# Ride through Harold Interlocking



## jis (Apr 3, 2010)

For those of you who are far away from New York and yet would like to experience riding by the Sunnyside Yard on a sunny day through all of the famous Harold Interlocking where Amtrak and LIRR come together or split apart, depending on the direction you are traveling take a look at

.
It start soon after the Amtrak Northeast Regional that I was on emerges from the East River Tunnels headed East towards Boston, and continues all the way to Gate Interlocking on the Hell Gate Line. On the way we pass Sunnyside Yard, clearly visible in the video, then cross over the Sunnyside Loop tracks, and then finally fly over the LIRR tracks to turn left onto the Hell Gate Line.

Enjoy!


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## MrFSS (Apr 3, 2010)

Nice!


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## J-1 3235 (Apr 3, 2010)

Well, I'm not that far from New York, but I enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing it Jishnu.

Mike


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## GG-1 (Apr 3, 2010)

Mahalo also loved all that wire


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## jis (Apr 3, 2010)

GG-1 said:


> Mahalo also loved all that wire


Mahalo!

Too bad no GG-1s in that yard anymore. When I passed Harold Interlocking for the first time in my life in 1965, Sunnyside Yard was literally crawling with GG-1s!


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## AlanB (Apr 3, 2010)

jis said:


> GG-1 said:
> 
> 
> > Mahalo also loved all that wire
> ...


All trains and engines crawl in that yard. The speed limit is only like 5 MPH. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## AlanB (Apr 3, 2010)

Did they wrong rail you out of the Line 2 tunnel? Or did they just cross you way over to the left after you came out of the Line 1 tunnel? Cause you're running way far to the left/north of forward motion for what's normal. Then they bring you back over to the south/right to the flyover to the Hell Gate line and Gate.

And the store that everyone can see in that video with the rooftop parking right before the train heads up onto the Hell Gate line is the Stop & Shop supermarket where I do all of my food shopping.

It's also a great railfanning place, as you can just sit in your car and face the tracks to catch all the action.


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## cpamtfan (Apr 3, 2010)

I've past this yard many times over the years so this seems like a "usual occurance". I love doing it from the front/back of a train.


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## jis (Apr 3, 2010)

AlanB said:


> Did they wrong rail you out of the Line 2 tunnel? Or did they just cross you way over to the left after you came out of the Line 1 tunnel?


The right side (facing east) of Harold was closed that day due to track-work. Hence the way to the left running. Normally one would come out and travel on the right side of the Sunnyside turning loops. But as you notice, on that day we were on the left side of the loops. Under normal circumstances, Harold Tower would also be to the left of the train, but this day it was on the right and hence not visible in the video.

Oh, and yes, we wrong railed on 2 that day.


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## the_traveler (Apr 3, 2010)

Great video Jishnu! 



AlanB said:


> And the store that everyone can see in that video with the rooftop parking right before the train heads up onto the Hell Gate line is the Stop & Shop supermarket where I do all of my food shopping.
> It's also a great railfanning place, as you can just sit in your car and face the tracks to catch all the action.


I tried that at my Stop & Shop, but I didn't see any trains! :lol: Maybe because they're not running thru KIN right now, and my Stop & Shop is 7+ miles from the tracks!


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## AlanB (Apr 3, 2010)

jis said:


> AlanB said:
> 
> 
> > Did they wrong rail you out of the Line 2 tunnel? Or did they just cross you way over to the left after you came out of the Line 1 tunnel?
> ...


Thanks Jishnu. I did that once a couple of years ago on an Acela where they sent us out of Penn on Line 2.

And I realize that I should probably explain for those reading who might not know, but normally Lines 2 & 4 are the inbound or westbound tunnels to Penn Station. Lines 1 & 3 are the outbound or eastbound tunnels from Penn Station to Queens. The term wrong railing means that the train traveled in a direction that is not normal for that trackage, in this case going east on tracks that typically only see westbound trains.

In another intersting note about all of this, the lines 1 & 3 both emerge in Queens side by side on the right or south side of the right of way. Lines 2 & 4 start going under about 50 yards from one another, but are also side by side on the north or left side. However, Lines 2 & 3 actually cross over/under one another on their way to Manhattan, such that by the time the tunnels reach Penn Station Lines 3 & 4 are now together on the north side of the station and serving the LIRR side and highest numbered tracks. Likewise, Lines 1 & 2 are now side by side and come in at the middle of Penn Station.


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## jis (Apr 4, 2010)

Did you notice that all the ratty old buildings on the north side of Sunnyside Yard have now been demolished, apparently as part of the East Side Access construction project? The place now looks downright decent.


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## AlanB (Apr 4, 2010)

jis said:


> Did you notice that all the ratty old buildings on the north side of Sunnyside Yard have now been demolished, apparently as part of the East Side Access construction project? The place now looks downright decent.


Yep, they've been tearing them down for the past 2 months I'd say. And yes, it's part of the ESA construction.

Many other signs of the ESA construction can also been seen along the Harold Interlocking tracks too. Most of what's being done right now though is more to prepare for temporary track relocation to allow reconstruction of Harold both to fix the Amtrak Hell Gate cross over conflict, as well as the new tracks from ESA.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Apr 4, 2010)

AlanB said:


> jis said:
> 
> 
> > Did you notice that all the ratty old buildings on the north side of Sunnyside Yard have now been demolished, apparently as part of the East Side Access construction project? The place now looks downright decent.
> ...


When you say ESA thats the project that will bring the LIRR to GCT right?


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## jis (Apr 4, 2010)

Long Train Runnin said:


> When you say ESA thats the project that will bring the LIRR to GCT right?


Correct. As part of that a significant part of Harold Interlocking will get modified. The realignment of Harold will include additional grade separated main tracks connecting the Hell Gate Line to the East River tunnels tracks 1 and 2, while removing all conflicts between Amtrak and LIRR at the east end of Harold.


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