Monday, October 19, 2009

Update on a.m. delays

Penn Line 7:40 departure from Baltimore arrived in DC 30 minutes behind schedule. Upon arrival the conductor said that the power outage delayed the entire northeast corridor. I'd say today's problems provide further evidence that the infrsatructure sorely needs updating.
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Nightmare avoided

System is back up and running. We're headed to DC, about 30 minutes behind schedule.
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Major substation down

Initial diagnosis of the problem on the Penn Line was wrong, the conductor has just informed us that the entire substation that powers the grid between Washington and Perryville has gone down. There was no failure of catinary system. No word on how long we'll be sitting here.

Side note: I just heard a commuter say, "There should be pills for commuter stress."
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Penn trains stuck in W. Baltimore

The 7:40 deparure from Penn Station is being held until further notice in W. Baltimore because there are catinary(sp?) problems. An engineer walking around the train in a hard hat just explained to me that there's been a failure of the catinary system or the overhead lines that electric trains need to run on and all electric trains have been stopped on the Penn Line. (Diesel trains are not effected.) The engineer explained that the lines are made of copper and when it's really hot or cold they expand and contract and mess up the system (something about a clip coming loose and wires hanging out of place).

"Length of delay at this time is not known," conductor has just informed us.
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Friday, October 16, 2009

Penn delayed again

Not on a Friday! Penn Line train #440 (6:40 departure from Union Station) is delayed 15 minutes. The train is in the station but it needs a new engine according to a MARC official. This situation is a repeat of last night. What happened to the old engine? Does it only have a one-way Baltimore to DC lifespan?
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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Fw: Update on Penn Line

Camden's 6:43 left only 2 minutes behind schedule...I didn't stick around to see how late the Penn line would run.
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-----Original Message-----
From: stuckonmarc@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:48:59
To: Stuckonmarc<stuckonmarc.10minslate@blogger.com>
Subject: Update on Penn Line

6:40 from Union Station is delayed, a Marc official said he couldn't give an ETD because the train's not even at the station yet and once it arrives the engine has to be swapped out. It's unclear whether the Camden Line (6:43 departure) will leave on time as it's still not in the station yet.
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Update on Penn Line

6:40 from Union Station is delayed, a Marc official said he couldn't give an ETD because the train's not even at the station yet and once it arrives the engine has to be swapped out. It's unclear whether the Camden Line (6:43 departure) will leave on time as it's still not in the station yet.
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