Life on the Rails

[viper37]

And future NHL players. 

Easy turnaround spot for players that miss their stop at Montreal?

[Savonarola]

I know what he means, but I'm trying to remember if there was another technical reason why they couldn't achieve more than 120-140km/h.

Got it:
Speed limit is 95mph for passenger trains:
https://tc.canada.ca/en/rail-transportation/rules/2021-2022/2021-2022/part-ii-track-safety-rules


But my experience has been that they don't reach that speed, since they stop in a lot of villages along the way.

Thanks, Metrolinx has told us 200 Kmph; so they may be planning (hoping?) for changes.  Part of the reason that the numbers are lower is that today no one in Canada uses Automatic Train Control / Automatic Train Protection.  In the United States on standard track with an ATC/ATP we can go 119 MPH (190 KMPH) on standard freight track.  In the Northeast corridor they go around 210 Kmph, but they have an enhanced track.

Go Trains already run at 95 Mph.

[crazy canuck]

I know what he means, but I'm trying to remember if there was another technical reason why they couldn't achieve more than 120-140km/h.

Got it:
Speed limit is 95mph for passenger trains:
https://tc.canada.ca/en/rail-transportation/rules/2021-2022/2021-2022/part-ii-track-safety-rules


But my experience has been that they don't reach that speed, since they stop in a lot of villages along the way.

Thanks, Metrolinx has told us 200 Kmph; so they may be planning (hoping?) for changes.  Part of the reason that the numbers are lower is that today no one in Canada uses Automatic Train Control / Automatic Train Protection.  In the United States on standard track with an ATC/ATP we can go 119 MPH (190 KMPH) on standard freight track.  In the Northeast corridor they go around 210 Kmph, but they have an enhanced track.

Go Trains already run at 95 Mph.

The link Viper gave you only went up to class 5.  There is a class 6 track that goes up to 200 kph, but I am not sure how much of that actually exists.

[mongers]

--Snip

Go Trains already run at 95 Mph.

Sav, quick you need to come over to London and fix this cockup:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx9v8qypv4o

Nationwide fault causes delays across rail network

BBC News
Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent
6 December 2024, 07:55 GMT

A major disruption on the UK's rail network has caused delays on at least nine lines on Friday morning.

National Rail said the issue was due to a "nationwide fault" with the radio system used between train drivers and signallers that has now been fixed.

The Elizabeth line, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Northern, ScotRail, Southeastern, Southern, South Western Railway and Thameslink services have all been affected.

This includes delays to journeys in and out of some of England's major transport hubs - such as Manchester Piccadilly, London Paddington and Southampton Central.

National Rail said travellers should plan for some services to be cancelled at short notice.

Travel expert Simon Calder told BBC Radio 5Live commuters should "hope for the best but be prepared for delays and disruption".

He added that Friday morning had been "a miserable rush hour for a lot of people".

    Follow live updates here

National Rail said the issue appears to be a fault with the onboard GSMR radio system, which is used to communicate in case of emergencies.

The BBC understands the cause of the fault has been located and has been fixed.

To ease disruption prior to this, a back-up system was being used instead.

Network Rail said the issue was mainly affecting trains at the start or end of the day, which a spokesperson said was "causing a few minutes of delay at the start of the day".

But "once up-and-running the system is working normally and the impact on passengers is minimal," it added.

Even though the problem has now been fixed, National Rail said there may be some knock-on disruption.

It advises that passengers may be entitled to compensation if their journey is delayed.

Across the network on Friday morning, most delays appeared to be no longer than 15 minutes, but some services have been delayed by up to an hour.

National Rail warns there are still delays of up to 15 minutes on Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services, with some short-notice cancellations possible.

Most passengers on these lines will be able to travel on their normal route, National Rail said.

Some Heathrow Express trains between Reading and Heathrow Airport have also been delayed, along with Elizabeth line services across the entire line.

ScotRail said its services were affected on Friday morning but have since returned to normal operation.

Earlier, the Gatwick Express was only running between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport, not serving Brighton.

Elsewhere, South Western Railway trains from Brighton to Southampton Central were only running to Bognor Regis or Chichester, while Great Northern services between Kings Lynn and London Kings Cross were only running between Kings Lynn and Cambridge.

What's causing the disruption?

The issue was caused by the railway's GSMR system, which allows drivers and signallers to communicate in areas - such as tunnels - where previous analogue systems did not work.

It works in a similar way to mobile phones, but the digital system is not reliant on commercial mobile phone operators. The rail network has its own contained phone and mast system.

One rail source told the BBC that "the system [wasn't] connecting easily".

The BBC understands that a new piece of hardware, installed as part of an upgrade to the system at a major telecommunications hub in Stoke, was the source of the problem.

Replacement hardware has been installed and the system rebooted.

While that was being fixed, we were been told that there were no safety-critical issues, as staff were using a workaround to manually reconnect.

This well-rehearsed backup is where drivers enter a code provided to them on a "wild card", which lets them establish communications with the national network.

It has been described to us as working like a wi-fi password - when the correct code is entered, the system becomes fully operational and will remain so.

Radios that had been manually programmed by drivers are now being switched back to automatic mode.

[HVC]

Sheilbh, you can now ride a train from Portugal to Singapore.  Although they mention the possibility of having to take a bus, which seems like cheating.

World's Longest Train Journey

[Duque de Bragança]

Sheilbh, you can now ride a train from Portugal to Singapore.  Although they mention the possibility of having to take a bus, which seems like cheating.

World's Longest Train Journey

There is only a rail link right from Spain to France through Catalonia (unless the Basque metro/light trail Topo counts), very little trains between Portugal and Spain, as in 2 regional trains per day, not international/night trains between Lisbon and Madrid (same between Porto and Vigo) so that link is a bit misleading. 

[Barrister]

Sheilbh, you can now ride a train from Portugal to Singapore.  Although they mention the possibility of having to take a bus, which seems like cheating.

World's Longest Train Journey

Maybe not Portugal to Singapore, but I used to think that taking the Trans-Siberian Railroad would be an awesome trip (and that would cover a big chunk of what they described here).

Of course no chance in hell I'd take that trip these days.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

There is only a rail link right from Spain to France through Catalonia (unless the Basque metro/light trail Topo counts), very little trains between Portugal and Spain, as in 2 regional trains, not international/night trains between Lisbon and Madrid (same between Porto and Vigo) so that link is a bit misleading. 

I get the impression someone figured out how to stitch a bunch of individual routes together to create a continuous journey, but is selling it in the beginning of the article (and the headline) like it's a package thing.

[Josquius]

Yeah that seems very sus.

[Duque de Bragança]

I have seen that so-called World's Longest Train Journey pop up regularly in my social media feed. A bit of AI probably.

[Norgy]

Any news on a new signal system for Norway?

[Savonarola]

On December 20th of last year Knorr-Bremse Signaling was given a stop work order from Alstom on the Metrolinx expansion project.  This project had been my primary focus for the past five years, and my only large project.  I was disappointed, having dedicated so much time to it and we were starting to make progress.  The lab was up; our design was coming together and the team, in our own dysfunctional way, was starting to gel.  In addition I had only a few minor projects to work on; at Knorr-Bremse Signaling are in the same situation as the market is softer than in years past.  We also don't have a lot of upcoming projects, as the sort of projects we will bid on are different than the ones Alstom bid on, so bids are in their starting phases.  One of our more eccentric directors instructed us to use this time for innovation and self-improvement so that we wouldn't "Gress."  (That is stay still, we're supposed to progress rather than gress.)

One of the projects I had been involved with in a minor role was an Amtrak improvement to the Metro Northern Railroad in New York City.  Glen, from my Colombia stories, is the communication lead on this, and most of the comms work in our scope is on the fiber network, his specialty.  There is a radio component to this for Knorr-Bremse, though only a minor one.  The project is divided in a strange fashion.  Knorr-Bremse is responsible for the equipment in the cabinet including the radio and RF filters, but we're not responsible for the rest of the radio frequency equipment like antenna, lines, feeder or the radio coverage.  Those elements belong to a company called Railworks, however Railworks is a rail construction company and doesn't have experience in radio.  Amtrak started to pressure Railworks to bring up the first tower and demonstrate a proof of concept.  The first step of which is to write a test procedure.  Amtrak didn't have one available and Railworks didn't have the expertise, but I had written test procedures for different Amtrak projects so I volunteered to write one.  Amtrak, in true Amtrak fashion, couldn't tell us what they wanted in the procedure, but could certainly tell us what and came back with a hopper full of criticisms.  Then they didn't give us their official response until testing had already begun.  This project has been even more junior high school than most Amtrak projects.  I've had an Amtrak supervisor tell me he didn't like the tone of my voice; at least he didn't threaten that this would go down on my permanent record.

Once the test procedures had been preliminarily approved, Railworks set up to run the test.  They then realized that they had no one to run the test, so I made my flight arrangements to New York.  I had a dreadful flight in, with high turbulence coming into LaGuardia.  It was then that I discovered airplanes no longer have barf bags.  Fortunately I was okay, but a man a few rows ahead of me wasn't so lucky.  The cleaning crews rushed to his seat as we started to deplane.

I hadn't realized that the years in Toronto had taken a toll on me until I found myself aghast by the sheer volume of litter in New York.  (I also felt guilty about jaywalking; I've gone native to the great white north.)  Even the trash that makes it to the garbage man is an enormous amount.  New York City produces so much trash that they haul it away by rail.  There were fifteen hoppers parked on the tracks when we were at the yard that were filled to the brim with trash.

Our yard was in the Bronx, right across from Rikers Island (don't pick up swimmers.)  Glen and I met one of our coworkers from Buffalo, Jim and a Knorr-Bremse consultant from Brooklyn named Jonathan.  Jim is something of an eccentric in that he doesn't own a smart phone.

"How do you know what you're supposed to be outraged about?" asked Glen.

Somehow he manages he manages to live with, paper tickets, texting on a numeric keypad and without a daily dose of outrage.  It must be the equivalent to being a stylite in our modern world.

We entered the yard and were greeted by Rick, who is possibly the most stereotypical rail construction manager from New York imaginable:

"They told me none of you guys had any fucking PPE" was the first thing he said to us.  "I got all this shit in the back for you."  (PPE is personal protective equipment: hard hat, steel toed boots and an orange safety vest in Amtrak.)  Despite his blunt manner, Rick was the consummate professional.  He had all the tools we needed and we could get to work right away.  He even had a mobile work station, a bucket truck with a lab in the back which could run on the train tracks (a Hi-Rail vehicle.)



Our hotel was at 149th Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx.  It was, at one time, the Bronx Opera House opened in 1913 by none other than George M Cohan.  A number of stars from the era had performed there.  They had playbills and posters on the wall as decoration; but the only performer I recognized was Fanny Brice.



The neighborhood had declined from that era.  Rick had some definite opinions about where we were staying:

"I didn't want to come out and say on the call that you would be the only white people there, but Jesus, you're not even safe in your own fucking room there."

We did stand out, but no one seemed to care.  I didn't think it was such a bad neighborhood but, then again, I once drove through the near north side of Chicago around three in the morning to test for cellular coverage.  I was thinking the area wasn't so bad, certainly not as compared to Detroit, and then I saw that I was passing by the Cabrini-Green Housing Project.  Glen, was a quite bit more perturbed.  He had gotten there earlier than I did and, when wandering about, had seen a street person yelling at demons.  He asked the police if it was safe to take the train, and they said "Not really, you should take an Uber."

The rail yard wasn't in a great area, rail yards usually aren't.  Though it did look kind of cool in the violet hour:



There's a highway ramp right by our work zone, which is fairly steep.  Rick said they get a lot of jumpers there.  One guy hit the catenary and was there for over an hour before emergency rescue could get to him.  He was still alive when they got him, but didn't last very long afterwards.  We also had a "Men at Work" sign blow down into our zone.  A homeless man shouted down to us the next day wanting to know where his sign was.  One of the other Railworks guys told him that the police took it for evidence; he could talk to Amtrak if he needed it back.

Amtrak was out there in full force this time, with about 30 people working to take down the old catenary.  They were between us and the bathroom, so no one dared to go; they can kick you off the project for even the slightest violations (your badge isn't turned the right way, you're outta here) and all it takes is one Amtrak guy having a bad day to put the project in jeopardy.

I spent most of my time in the radio shelter trying to get the radio equipment working.  The rest of the team was either in the truck or the signal shelter.  The high tech signal monitoring system amused me:



Yes, those are Christmas lights.  The water bottles are one thing we always have on rail projects.  Amtrak doesn't have coffee (there are restrictions on the Federal Government providing their employees coffee) but even they always have water.

That evening Glen, Jim and I got dinner at a Mexican place in the neighborhood, which had a hole punched through the fiberglass doorway, but it had really good food and amazingly creamy guacamole.



I thought the Welcome sign above it added to the experience.

"That wasn't Mexican that you guys were eating," insisted Rick.

"I don't know it seemed authentic to me, even the menu was in Spanish," I replied.

"It's better that way, that way you don't know what you're eating."

Of course I can read Spanish, especially a menu since food is one of the first things you learn when you spend any time in Latin America.

We did finish early and Jim and Glen had flights home on Wednesday.  The work was supposed to last until late Wednesday night, so I was scheduled to leave Thursday morning.  If I were a model employee I would have gone back to my hotel room and written up the test report.  I went to the Museum of Modern Art (and took the subway as well, I'm such a daredevil.)

They've changed MoMA up a bit since I last went there.  Rather than having the paintings in chronological order they're grouped by theme or movement (though roughly in the same time period.)  That may be better, but a room full of German Expressionism is thoroughly depressing.  I've found I've changed too, as I didn't go to the contemporary area to look for something to complain about.

It's hard to top MoMA's star pieces, very few museums have so many world famous paintings:  Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,

Starry Night,



The Persistence of Memory,



Henri Matisse's "Dance,"



and many more.  You can always tell when you're getting near to one of the superstars as there's always a crowd in front of it.

I found I appreciate design more than when I was younger.  My hometown, Grand Rapid, had an art museum that was full of design (mostly furniture,) so I always associated it with being bored out of my mind on school field trips.  Now I'm delighted to see an Aeron chair, a little reminder of home in the wicked city.
 


I also found  a gem in one of the film excerpts, it was from L'Inhumaine, a 1924 film by Marcel L'Herbier, which has a lab scene that's the precursor to Universal's Frankenstein movies.

We have at least four trips ahead of us on this project, but I doubt we'll ever stay in the south Bronx again.  So I set out looking for Latin American food; I found a Peruvian restaurant called Pio Pio, which turned out to be a local chain.  The website made it look nice, so I assumed it was in a nicer neighborhood.  The restaurant was nice, but it was wedged between a low rent Middle Eastern and ghetto Chinese place in a neighborhood filled with bodegas and liquor stores.  I was close to Bronx Brewery as well, so maybe I just had to go that much further to find a nice neighborhood... and, no, it was in the middle of an industrial wasteland.  The bar was decorated with a bunch of funky artworks and had a hip older clientele who were discussing the ins and outs of historic fascism and how it related to our current political moment.  The bar was playing one of the Harry Potter movies.  The beer was decent, nothing outlandish or unusual.

I went back early the next day, through LaGuardia.  There were four separate lines for security and no one to direct you which line to go in; which led to a near fatal level of kvetching.  I was in line behind a gentleman as TSA was checking ID; they were going to send him back because something wasn't matching and then he said "Oh, I gave you my wrong ID," and I was amazed that anyone would give TSA his fake ID. 

In any event, for the New Yorkers, was I right; 149th and 3rd is just a typical working class largely African American neighborhood, or were my coworkers right and we were in a terrible neighborhood?

[mongers]

Very Nice trip and photos, Sav.

Oh and the rail infrastructure stuff was interesting too. 

[Savonarola]

Very Nice trip and photos, Sav.

Oh and the rail infrastructure stuff was interesting too. 

Thanks, Mongers

[Savonarola]

Any news on a new signal system for Norway?

I don't have any; I don't work at Alstom anymore.  When I did I used to get daily updates on Alstom's global projects; today we get a wellness newsletter called "Brake into Wellness" (our primary product is vehicle brakes.)  It takes some getting used to, going from reading about  railways in Africa and self driving busses in France to reading about mindfulness and "Listening to your body."