Rail Service Alerts-Discussion Thread

[sw4400]

Forum,

Let's use this thread for the discussions of Rail Alerts and keep the regular Rail Service Alerts thread for just that..... the alerts..... Common chitransit.org guidelines apply here......

 

Rail Alerts Handmade Maps

[sw4400]

2 hours ago, Pace831 said:

Service on the Yellow Line has been temporarily suspended due to a collision with a vehicle.

Use #97 Skokie buses as an alternative to Yellow Line service.

Mon, Apr 4 2016 10:30 AM to TBD

To the motor vehicle operators....

If lights are flashing and gates are coming down/are down at a crossing the bell is clanging away..... don't cross the tracks!!! There's more and more of these Darwin Award winners everyday, I swear!!!

5517-5518 are involved.... I don't know if they were the pair that made contact with this genius.... sorry for the rant, but whether it's Metra, Amtrak, Freight or CTA, this is becoming an all-too-common practice of not waiting at the crossing and running the gates.

[Pace831]

9 minutes ago, sw4400 said:

To the motor vehicle operators....

If lights are flashing and gates are coming down/are down at a crossing the bell is clanging away..... don't cross the tracks!!! There's more and more of these Darwin Award winners everyday, I swear!!!

5517-5518 are involved.... I don't know if they were the pair that made contact with this genius.... sorry for the rant, but whether it's Metra, Amtrak, Freight or CTA, this is becoming an all-too-common practice of not waiting at the crossing and running the gates.

When I first heard about this incident, I was surprised there are not more grade crossing accidents on the CTA, considering train frequency. But then I thought maybe people are less likely to go around the gates because they know it's going to be a short train that will only delay them about a minute. People take a calculated risk based on being late versus perceived chance of being hit by the train. Following this logic, I'd expect more risky behavior and consequently, more accidents if the possibility exists of having to wait several minutes for a long freight train or miss the Metra they intended to board.

[BusHunter]

I wonder what's the damage to the railcars? With a little luck maybe the cowcatcher did it's job. It's really not that much money to put gates that cover the whole street, then we wouldn't have people blowing the gates.

[sw4400]

Just now, Pace831 said:

When I first heard about this incident, I was surprised there are not more grade crossing accidents on the CTA, considering train frequency. But then I thought maybe people are less likely to go around the gates because they know it's going to be a short train that will only delay them about a minute. People take a calculated risk based on being late versus perceived chance of being hit by the train. Following this logic, I'd expect more risky behavior and consequently, more accidents if the possibility exists of having to wait several minutes for a long freight train or miss the Metra they intended to board.

I know freight trains can be long and delays at crossings can be lengthy... I was stuck at a crossing on a Pace Bus at 34th St. and Harlem. We arrived, the Bus Operator set the parking brake and took the bus out of gear, opened the door and listened by the crossing gates, then closed the door, released the parking brake and put the bus into gear and was just about to proceed when the lights activated and the gates went down. A Metra went through on the track closest to the image in the link provided to the station to the right. The gates remained down and I thought the gates would go up when the Metra left the station(it was loading and unloading passengers), when a Freight Train came through on the middle track and we were stuck there for over 5 minutes..... not the longest Freight Train by any means, but it was lengthy.

[Pace831]

3 minutes ago, sw4400 said:

I know freight trains can be long and delays at crossings can be lengthy... I was stuck at a crossing on a Pace Bus at 34th St. and Harlem. We arrived, the Bus Operator set the parking brake and took the bus out of gear, opened the door and listened by the crossing gates, then closed the door, released the parking brake and put the bus into gear and was just about to proceed when the lights activated and the gates went down. A Metra went through on the track closest to the image in the link provided to the station to the right. The gates remained down and I thought the gates would go up when the Metra left the station(it was loading and unloading passengers), when a Freight Train came through on the middle track and we were stuck there for over 5 minutes..... not the longest Freight Train by any means, but it was lengthy.

At least your bus operator did the safe thing and waited for the train. When I've been on buses in that situation, most of the time the operator decides to go once the lights start to flash. Makes me think the "schedules over safety" attitude is still prevalent.

[Busjack]

48 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

When I first heard about this incident, I was surprised there are not more grade crossing accidents on the CTA

Plenty compared to the number of crossings, especially at Kedzie and Leland, where even a cop tried to beat the train. Only difference between those impacts and this is the Skokie Swift being swift.

[Busjack]

46 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

It's really not that much money to put gates that cover the whole street, then we wouldn't have people blowing the gates.

No, then people just splinter them.

[sw4400]

Caution: Genius At Work!!!

 

[jajuan]

It's a nationwide problem unfortunately. Our culture is just too darn impatient these days from the running late issue on through to the faster pace of business transactions having folks in a hurry to get to this place and that to seal their latest deal. Add to that the large number of geniuses who can't take their heads out of their phones or away from other distractions, you can see how being a rail operator/engineer for all the different rail operations and services appears to be becoming an increasingly more stressful job with each passing year.

[Lost on Belmont]

4 hours ago, BusHunter said:

I wonder what's the damage to the railcars? With a little luck maybe the cowcatcher did it's job. It's really not that much money to put gates that cover the whole street, then we wouldn't have people blowing the gates.

"L" cars don't have pilots. The things you see in front are snowplows.

[BusHunter]

Because there has been a fatality involved I wonder if the train is going to have a legal hold on it if it does come back. I can't imagine anyone suing cta but crazy things have happened like the asian man that had urinated at grand red line on the tracks that was electrocuted.  His family actually got a judgement on his behalf.

[Busjack]

32 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Because there has been a fatality involved I wonder if the train is going to have a legal hold on it if it does come back.

Maybe for a day or two,* but the crossing has already been cleaned up. If this were a requirement, half of the Metra fleet would be on hold. There doesn't seem to be any claim that the train's brakes were defective, and I'm sure there is plenty of video.

_________

*When the Shermer Rd. bridge collapsed, plaintiffs' lawyers got a court order to inspect it in a couple of days.

[MTRSP1900-CTA3200]

Saw two pictures of the aftermath. Car 5517 is heavily damaged with most of its undercarriage bent towards the back of the 2 car set. The car involved is a mangled wreck.

[BusHunter]

2 hours ago, MTRSP1900-CTA3200 said:

Saw two pictures of the aftermath. Car 5517 is heavily damaged with most of its undercarriage bent towards the back of the 2 car set. The car involved is a mangled wreck.

That doesn't sound good. We may very well have our first #5000 retirement. Of course CTA could go with a 200K repair. The cars are worth so much, that it's hard to imagine it being totaled. Pics of the train are on chicago L on facebook. Here is a link. You might have to be a member to see it. The whole undercarriage is screwed up.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/120452714691417/?ref=br_rs

[sw4400]

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

That doesn't sound good. We may very well have our first #5000 retirement. Of course CTA could go with a 200K repair. The cars are worth so much, that it's hard to imagine it being totaled. Pics of the train are on chicago L on facebook. Here is a link. You might have to be a member to see it. The whole undercarriage is screwed up.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/120452714691417/?ref=br_rs

It all depends on the severity of the damage to the undercarriage and A/C Truck.... 3351-3352 and 3435-3436 have been in similar wrecks and haven't been seen since...... the rehab is for 257 3200's to be rehabbed, but the damage to these cars is similar to 5517.

On another note..... will that CTA Rail Operator be done after this? Not for job performance.... he/she followed policy and was not in the wrong, but psychologically.... killing another person, even on accident, can scar you for life.... he/ she may be too paranoid to return to the cab of a "L" train now.

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, sw4400 said:

3351-3352 and 3435-3436 have been in similar wrecks and haven't been seen since

The ones at Kedzie  hit the platform. Also note that all the solicitations for rehab parts are for 257 cars.

Again, why don't either of you  go to Skokie Shops and find out?

[BusHunter]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

The ones at Kedzie  hit the platform. Also note that all the solicitations for rehab parts are for 257 cars.

Again, why don't either of you  go to Skokie Shops and find out?

I can tell this much without going to skokie and just looking at the pictures. Most of the train cars components are in the undercarriage and if they are damaged that is going to severely impact that cars operation. You can pretty much place this car on the LTH list just by looking at it. Question is will it ever be back? I know the #3200 contract is for 257 cars, but we haven't seen the LTH cars yet.  I'm not even sure if #3351-52 is on the property anymore. 1,030 NF's were supposed to be rehabbed also, but we still haven't seen #1305. 

i suspect within a few months to a year we may see a contract for repair go out to a third party, like Delaware car company. CTA has sent them quite a few cars in the past. I think only something like frame damage is going to stop that from happening.

[sw4400]

4 hours ago, Busjack said:

The ones at Kedzie  hit the platform. Also note that all the solicitations for rehab parts are for 257 cars.

Again, why don't either of you  go to Skokie Shops and find out?

Correct.... after hitting a car that went around lowered gates at Kedzie. Your post regarding the rehabs is a little different(here it is again), calling only for rehabs of signs, HVAC Units and Auxillary Power Supply Units. Rail Car body repairs is not on mentioned in your post, which is what these cars will require to be returned to service, especially 3351-3352. You can see 3351-3352 here(Pic 1)(Pic 2) and here's 3435-3436.

As for the rhetoric about me going to Skokie Shops to find out..... remember what @garmon757 told you here.....  I'm taking the high road and not going to get in a keyboard war with you again.... this is how it all began last time...

This is my opinion(which I'm allowed to share with the forum) based on the fact that 3351-3352 & 3435-3436 have yet to see service again even with a contract for 257 3200-Series railcars, the body damage incurred to them from the vehicle/train accidents at Kedzie and derailment of 3351-3352 into the station(there was no mention of 3435-3436 derailing when this occured, just body damage)and based on the following post, it looks likes it's @BusHunter's too, based on his post here.

[BusHunter]

2 hours ago, sw4400 said:

It all depends on the severity of the damage to the undercarriage and A/C Truck.... 3351-3352 and 3435-3436 have been in similar wrecks and haven't been seen since...... the rehab is for 257 3200's to be rehabbed, but the damage to these cars is similar to 5517.

On another note..... will that CTA Rail Operator be done after this? Not for job performance.... he/she followed policy and was not in the wrong, but psychologically.... killing another person, even on accident, can scar you for life.... he/ she may be too paranoid to return to the cab of a "L" train now.

The operator should be OK, but they might be traumatized. Here's an article that explains that part of the job.

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2009/08/16/Train-engineers-traumatized-by-fatal-collisions-with-pedestrians-and-motorists/stories/200908160126

I'm not sure if CTA has a operator see a counselor, but they should if it's requested. Best thing for the operator to know, is it's not their fault and the result was unavoidable. Like the article says these operators have to deal with many suicides, so it's something someone should be prepared to face, working in this line of work. 3 fatalities happen on average in every rail operator's career.

[Busjack]

12 hours ago, BusHunter said:

and if they are damaged

If....

12 hours ago, BusHunter said:

i suspect within a few months to a year we may see a contract for repair go out to a third party

That's more likely than throwing $3.2 million in the garbage can.

12 hours ago, sw4400 said:

Your post regarding the rehabs is a little different(here it is again), calling only for rehabs of signs, HVAC Units and Auxillary Power Supply Units.

That was the first post. Of course you didn't read the entire thread, including where there were references to "bills of materials," "$900K per car" and someone posted a picture of a car identifying it as rehabbed because it has shiny undercar equipment.

I also explained the reason I said what I said, so don't lecture me. You don't know what the condition of that car is. I guess you didn't read jajuan's post and my reply on that subject, either.

Again you seem to have a bias that everything is unrepairable, and CTA just throws out $500,000 here, $3,200,000 there. It isn't the leftover produce at the Safeway that just closed, or  Lucerne dairy or Open Nature Pizza being sold for half price.

You obviously did not do your homework before this post.

[sw4400]

5 minutes ago, strictures said:

I had just gotten off an Evanston train from Linden at 12:22 PM when the PA announced that there wasn't any Skokie Swift service due to a fire at Oakton. So it appears even the secret CTA control center got it wrong.

I almost went to Dempster to get on the Swift but changed the way I went at the last minute, which turned out lucky for me.

BTW, what's with the map showing the former stations on the old Niles Center Branch?

The maps I have for the "L" lines come from Chicago-l.org. I could wipe the old stations out, but I never took the time to edit them. I might adjust them in the future, however...

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, sw4400 said:

The maps I have for the "L" lines come from Chicago-l.org. I could wipe the old stations out, but I never took the time to edit them. I might adjust them in the future, however...

Why appropriate someone else's intellectual property? In a misleading and out of context manner?

[Busjack]

7 minutes ago, sw4400 said:

4/7/16 8:45p

Rail Line(s) Affected: Blue

Level Of Service Interruption: Major Delays

Information: O'Hare-bound trains are standing near Jefferson Park due to a medical emergency on the tracks.

See you are still infringing the Copyright Act. Why don't you stop?

[sw4400]

8 minutes ago, Kimball401 said:

I just spotted 2 shuttle buses coming down River RD I had to almost catch myself from busting a u turn to ask what was happening

@Kimball401. Thank you so much for this post!!!  This is the reason for the Rail Alerts!!! To inform the public that visit this forum as to the happenings on the CTA Rail System. The text alert info.... the rail maps with the markers to indicate where the interruption(s) are.... this is the point of my posts.... Thank you!!!