I saw no signs of a rebuilt or rebuilding project for the substation. I was with my grandson. We walked out to the end of the track 6 platform. The yard looked as it always had. However, the control tower was in front of us and it blocked a large portion of the yard so something could have been going on I could not see.
Hey John it's New Jersey! Something's ALWAYS going on!
Look at the big doin's at the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton! Fun, fun, fun!
I've never been to the Tick Tock although Allwood Road is pretty close to me. My dinner of choice is the State Street Grill.
But in a dinner I don't want fun, fun, fun. I want my breakfast in piece.
PS. Do you remember Schaffer's in Hoboken, right across Hudson Place from the terminal. It was open 24 hours a day so if you missed your 2 am train and had to wait to 5 for the next one you could always get a cup of coffee at Schaffer's. I enjoyed eating there more than once.
Several years ago it was closed for some rather disgusting health violations.
John, I never went to Schaffers, that's one I missed.
The health violations? The word was when I was in high school 40-plus years ago it was all the health code violations that gave that extra flavor kick to what they served at Pizza Town in Paramus! Great pizza, and boy do I miss the zeppoles! Pizza Town's long gone but still sorely missed by those who remember.
As far as the "fun" at the Tick Tock, I think you missed my meaning. Check www.northjersey.com or www.nj.com. Wow! Like something on the "ID Channel".
Wayne,
My morning Star-Ledger had a large front page article about the Tick Tock Diner along with the management philosophy there. I thought working in a diner would be fairly routine, even dull. Was I ever wrong.
John
Firelock76 Hey John it's New Jersey! Something's ALWAYS going on! Look at the big doin's at the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton! Fun, fun, fun!
If Spyropoulos goes into the dinner train market, look for his consist to include the Tip-Top-Double-Tap car..
Overmod Firelock76 Hey John it's New Jersey! Something's ALWAYS going on! Look at the big doin's at the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton! Fun, fun, fun! If Spyropoulos goes into the dinner train market, look for his consist to include the Tip-Top-Double-Tap car..
Excuse me while I catch my breath, I'm choking from laughing!
Hey, it looks like we're only 43 comments away from an even 500. Keep it rollin' gang!
Here's an article from the Newark Star-Ledger about NJTransit spending $28M to repair 11 ALP-45DP locomotives that were damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The article does not state if these 11 locomotives include the 9 that NJTransit insists are not their responsibility, since they had not accepted the titles to them from Bombardier.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/nj_transit_to_pay_285m_for_11.html#incart_river_default%3E
The comments to the article are also interesting to read.
Some, if not most of the "Star-Ledger's" commenters are pretty sharp and entertaining to read.
Unfortunately, if the moderators of the comment sections aren't paying attention the comments tend to descend to the "You suck!" "No, YOU suck!" level.
Not everyone keeps it civil like we do here, but then as railfans we ARE a cut above average.
Firelock76Unfortunately, if the moderators of the comment sections aren't paying attention the comments tend to descend to the "You suck!" "No, YOU suck!" level.
Do you think they are that polite?
John WR Firelock76Unfortunately, if the moderators of the comment sections aren't paying attention the comments tend to descend to the "You suck!" "No, YOU suck!" level. Do you think they are that polite?
John, I was trying to rein it in a bit, not knowing who's looking in here at any one time. I've seen some exchanges on the S-L comments pages that made my hair stand on end.
I thought about becoming a commenter myself but now I wouldn't go there in without an M-14 with a fixed bayonet! Plus a grenade or two, and maybe a Marine F/A-18 flying top cover for me. That site can get scary!
Wayne
I can't say I'm scared of the S-L's commenters. But other than that I agree with you. Many of them want only to bash someone with whom they disagree whether or not their bashing is related to the issue. Often is it not related to anything at all.
I found clarification to this article in another blog. The 11 locomotives do not include the Bombardier "owned" locomotives.
NJTransit had received all 35 ALP-45DP locomotives in the current order from Bombardier. 23 had been accepted and are NJT property, while 12 had not completed evaluation and titles remain with Bombardier. These 12 locos also have flood damage.
It seems like NJTransit management has escaped from their fiasco without even a slap on the wrist.
Who knows why no-one in NJT's mangagement's been fired over this? Anyones guess is as good as any.
One thing's for certain: If someone in the private sector had pulled a boner like this they would have been:
A) Fired
B) Kicked upstairs to the Board of Directors, so they could save a little face and not be responsible for anything anymore, depending on their rank in the company of course.
That's what happened after a little fiasco in the company I work for. C'est la vie.
While a private sector company may hold people accountable I don't know that they always do. Recently I read of some officers who, have major mistakes, have been given enormous golden handshakes.
However, if anyone is responsible here it is the Executive Director, Jerome Weinstein. If anything happened to him it would be all over local newspapers. But it isn't and so far anyway there is no suggestion anything will happen to him.
Hi John!
I guess Mr. Weinstein must play golf with the right people, huh?
Firelock76 guess Mr. Weinstein must play golf with the right people, huh?
Hello Wayne,
My sense of the attitude toward Jerome Weinstein is that on the whole except for this one episode he has done an excellent job and the elected officials who oversee him are willing to forgive him this one error. I haven't seen or heard anything that even suggests his job is in danger.
sandyhookken I found clarification to this article in another blog. The 11 locomotives do not include the Bombardier "owned" locomotives. NJTransit had received all 35 ALP-45DP locomotives in the current order from Bombardier. 23 had been accepted and are NJT property, while 12 had not completed evaluation and titles remain with Bombardier. These 12 locos also have flood damage. It seems like NJTransit management has escaped from their fiasco without even a slap on the wrist.
Those 12 units that had not been accepted yet, were still on NJT property, and if they were under the control of NJT, I would think Bombardier might like to be compensated if negligence could be shown. This could be the spark that blows up the whole mess... or maybe not.
MidlandMikeThose 12 units that had not been accepted yet, were still on NJT property, and if they were under the control of NJT, I would think Bombardier might like to be compensated if negligence could be shown. This could be the spark that blows up the whole mess... or maybe not.
In local newspapers I have seen several mentions by NJT of insurance coverage for storm damage. I don't have a sense of how much damage insurance did cover but it could be substantial and it could cover the Bombadier owned locomotives... or maybe not.
John WR MidlandMikeThose 12 units that had not been accepted yet, were still on NJT property, and if they were under the control of NJT, I would think Bombardier might like to be compensated if negligence could be shown. This could be the spark that blows up the whole mess... or maybe not. In local newspapers I have seen several mentions by NJT of insurance coverage for storm damage. I don't have a sense of how much damage insurance did cover but it could be substantial and it could cover the Bombadier owned locomotives... or maybe not.
I think you are right in thinking insurance coverage is behind this controversy. But I interpret the thing a little differently: if NJT did not legally yet own those Bombardier locomotives, then the insurance that would cover them would be Bombardier's and not NJT's (which is already hammered enough!) and I can very, very easily see why NJT would leap on the idea of establishing that a legal transfer of ownership had not formally taken place!
I suspect that Bombardier's insurance would cover the actual cost to Bombardier, exclusive of profit, which would be less than what NJT's coverage would have to pay. Bombardier might then have further recourse to recover the amount of the profit or other amounts such as delivery ... but that would be between Bombardier and their insurors. Subsequent recovery of damages from NJT for negligence or whatever would also be something Bombardier (or its insurors) might, and probably will, consider, but that is (and perhaps should be) a different claim from the one NJT makes for its own storm-damaged property...
Today's (Monday) has another article on NJTransit's refusal to provide information on their storm planning, again raising the "security" claim. The comparison with New York MTA is revealing.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_Transit_is_silent_on_how_it_prepared_for_superstorm_Sandy.html
North Jersey Media, the parent company of the Bergen Record, over the recent years has treated several major news stories as "causes", especially when stonewalling by government officials occur. NJ Media devotes considerable resources (legal, additional staff, etc.) to these "causes". Some of these, like the Ford hazardous waste dump in Ringwood, have been going on for years. Politicians are well aware of the continuing publicity of these "causes", and definitely do not want to be portrayed as part of the problem.
The tone of today's article suggests that NJTransit's Sandy planning and response has now become a "cause".
So far The Record has not been able to get to the truth about NJT. However, in its unrelenting attempts it does weaken NJT's efforts to defend itself. In the absence of another scandal NJT may well be able to keep its response a secret. But if another scandal does emerge then its strategy could lead to political disaster.
I read the North Jersey.com article a few minutes ago. Don't you just LOVE NJ Transits disaster plan, compared to New Yorks?
If the Record has adopted the NJ Transit Sandy fiasco as a "cause" it's a cause I can agree with. Some of the causes they adopted in the past had me calling it "The Wretched", but I won't argue with them on this one.
The Bergen Record finally got a "clean" copy of NJTransit's Hurricane planning document.
http://dng.northjersey.com/media_server/tr/2013/05/16transit/NJTransitRailHurricanePlan.pdf
The following article does a nice comparison between the plan's contents and what NJTransit management stated after the storm.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/NJTRANSIT.html?page=all
Can anyone find the "Security" issues in this Plan that NJTransit used to redact the entire document? I read the document twice, and couldn't find any.
sandyhookkenCan anyone find the "Security" issues in this Plan that NJTransit used to redact the entire document? I read the document twice, and couldn't find any.
Surely, Sandy, you do not suggest New Jersey Transit claimed security concerns to cover up their own incompetence when dealing with the storm.
Bergan record has NJ Transit's plan for future predicted storm situations.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_Transit_retools_storm_strategy_shifts_rail_stock_to_safer_storage.html
How much of Conrail's Linden yard is electrified? Would NJT need to do much work there so that things would go smoothly if they needed to store a lot of electrics there in an emergency?
Today, the Bergen Record newspaper ran the following editorial.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/213443661_The_Record__Transit_and_Sandy.html
Just keeping the pressure on; how much good it will do is questionable.
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