PATH - Still Full of Hot Air

 Although The PATH has stood up a CBTC solution to increase capacity and fulfill its PTC requirement as a railroad, they still maintain a reserve system of wayside equipment that follows their historic pattern of signaling and moreover the PATH remains committed to the use of pneumatic point machines and trip stops.  The Path Guy captured this newly installed US&S pneumatic trip stop at Journal Square that was supporting a platform extension project. The PATH is likely the last operator to continue to install this type of equipment.

New York Media Picks Up On True Cause of Subway Meltdown

I wanted to give a shout out to someone at the New York Times for reporting on the real cost of "safety" improvements.  For those of you who aren't aware, the NYC Subway is currently experiencing a meltdown due to high ridership and delays that quickly propagate through an at-capacity system.  The NYCTA/MTA are quick to blame the high ridershi or generic "aging infrastructure", however a Times reporter correctly put the blame squarely on two decisions the MTA made under the guise of improving safety.

One of these was a decision to drastically expand the number of speed control signals throughout the system.  Once only used in the locations most at risk of a speed related derailment, they have been placed all over the system in an effort to remove operator skill from the equation of train operation.  What the MTA didn't forsee (and what anyone familiar with this topic easily could) was that the speed control signals induced operators to reducing speed far below what should have been allowed.  This is because operators are not only punished for getting tripped by the Automatic Train Stop, but also because the speed control signals are not well maintained or calibrated and will often release 5-10 mph below the speeds they should.  This results in highly conservative train operation.  The net result was that all of the slack time in the system was used up dealing with speed control signals so now even the smallest delay will persist for hours, affecting both the initially delayed train and every train behind it.

4 one shot timer signals at Canal St replacing what had once been left to the operator's skill.

We can see PTC having the same effect with SEPTA, Amtrak and Metro North all having to increase their running times to account for the slower speeds.  Speed control thresholds don't take existing safety margins into account and calculated braking curves are also highly conservative making all trains run like they have a grandmother at the controls. All of this will reduce capacity and make making up time a concept of the past.

Some insiders have stated that the true reason behind the slow down of trains using speed control signals is to gain leverage over the unionized workforce in contract negotiations.  Not only does removing skill from the position allow for the recruitment of younger or less skilled workers, it also prevents rulebook slowdowns, the Transit Worker's union only weapon since strikes are banned by state law.  The idea was to slow the system down proactively so that work actions would lose their power (think of the frog in the boiling pot of water). However now the scuttlebutt is that management simply doesn't know what it's doing and there is no real strategy behind the slowdowns aside from doing what the safety consultants recommend. 

An interesting point of comparison is The PATH railroad that runs between New York and Newark.  It uses pretty much the same equipment and signaling system, but the timers are timed properly so that the operators can run right at them at the prescribed speed and not get tripped. In fact, before 2010 the PATH equipment didn't even come with speedometers, requiring the engineers to know how fast they were going on instinct.



Anyway it will be interesting to see if the MTA is forced to back down from its position of slowing down the system in the name of "safety" or if they will stay the course and try to extract billions from the government for such Wunderwaffen as CBTC. Which, I should mention, is only expected to deliver an additional 2 tph on the 7 line, resulting in a frequency that is still below historic levels when operators were given the freedom to use their skills to maintain the schedule.. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/09/nyregion/subway-crisis-mta-decisions-signals-rules.html

Classic Towers Closing on the Queens Boulevard Line

With electro-mechanical interlocking machines in terminal decline on North American main line railroads, the NYC Subway stood out as a bastion of classic signaling with more GRS Model 5's and US&S Model 14's than could be found throughout the entirety of the "real" railroad network stretching from coast to coast.  Unfortunately, this appears to be coming to an end.  Last I addressed this subject the system had just closed two towers at 4th Ave and Church Ave on the Prospect Park Line.  This week I learned that three additional towers have closed on the Queens Boulevard line with one to follow shortly.

First I need to catch up on some old news.  Way back in 2013 the NYCTA closed the fishbown 5th Ave tower that worked the junction between the Queens Boulevard the 6th Ave trunks.  This tower was notable for being able to watch the operator line up alternating straight and diverging movements between E and M/V trains on a 40 lever GRS Model 5. 

The Queens Plaza complex had already been re-signaled in support of the 63rd St connection, but just past it was the Roosevelt Ave crossover complex with another GRS Model 5 equipped tower at the east end of the eastbound platform.  Only open as needed, I got some photos of the 60 lever machine back in December of 2015 after someone had left the lights on.  I had known that the Queens Boulevard was on track for a CBTC capable re-signaling project, but I had expected that to take years if not decades to complete.  Unfortunately I just found out that the tower closed less than a year after :-(

After Roosevelt the normally GRS equipped IND line enters US&S country.  Although hard to get photos of due to the presence of a manned dispatch booth, the Continental Ave tower held an 83 lever US&S Model 14 that was also visible from the platform.  This interlocking contains not only crossovers, but access to Jamaica Yard from the west.  I just learned that its duties were recently transferred to a new N-X style area interlocking panel located in somewhere in the station.

Union Turnpike tower contains a 43 lever US&S machine and mirrors Continental Ave's function for trains accessing the yard from the east.  Apparently this tower is still open, but will close soon.  For sch a complex signaling project that involved at least a wiff of CTBC I really expected it to take many more years than it did :-( 

I'd say I should have tried to get more photos, but the paranoid staff I really did the best I could.  As I learned from Church Ave, it's really tough to provide a good "feel" for old NYC Subway towers since there is just so much that is behind the scenes.

In related news, I also got word that the PATH smashboards protecting the DOCK drawbridge at Harrison have been removed.  This was not unexpected as both the DOCK complex and PATH in general are being re-signaled.  It's a shame that the smashboards did not make the cut as PATH is keeping its pneumatic trips and switches, but in the age of CBTC there probably isn't as much of a need to get in the operator's face. 

Anyway, sorry for the bad news.  Visit NYC while the towers last!