A close repeat of another fire in Harlem that occurred a couple years ago. This fire lasted for several hours under the MNRR tressel out of GCT. Passengers are being diverted onto Subway lines to pass by problem. Suspect that only partial service possible since many train sets would have been trapped in GCT for the afternoon rush hour.
Now the questions will be several. Is the steel still have enough strength to allow trains to pass over ? Maybe they can ferry the cars over one or two at a time ? If structural interity still good what about signals and third rail power ?
Article states passengers allowed onto subway. How will MTA subway handle the influx both extra trains and fare cards ?
https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160517/east-harlem/track-fire-disrupts-metro-north-service-during-evening-commute-officials
MNEE service alert
Service Alert
Because of Fire Dept activity at 118th Street and Park Avenue, Metro-North service is suspended to and from Grand Central. Customers should transfer to the Subway to connect to Metro-North trains in the Bronx. For the New Haven Line, take the to 233 St to connect to Metro-North's Woodlawn station. For the Harlem Line, take the to 241 St to connect to the Wakefeld Metro-North Station. For the Hudson Line, take the or to 161st Street-Yankee Stadium to connect Metro-North's Yankees-E. 153rd Street Station, or the to 225 St-Marble Hill. NYC Transit is cross-honoring Metro-North tickets at Grand Central and those Bronx stations.
Just speculation but if steel has to be replace how long will it take to fabricate replacements ? It may be after the first fire ( apartment ) that MNRR had some replacement parts fabricated.
Does MNRR have a contigency plans for route shutdown ?
How much will Amtrak be able to carry some passengers from NYP? Unfortunately what dual modes MNRR has out of GCT cannot operate into NYP's over riding third rail.
For Hudson line Amtrak could ferry NYP<>Yonkers and for New Haven line NYP<>New Rochelle.
But this is all speculation depending on MNRR's contingency plans and how soon the route can be restored ?
I heard on NBC news tonight that 2 tracks (out of the 4) were usable.
Unconfirmed from other source. evidently a support colum between tracks 2 & 3 is compromised. That causes the east west beam from tracks 1- 4 unable to support the inner track's beams. Fabrication is in progress to reinforce the center column. Meanwhile slow orders on track 1 & 4 . Wonder if the dual mode diesels will be allowed ?
No reported damaged to 3rd rail system or signals.
Saturday schedule in operation. Hopefully once temporary repairs done longer range testing of columns and beams will determine what needs replacing/
Fire was of storage items for a landscaping business. What caused so much heat was storage of an undetermined amount of propane.
MNRR is apparently going to have to make major (?) repairs. Evidently 2 inside tracks limited to 30 MPH. In addition one of the inside tracks has banned diesel locos. Sounds as if there may be a replacement of steel required ? The possible engineering & construction required may be mind boggling ?
http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/messagetocustomers_viaductfire.htm
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