kazin" <gkazin_@_yahoo.com>]

- --- Njricky2_@_aol.com wrote:
> Once the Cutoff is back in service, the rest is history. The Cutoff will
> make NJTransit a player when it comes to hauling people. Of the three
> commuter railroads (LIRR, NJTransit, MetroNorth), NJTransit is the
> strongest in the region when it comes to passengers. LIRR is not a
player 
> in this. 

Oh, really?  The LIRR carries more passengers daily than nearly all the
other commuter railroads in the US COMBINED.  It carries more in a day
than AMTRAK does in a week.  The problem for the LIRR is that it's bottled
up on Long Island; the only thing they can offer to the east is
connections to ferries across Long Island Sound at Port Jefferson and
Greenport.

> However, NJTransit and MetroNorth know how to do it and they do it well,

> NJT especially. I've ridden commuter railroads in various parts of the
> country and in my opinion, NJTransit is the best. Los Angeles' MetroLink
> isn't far  behind but is much smaller and they are growing, but that's
> another story and isn't EL related.

Have you been on NJT during crush hour since September?

(paragraph set out)

> Someone recently said that a state-funded railroad cannot cross a state
> line. Well, NJTransit operates MetroNorth trains on the Port Jervis
line.
> Yes it is done and can be done when the Cutoff is back in place. If not,
> perhaps we'll  see the NEPTA version of SEPTA. I don't know the
agreement
> between NJT and MetroNorth, but it does exist.

It is a long-standing contract for operation of trains.  Metro-North also
provides capital funding to buy cars and engines; they bought two used
F40's from AMTRAK and also moved some cars from east of the Hudson a
number of years ago.

A number of years ago, there was much less service between Suffern and
Port Jervis.  New York decided they wanted more but didn't think patronage
would justify paying NJT to run it.  Metro-North had some RDC's available;
they soon were running a shuttle service with good connections at Suffern
using Metro-North crews.  Patronage grew and Metro-North decided it was
worth having through service, so the Metro-North shuttles were replaced by
NJT trains and crews.  Four of the RDC's ultimately went to the NYS&W and
are used in Syracuse.

Arrangements for the Cutoff will have NJT run the trains and subsidy
payments by Pennsylvania.  One reason for ongoing delays to the project is
lack of money from Pennsylvania; when the property was being acquired NJ
had to advance Pennsylvania's share in a hurry and was only recently
repaid.  Federal money is waiting for Pennsylvania's matching funds...

> Commuter rails aside, I see history repeating itself and I see the
> regionals getting together (if they have the cash) providing freight 
> service via Scranton to the south and southeastern part of the region.
> NYSW, you have work to do. Be careful of the little guys biting at your
> butt. NYSW is the largest regional so work with the little guys.

One reason the Cutoff's rails were torn up was lack of business along it. 
 There were other routes for freight to reach its destination and they
were much easier railroading.  Getting through the valley at Scranton is
still a pain if you have a big freight train; the Erie side was favored in
EL days because it avoided the grades around Scranton and because there
was much less passenger traffic once the commuter zones were reached.  It
will be very hard to thread a freight through Dover with only two tracks
at the station and an NJT train every 30 minutes in both directions from
5am until after midnight.  East of Dover, you have the problems of
overhead wire on both lines (Boonton Line is electrified between Great
Notch and Walnut St); other low clearances; high-level platforms at Dover,
Denville and Summit with more to come; and a 'weak' bridge westbound
between Summit and Chatham that restricts passenger trains to 20 mph.

=====
Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey

http://www.geocities.com/gkazin/index.html

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