Train 173 disabled near Greenwich, CT 3/12/14

[CHamilton]

Boston-Washington Amtrak train stuck for 5 hours

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Passengers on an Amtrak train from Boston to Washington, D.C., say they were stuck in Connecticut for about five hours because of a mechanical problem.

Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds says Train 173 became disabled near Greenwich (GREN'-ich) on Tuesday afternoon. The train had left Boston at 11:05 a.m. and was due in New York at 3:17 p.m.

Leeds says Amtrak planned to transfer the 252 passengers to another train but the replacement also had a mechanical problem. A rescue engine towed the train back to Stamford, where the passengers boarded another train to continue.

 

[jis]

A penalty brake application at an inopportune moment had the train come to a stop with its engine pat dab in the middle of the Mianus River Bridge (between Riverside and Cos Cob) where there is no catenary. So the train was stranded without power, and had to await rescue. As for why it took so many hours to make that happen, who knows?

 

[PRR 60]

A penalty brake application at an inopportune moment had the train come to a stop with its engine pat dab in the middle of the Mianus River Bridge (between Riverside and Cos Cob) where there is no catenary. So the train was stranded without power, and had to await rescue. As for why it took so many hours to make that happen, who knows?

If only had to be moved from the catenary dead zone, why was it towed back to Stamford? Why not simply move it a few feet to the point the pan can contact the catenary, restore power, and let it go on its way?

 

[engr08]

Stuck for 5 hours, where's is the protect diesel?

 

[amamba]

Jis, what is a penalty brake application?

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Jis, what is a penalty brake application?

The Engineer was either in Overspeed or blew a signal.

 

[Acela150]

Jis, what is a penalty brake application?

A penalty application happens when an engineer is going faster then allowed by ACSES or goes by a signal to fast or doesn't stop and the train is put into Emergency automatically.

 

[amamba]

Thank you!

 

[Acela150]

 

[fairviewroad]

A penalty brake application at an inopportune moment had the train come to a stop with its engine pat dab in the middle of the Mianus River Bridge (between Riverside and Cos Cob) where there is no catenary. So the train was stranded without power, and had to await rescue. As for why it took so many hours to make that happen, who knows?

If only had to be moved from the catenary dead zone, why was it towed back to Stamford? Why not simply move it a few feet to the point the pan can contact the catenary, restore power, and let it go on its way?

I'm curious about this too.

 

[Blackwolf]

Wild speculation here, but would anyone be surprised to hear that HHP-8 #650 was the next unit to be retired and stored "dead" thanks to the new ACS-64's coming on-line?

And would such a penalty application, somehow combined with stopping between the wires, be cause enough to kill a Hippo?

 

[jis]

I have no idea what charlie foxtrot went on after the event, that it took five hours to actually rescue the train. I just know what the original event was that caused the train to need to be rescued.

 

[rspenmoll]

Would it be possible to install a battery in the locomotives so they can travel short distances with live cantanery? This would prevent something like this from happening again, and would also be useful when the power fails on a short section of the Northeast Corridor. (The Hell Gate Bridge seems to especially be a trouble spot for this.)

 

[CHamilton]

I have no idea what charlie foxtrot went on after the event

I'll have you know that I never do the foxtrot. Prefer the Loco-Motion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5OoQadZTPk

 

[jis]

That's why lower case c and f was used in charlie foxtrot

 

[jis]

Would it be possible to install a battery in the locomotives so they can travel short distances with live cantanery? This would prevent something like this from happening again, and would also be useful when the power fails on a short section of the Northeast Corridor. (The Hell Gate Bridge seems to especially be a trouble spot for this.)

THE ACS-64s can travel a short distance on battery power, but not with an entire train in tow. This occurrence is relatively uncommon and nothing special needs to be done to address it.

Why would Hell Gate Bridge be a problem. It does not have any phase gaps on the bridge. There is one at Gate and the next one is somewhere in Pelham. BTW, there is no real short section of the corridor electrification where power could fail which is short enough to be covered on battery power by anything, specially with a train in tow.

 

[battalion51]

Most dead sections on the corridor occur where the train is at speed, so when the train hits the dead section it can coast through it. Getting a penalty application though definitely does complicate things in this situation. When an Engineer gets a penalty it is possible to recover without stopping the train, but something went very wrong here...

 

[Karl1459]

A penalty brake application at an inopportune moment had the train come to a stop with its engine pat dab in the middle of the Mianus River Bridge (between Riverside and Cos Cob) where there is no catenary. So the train was stranded without power, and had to await rescue. As for why it took so many hours to make that happen, who knows?

If only had to be moved from the catenary dead zone, why was it towed back to Stamford? Why not simply move it a few feet to the point the pan can contact the catenary, restore power, and let it go on its way?

Just speculating...

1. With a delay in moving the train with a protect diesel could the engineer gone dead on HOS (or close enough to need relief)?

2. Could the penality application flat spotted a wheel, or worn a brake shoe to where maintainance was needed before proceeding?

3. Could the penality application been the result of a serious enough violation to suspend the crew?

 

[engr08]

A train get a penalty at anytime, I received a penalty application for no reason but the good thing was I was able to clear it. Penalty application can come from like the others said ignoring a signal and overspeeding. There are many other reasons why a penalty application can occur, just to name a few. Cab signal change that is not acknowledge, not acknowledging the dead man feature, a train that was not set up the correct way and etc. Penalty can come from anywhere and it doesn't have to be your fault.

 

[oldtimer]

A train get a penalty at anytime, I received a penalty application for no reason but the good thing was I was able to clear it. Penalty application can come from like the others said ignoring a signal and overspeeding. There are many other reasons why a penalty application can occur, just to name a few. Cab signal change that is not acknowledge, not acknowledging the dead man feature, a train that was not set up the correct way and etc. Penalty can come from anywhere and it doesn't have to be your fault.

You are correct engr08. I would also like to point out that a penalty application is a controlled reduction of brake pipe pressure, which can be recovered (mechanically, not up to date on operating rules) without coming to a complete stop.

An Emergency application is an uncontrolled release of brake pipe pressure and can originate anywhere in the train consist and must require a complete stop and time to recharge the brake system of all cars.

An emergency application can be triggered by a conductor valve being used, an brake pipe trainline hose separation, a fireman's valve application and many other reasons.

reason for edit: fat, arthritic fingers

 

[HAL]

Jis, what is a penalty brake application?

The Engineer was either in Overspeed or blew a signal.

There are many reasons that can cause a penalty application. Mechanical faults on the engine are must likely or a fault of the ACSES. For example there have been a slew of low main reservoir faults on HHPs of late that have causes penalty applications. I don't know the facts in this instance but the causes you cited are the least likely.

 

[jis]

ACSES fault would be unlikely on MNRR, since there is no ACSES in that territory. But there could be some cab signal fault that cause a penalty brake application too.