The Times February 2017 A journal of transport timetable history and analysis
RRP $4.95 Inside: Australia’s earliest railway timetables Incl. GST 615 Delays The Times A journal of the Australian Timetable Association Inc. (A0043673H) Print Publication No: 349069/00070, ISSN 0813-6327 February 2017 Vol 34 No. 02, Issue No. 397 The Times welcomes all contributions. Our Authors’ Guide is available on our web-site at http://www.austta.org.au Reproduction Material appearing in The Times may be reproduced in other publications, with an acknowledgement. Disclaimer Opinions expressed in our magazines are not necessarily those of the Association or its members. Editor, The Times Geoff Lambert 179 Sydney Rd FAIRLIGHT 2094 NSW [email protected] A full ATA contact list can be found periodically in Members News, at http://www.austta.org.au/newsletter.pdf
—Contents— Geoff Lambert AUSTRALIA’S FIRST RAILWAY TIMETABLES 3 The New Yorker HOW A MINOR PROBLEM LED TO 615 DELAYS 13 Geoff Lambert MS FOUND IN A WTT –ANSWERED 19
2 The Times February 2017 Australia’s First Railway Timetables * A note on newspaper digitization. The National Library of Australia (NLA) Geoff Lambert was one of the first major libraries in the world to begin digitizing and indexing T WAS NEARLY THIRTY YEARS published timetables, but the only scanned historical paper copies of newspapers. The hence when steam railways arrived in copy I have seen is totally unusable.] NLA process goes by the name of Trove Australia. In that thirty years, Mr. and now involves a lot more than newspa- I For each opening timetable, I have tried to Bradshaw had invented the idea, and had pers. give also the timetabling of the trains on then established the practice, of “railway Opening Day. Vast crowds turned up at the timetables”. Hence, by 1854, when the The NLA consulted widely when this origin station (usually at the city terminus) first train ran to Port Melbourne, the news- process was being set up. I was part of the and all wanted to travel to the other termi- papers of the day felt no need to define the testing team and am still one of those cor- nus, where the festivities took place. words “time table”. They had even come recting the Optical Character Recognition Where reports can be deciphered, the ex- to grips with the terms “Up train” and (OCR) translations of the images. Unfortu- tent of the opening day timetables is shown “Down train”. nately, for reasons that are not clear to me, in the text. Trove chose to capture images as low As far as can be ascertained, the only sur- resolution colour images and to store the The festivities, it need hardly be said, were viving copies of Australia’s inaugural rail- images in JPEG files. It still does so, de- worth attending– not least for the never- way timetables are to be found in newspa- spite the feedback from we in the testing ending toasts that were drunk to the new pers. We know from these newspapers team. This is just about the worst possible railway (at least a dozen in some instanc- (digitized by the National Library of Aus- combination one could have chosen. Other es). All of these Merry Gentlemen needed tralia*) that printed copies of time tables libraries (and Google News) scan in black to be returned to their starting points but were usually produced from the start– both and white and use lossless formats such as the timetables for these seem hazier, as handbills and wall-sheet timetables. In GIF and TIFF. doubtless they were so in the minds of the at least one case, special memento timeta- reporters. In Tasmania, however, heads bles, “printed on satin” were presented to For this reason, the timetables shown here remained clear from the befuddling effects high officials, such as Governors and their had to be translated by eye. A classical of the demon drink. ladies. case is our first timetable– the Melbourne and Hobson’s Bay initial timetable, as it While the toasting was going on, the hoi This month, I take a look at the first time- appeared on Trove after digitization of polloi were allowed to travel back and tables for the first passenger-carrying rail- The Argus. Google has digitized The Age forth on shuttle trains, but the number of ways in each state except Western Austral- and the first timetable they have digitized these was not always recorded because the ia. [Of the latter state, we know that such appeared alongside the Trove version. newspaper reporters were themselves busi- timetables were produced, because a bout ly taking notes and participating in the of criticism of them broke out even before For each Trove version, I show also my festivities. the first train chuffed away. However, no hand-translation on the page opposite the Trove version. copies seem to exist, nor did the newspa- pers of the day see fit to reproduce one. The WA Government Gazette quite later
The Times February 2017 3 4 The Times February 2017 Melbourne and Hobson’s Bay Railway Lady Hotham were then conducted to It took three trips to assemble all the one of the carriages and all the three guests for the banquet. Well lubricated N OPENING DAY, guests were carriages were speedily laden with by nearly a dozen toasts by the end of conveyed to the Engine Shed (“an their full complement. An open third the festivities, it took three more trips O enormous hall of zinc”) at the class carriage, next to the locomotive, to get them all back to Flinders Street. startling speed of 15 miles per hour by the contained the band of the 40th regi- Regular services commenced on the “first locomotive ever constructed in the ment. The first train on the new rail- 13th September, 1854. The first Southern Hemisphere.” way started at twenty minutes past twelve, amid the music of the band known timetable for this service had Copies of the bye-laws and of the time appeared two days earlier in The Ar- table printed upon satin were present- and the cheering and waving of hats of gus. the innumerable spectators. ed to His Excellency. Sir Charles and
The Times February 2017 5
6 The Times February 2017 Sydney-Parramatta Railway most such trains running about an hour there appears to be no mention of this late. There is no mention in the report in contemporary reports. There were, FEW YEARS AGO, the of a 2pm Up train. There were obvi- as can be seen from the footnote, ARHS contacted me asking ously two train sets in use because the “Printed Time Tables”. These are A whether I had access to a crowd pushed on to the 10 am return probably the same as the ARHS’ copy of the handbill timetables that service from Parramatta. They had “handbills”. were handed out on the opening of mistaken this for the Official Train and No “Working” Timetable for this the Sydney-Parramatta railway. I did had to be “cleared out”, in the words railway, earlier than 1874, appears to not and, so far as I can determine, of the SMH. The real thing came along have survived, so it is impossible to none have turned up since. shortly thereafter. get a clear picture of the line. The The official timetable for opening day The total number of tickets issued on Government Gazette appears not to appears below. Notice the use of “12 the day was 3554 (1874 from Sydney; have bothered with “time tables” AM” for midday. On the day, accord- 1680 from Parramatta), reaping an until about 1858, at which time the ing to the Sydney Morning Herald, income of £220. line was open to Campbelltown. The trains were “despatched” at 9AM, service to Campbelltown was then: Regular passenger service, as shown in 11:20AM (the official opening train; 4 Passenger the second panel below, consisted of a it started 20 minutes late) and then “at 1 Mixed intervals”. On the return journey, train every two hours from either ter- minal. It would seem that this was a 1 Mixed Goods, and trains left at about 10AM (this was 1 “Passenger Mail” the return of the 9AM down), at 3PM “shuttle” requiring only one car set and one locomotive. The other loco- per day. (for the Governor General to return to “town” and then again “at intervals”, motive could be—and possibly was— used for goods train services, although
The Times February 2017 7 8 The Times February 2017 ———-—- TIME TABLE OF ARRIVAL AND DEPAR- TURE OF TRAINS FROM IPSWICH TO BIGGES' CAMP. PASSENGERS, AND MAIL TRAINS, AND PARCELS. Leave Ipswich, at 10 a.m. Arrive at Walloon, at 10.40 a.m. Arrive at Bigges' Camp, at 11.20 a.m. Leave Bigges' Camp, on arrival of Mail from Toowoomba, at 1 p.m. Arrive at Walloon, at 1.40 p.m. Arrive at Ipswich, at 2.20 p.m. MIXED TRAIN (PASSENGERS AND GOODS.) Leave Ipswich, at 7 a.m. Arrive at Walloon, at 7.40 a.m. Arrive at Bigges' Camp, at 8.30 a.m. Leave Bigges' Camp, at 4.30 p.m. Arrive at Walloon, at 5.20 p.m. Arrive at Ipswich, at 6 p.m. A. O. HERBERT, Commissioner for Railways.
With charity, one might describe train #3 Queensland Railways, 1865 day from Toowoomba and other parts of the Darling Downs, and the intermediate as a “Pilot Train” for the “Vice-Regal N THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON stations. Train” which followed uncomfortably before the opening (which was on closely behind. On Opening Day, four trains were sched- O Monday 6th August), the weight- The opening ceremonies occupied several uled: bearing properties of the bridge at Ipswich hours and at least a dozen toasts. A goodly were tested, in the presence of a large num- The first one left the terminus at the appointed hour, ten o'clock, and arrived proportion of the speeches addressed the ber of spectators. Between three and four still-festering sore of the gauge of the line, o'clock, an engine and tender came over for at Bigge's Camp at six minutes past eleven; which several speakers suggested was too the first time, conveying the Minister for narrow at 3’6”. The opponents of this The second left Ipswich at twenty Lands and other gentlemen. Shortly after- notion pooh-poohed the idea of a Standard wards, the real test was applied, an engine minutes past ten, and arrived at twenty minutes to twelve; Gauge line on the basis of cost and of diffi- with trucks attached, carrying a weight culty of working the planned extension to estimated at eighty tons, the results showed The third left at twenty-one minutes to eleven, and arrived at a quarter past Toowoomba. This is still a hot topic in that the deflection was only five-eighths of 2017. an inch. A train also ran that day to carry- one; ing navvies to the scene of their future The fourth, which conveyed his Excel- At the conclusion of these toasts, the well- labors—the tunnelling work at the Little lency the Governor, Lady Bowen, the sozzled party was poured into the carriages Liverpool Range. A large number of per- Ministry and the Members of both and the company returned to Ipswich, the sons unconnected with the works also ac- Houses of Parliament, and Sir W. whole of the trains arriving in that town companied the train, which was very long Manning, of New South Wales, left at before 6 o'clock in the evening. and heavy. On Sunday evening, a train 11 o'clock, and arrived at Bigge's Camp at 20 minutes past 1. from Bigge's Camp conveyed a large num- ber of persons who had arrived during the
The Times February 2017 9 10 The Times February 2017 It is impossible, however, to pass by crept into the time-table we need only HE OPENING OF THE PORT the fact that most of the trains were mention, as it is corrected in this day's Railway in Adelaide on Satur- lamentably behind time —not five or advertisement. The up train, No. 4 T day 19th April 1856 was ac- six minutes, but in some cases as (express) was appointed to start from companied by such a gushing of much as fifteen and even forty-five the Port at 2.30., arriving in Adelaide words in so many newspapers, that it minutes. at 2.55. The time for the down train, is difficult for the researcher to tease No. 5, is 3 o'clock, allowing only five out what trains ran on the day. It was For the first day, and even if needful minutes for the feeding of the engine. recorded however, that 15,000 peo- for a day or two more, every allow- In future the express train will leave ple had already used the trains out of ance will be made by the public, but it the Port at 2 o'clock, and arrive in Ad- curiosity before the line had opened must not be forgotten that one princi- elaide at 2.25. officially. pal object of the Railway is the econo- my of time, and this cannot be effected The travelling on Monday was open to There appears to have been but one without perfect punctuality. It matters no particular comment. The trains train on Opening Day, which, after a little to a passenger whether he has mostly performed their journeys with- false start, ran satisfactorily to and been forced into the breach of an ap- in the time allowed, and the express from Port. pointment by the train having travelled train neither down nor up occupied so The papers, however, gave excruciat- slowly or by its not having left the much as 20 minutes. It was found nec- ing details of the running of trains in station at the proper time. The delays, essary to send down an extra train on the following days. A sample fol- we believe, were partly occasioned by Tuesday evening with goods, consist- lows. each train having to await the feeding ing, for the most part, of flour for ship- of the engine, which had just arrived ment to Melbourne per Havilah. A “It would be ungracious to com- with the carriages from the other end. nearer approach to punctuality was mence finding fault so early; reason- Thus, as only a quarter of an hour is made than on the previous day. A very able time must be allowed for the allowed for the operation, the arrival small commencement appears to have numerous persons engaged upon the of one train a few minutes too late been made in the carriage of goods. Railway to become perfectly au fait must of course throw out the arrange- There were, however, several waggons at their duty, and some little experi- ments of the whole for the day. If a brought to town in the course of the ence may he requisite even for second engine were kept in readiness, day, and three, very heavily laden, "heads of departments''— using a this difficulty would be removed. formed part of the last train.” courtly phrase—to test and complete their arrangements. One erroneous arrangement which had
The Times February 2017 11 12 The Times February 2017
TIME TABLE LAUNCESTON & WESTERN RAILWAY FIRST AND SECOND CLASS PASSENGER AND GOODS DOWN.
STATIONS Miles 1 2 A.M. P.M. Launceston……………..…………...….Dep 8.0 4.30 St. Leonards…………..….….….….…...…A 4 8.9 4 39 Breadalbane…………..….….….….…...….A 7¼ 8.19 4 49 Evandale Road…..……..….….….….…...….. 11¼ 8.31 5.1 Perth…………..….….….….…………….….. 14¾ 8.42 5.12 Longford…………..….….….….…...……Arr. 17¼ 8.50 5.20 ‘……………..…………...…………...Dep. 8.55 5.25 Bishopsbourne….………..….….….….…...….A 24¼ 9.15 5.45 Oaks………….…………..….….….….……....A 26½ 9.20 5.50 Glenore……….…………..….….….….…...…A 28¼ 9.26 5.56 Hagley………..…………..….….….….…...…A 31¼ 9.35 6.5 Westbury……………..…..….….….….…...….. 35 9.49 6.19 Exton…………...……………..…………...….A 41½ 10.6 6.26 Deloraine….…………..….……...….….…...….. 45 10.15 6.45
UP.
STATIONS Miles 1 2
A.M. P.M. Deloraine……………..………………...….Dep 7.35 4.5 Exton…………..….….….….…………...…..A. 3½ 7.44 4.14 Westbury…………..….….….….…...... 10 8.1 4.31 Hagley…………..….…………..….….…...…A.. 13¾ 8.15 4.45 Glenore…………..….….….….……….....…..A 16¾ 8.24 4.54 Oaks…………..….….….…………...…...…..A 18½ 8.30 5.0 Bishopsbourne……………..……………..….A 20¾ 8.35 5.5 Longford…………..….….……..….…...…..Arr. 27¾ 8.55 5.25 “…………..….….….….…...………….....Dep. 9.0 5.30 Perth…………..….….….……………..…...….. 30¼ 9.8 5.38 Evandale Road…………..….….…...….…...….. 33¾ 9.19 5.49 Breadalbane……………..…………………..…A 37¾ 9.30 6..0 St Leonards…………..….….….……...…...….A. 41 9.40 6.10 Launceston………………………………………. 45 9.50 6.20
stopping at all "stations on the route”. A Launceston & Western Railway, 1871 train later ran from Launceston back to shown opposite was published in the Laun- N OPENING DAY, 10th Feb- Deloraine at 5:30pm, to return travellers ceston Examiner of 25th February and I ruary 1871, two trains ran from who had arrived from the latter by Train have taken it to be the first “regular” ser- O Launceston to Deloraine on the No.2. vice to appear in a printed time-table. following (approximate) timetables At the opening, it was planned to run a Trains on this single line started (more or Launceston dep 10:15am 10:30am service of three double-headed services per less) simultaneously from each end in the day each way. A timetable for this—to Deloraine arr 12:15pm 1:00pm morning and late afternoon. These services serve a three-day Launceston Race Meet- crossed at Longford. Deloraine dep 1:55pm 2:05pm ing—was the first Public Time Table that I Launceston arr 3:55pm 4:25pm can find and was published on Opening Comment on this article –Letter to Editor, Day. It was quickly realised that this was a Facebook The first train was nominally an Ex- tad excessive and so the service soon set- Return to Contents page press, but had to stop several times for tled down to two services per day (number water. The second train was described as of engines not specified). The timetable
The Times February 2017 13 How a minor problem led to 615 delays From New York Magazine February 2016
VERY WEEKDAY MORNING, in a triumph of hope over experi- E ence, Alphonso Reyes, a 34-year- old patient-services representative at NYU College of Dentistry, leaves his apartment in the Bronx extra early to allow himself an added cushion of time to make it into the city. His office frowns on lateness— he’s found it’s often better just to take an impromptu personal day if he can’t make it in on time— and on Fridays, when his day starts at 8:30 a.m., he boards the 4 train at 183rd Street in Fordham as early as 6:30 a.m. The platform is already filling up by then with people who, like him, know that a one-hour trip into the center of town can sometimes take double the time. On a good day, if he’s early enough, he takes himself out for breakfast. Friday, October 16, was not a good day. “The 4 was running fine till it got to like 149th, then a little slow,” he says. “Then at 125th, it just shut down. It sat there at the 7:52 a.m. 14th St Union Sq station with the doors open for like 15 minutes.” The 6 was across the platform. “I thought, Maybe I’ll take that.” Wrong There are a few parts of the New York ludicrously high ceilings, and lots of peo- choice. The 4 train left, and the 6 train just City subway that can literally chew you up ple on computer consoles staring at large stayed there. alive, and the 14th Street–Union Square screens. RCC dispatchers are essentially What Reyes didn’t know was that a cas- station is one of them. From above, the the air-traffic controllers of the subway cade of problems beginning at 14th Street downtown Lexington-line platform in Un- system, and their challenge is often as was about to affect the mornings of hun- ion Square is a long, flat, metal-mouthed complex. When faced with an incident, dreds of thousands of passengers, delaying, monster: A train pulls in, the steel jaws of they must decide—in consultation with canceling, or redirecting 625 different a moving platform extend to close a gap four levels of supervisors—whether to trains and making October 16 the worst between it and the platform; the jaws re- hold a train while the problem is resolved, day, in terms of the longest cumulative tract, a train leaves. The “gap fillers,” as allowing other trains to stack up behind it, delay, that the MTA had last year. But they’re called, were devised after a 1910 or begin rerouting trains, which can pre- while the day may have been exceptionally renovation of the Union Square station vent a backup but only by throwing thou- bad, in many ways it was all too typical: lengthened the curved downtown platform sands of commuters off their routes. And subway workers file some 250 incident to accommodate longer trains. They’ve the dispatchers must choose in which way reports each day — broken tracks, failed been updated over the years, but like much they’ll inconvenience commuters as quick- equipment, sick passengers, fights. They’re of the subway system, they’re a little ly as possible. in a constant race against not just aging hinky. In 2010, a man fell in the gap just before the metal jaws extended, and his Most delayed lines on an average week- infrastructure but climbing ridership. So day : far, they’ve been able to stay one step torso was crushed by the grates. (He sur- ahead, doing repairs and installing new vived.) “4” 51% late: 194 delays technology just fast enough for the trains On October 16, just before 7:05 a.m., a “5” 49% late: 165 delays to stay in motion. But it’s a precarious downtown 6 train—the 0620, named for its “2” 49% late: 163 delays system, one that can — and does — break departure time from Parkchester station, “F” 34% late: 130 delays down. ten miles away—pulled into Union Square. “6” 33% late: 192 delays By virtually any standard, we’re in the The jaws extended, closing the gap; the “If we can’t get a train moving in five midst of a delay crisis. During the dark doors opened; some passengers got off and minutes, we are going to start impacting ages of the subway — the late ’70s, before others got on. But when the doors closed, other lines,” says Barry Greenblatt, the a capital program rescued it from crum- one set of jaws—“gap filler No. 6”—did MTA’s chief officer for service delivery. bling entirely — the system had about not retract, which meant the train was Dispatchers often face a series of bad 320,000 recorded delays a year. From stuck. tradeoffs. For instance, the MTA’s train March 2013 through March 2014, accord- The train’s operator called in to the Rail schedules are set to minimize crowding at ing to the New York State Comptroller’s Control Center, the MTA’s mission con- platforms at crucial merger points, such as most recent audit, that number was trol, located on a high floor of a skyscraper where the F shares track with the E, M, 498,889. On bad days, the delays add up to in midtown. Unlike much of the MTA’s and G. Each delay, therefore, has ripples a point of no recovery. On good days, it’s century-old infrastructure, it’s modern throughout the system. “Let’s say an F just plain bad. looking, with a bit of a Star Trek vibe, train has a problem at Lexington Avenue–
14 The Times February 2017 63rd Street,” says Greenblatt. Assuming and texted a co-worker who’d just got to within five minutes of the schedule is con- the problem is with the inbound F, coming the office. “She was on the train for two sidered on time. Which trains are delayed to Manhattan from Queens, one option hours, and she lives even closer to the the most? The C and L lines, it may sur- would be to reroute all F trains to the E city.” Fuming, Reyes tweeted the gover- prise you, are doing all right. The F, not so line, where they can at least continue going nor: “@NY GovCuomo we have families to much. It recorded six times as many delays downtown. But if it’s rush hour, that sec- feed, rent to pay, we can’t afford to be late as the C and more than four times as many tion of the E line includes M trains, and for work because of train delays by the as the L. The citywide heavyweight both the E and F lines are already running @mta!” champs of weekday delays, though, are the 15 trains an hour. The line can’t handle East Side 4, 5, and 6 trains — the Lexing- more than 30 trains per hour. “There’s too The subway is New York City’s pulmo- ton [Avenue] line — each with more than many trains,” says Greenblatt. “It just nary system; the great class-leveling en- 40,000 delayed trains from March 2013 won’t fit. We’d probably hold trains back.” gine of urban life; the main reason, per- through March 2014. The train with the But if they don’t move enough trains haps, that such an extraordinary concentra- lowest on-time percentage of all was the 4, through, there will be fewer trains at the tion of innovation and power and culture just shy of a 50 percent on-time record. end of the line to start the trips back the happened here and not somewhere else. other way. “We’re not only moving the Thirty-five percent of the metropolitan 8:50 a.m. Grand Central 42nd St passengers on that train, but just like the area’s workforce commutes via subway, bus, and commuter rail; the national aver- Justin Marks remembers the moment when airlines, we’re repositioning the equipment he and hundreds of others on the platform to make its next trip out,” says Tom Calan- age is 5 percent. Nearly half a million chil- dren use MetroCards to get to school, and heard an announcement that the next train drella, the MTA’s senior director for ad- would arrive in five minutes. “The whole vanced service initiatives. 65 percent of international tourists use mass transit, contributing $18 billion to the platform kind of let out an exasperated To make matters even more complicated, local economy annually, which is why groan at once,” he says. “It was sort of a the RCC has to order service changes with- delays aren’t just a matter of inconven- communal misery.” Rush-hour 6 trains are out being able to detect precisely where ience; they pose a fundamental threat to supposed to come roughly every two every train is at any given moment. Calan- the functioning of the city. This new era of minutes. Each minute during rush hour drella calls that “the shocking part” of the delays has already taken a toll, starting sends hundreds of new passengers to the place. “For 67 percent of the railroad” — with people late for work: Last year, com- platform, which means a five-minute delay that is, every lettered train line except the muters asked for delay-verification slips could add as many as a thousand new peo- L — “we don’t actually see train move- more than 100,000 times. ple trying to fit on the next train when it ment or control any signals and switches does eventually arrive — often more than from the control center.” Instead, they do it It took 20 minutes for a work crew to ar- can safely exit before the next train comes the same way they’ve been doing it for rive to look at the gap filler. It wasn’t im- in and dumps hundreds more onto the plat- decades: train crews communicating by mediately clear why the jaws were form. That crowding slows down the un- radio with a dispatcher. If there’s a delay, jammed. The sensors that control the gap loading of passengers of the train that the dispatcher phones it in on the “6 wire,” filler could have failed, or the jaws were comes next, which — in a vicious cycle — an open party line, and awaits instructions. maybe just stuck, or one of the pistons that creates even more delayed trains. power the jaws could have conked out. A few minutes after the train operator at Even on an ordinary day, “the unevenness Union Square contacted the RCC, the dis- 7:52 a.m. 14th St Union Sq is the biggest thing,” says Wynton Ha- bersham, the MTA’s senior vice-president patcher on duty called in a maintenance By 7:52 a.m., workers finally were able to crew and diverted downtown local trains to of subways. The crowds create longer retract gap filler No. 6, and train 0620 went “dwell times” for the trains in the station. the express track. While train 0620 sat idly on its way, “discharged” without any pas- in the station, trapped in place by the non- “You never want dwell to be more than 45 sengers. Testing out the gap filler with seconds,” he says. “Dwells of a minute and retracting gap filler, all the 6 trains behind trains loading and unloading was a non- it, from Union Square to Grand Central, a half can wreak havoc on a rush hour. It’s starter, so the RCC ordered 6 trains to hard to evenly-space the trains, because it were stuck at their stations with no place to resume on the local track but to skip Union go. Those north of Grand Central were just cascades up the line.” (The focus on Square, going from 23rd Street straight to maintaining even spacing is also why some able to reroute through the Union Square Astor Place for the rest of rush hour. express track, sharing the line with the trains sit on platforms for minutes on end Workers would have to wait to fix the with the doors open and others come to a regular 4 and 5 trains, which meant the 6- problem. train delays would soon ripple down all screeching halt between stations.) three East Side lines. A recent audit by the state Comptroller’s At 8:50 a.m., Marks photographed and office found that the system’s weekday on- 7:15 a.m.125th St tweeted a packed express train at Grand time record in 2014 was 74 percent, mean- Central. (“Thanks for the horrific delays on On a good day, 40 downtown 6 trains pass ing one out of every four trains New York- the 4/5 @MTA. Second train that’s this full through the Lexington line’s 125th Street ers took during the workweek that year with 10 min gaps between trains.”) What station during the morning rush. On Octo- was late. The MTA responded by saying it made the delay so bleak was not how dis- ber 16, just 23 trains made it through be- preferred to measure effectiveness by the tinctive it was but how routine. “Slowness tween 7 and 9 a.m. For miles, all down- amount of time people wait for a train. But between stations,” he says, “is pretty much town trains were queuing to get through that measurement, too, known as “wait a daily thing.” the same logjam at Union Square. When assessment,” fell short of the agency’s Reyes’s 6 train finally left, it crawled, stated goals. Our standards are now lower MTA executives are naturally defensive sitting open at each station for minutes at a than those of San Francisco, Philadelphia, about the criticism. They argue that, unlike time. That’s when at least a few passengers and Washington, D.C., none of which have in the ’70s, the current problems are a on trains up and down the Lexington line self-imposed on-time performance goals result of their own success — the subways started to lose it. below 85 percent. New York’s goal, reset are more popular than ever and therefore last year by the MTA, is now 75 percent. more crowded. Six million people use the Including Reyes. He looked at the time — subways on a busy day now; since 2010 7:45, 8:00, 8:15. “I said, ‘This is not gonna Lateness, too, is defined pretty loosely by the system has added nearly half a million work.’ ” He left the station at 68th Street the MTA; any train that completes its route daily users. The 6 line alone is up by
The Times February 2017 15 200,000 daily riders compared to a few years ago. “It’s like the sponge is soaked and we’re adding more water,” says Calan- drella. Rush-hour crowds can start at six; the evening rush extends past nine. Fifteen of the subway system’s 21 lines (not including the shuttles) have maxed out the number of trains that can ride safely on the routes, and ten of those 15 lines are at peak riding capacity, which means when something goes wrong, the dispatchers have no wriggle room. The MTA has blamed some 40 percent of delays on the system’s high ridership numbers, and the agency has few good options for tempering the crowds, including converting the train- car stock to “open gangway” cars, which annex the dead space between cars and convert it into usable space for passengers, Track workers fixing the “gap filler.” increasing capacity by perhaps as much as 10 percent. Other cities have taken to ra- 7:05 a.m. 14th St Union Sq. tioning access to crowded stations or jam- ming passengers into cars Tokyo style. an hour! It’s desperately needed, it’s the been to happy hour yet.” But the morning “Their nightmare scenario,” says Gene right thing to do, but it’s discouraging.” has its own challenges. “It’s very difficult Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, 9:03 a.m. Lexington Ave 59th St to judge what is comfortable in your walk the venerable subway gadfly group, “is from your house to the train and what’s there are these people who are like bounc- The cycle of crowds and delays has had going to be comfortable to wear on a ers who are standing in front of the stair- other ancillary effects that themselves have crowded train,” he says. “And people don’t case at Grand Central and put up a felt line contributed to even more delays, like an eat breakfast, you know. A lot of sick cus- and say, ‘You can’t go down for 15 increase in sick passengers. If the trains tomers are people who pass out just be- minutes, because it’s too crowded down had more room, the MTA contends, fewer cause they don’t eat breakfast.” there.’ And it’s not an insane, paranormal people would have anxiety attacks or nau- phenomenon. It happens in London. And it sea or get overheated and faint. System-wide, sick passengers were the would be terrible.” cause of about 3,000 train delays each At 9:03 a.m., while the track workers at month in 2015, nearly double the amount Draconian crowd-control measures aside, Union Square were still trying to get gap in 2012. But at least part of the sick- another option to accommodate the hordes filler No. 6 moving again without having passenger problem is also a resource prob- would be to expand — to build. But even to shut down the line and replace parts, a lem. The MTA’s policy is not to move a that is just playing catch-up. When the first downtown 5 train reported a sick passenger train out of a station until the sick passen- phase of the Second Avenue Subway at 59th Street. As the train sat idle in the ger is receiving help on the platform. Most opens, scheduled for December 2016 station, the 4 and 5 trains of the Lexington of the significant delays resulting from a [opened 1-Jan-2017], an estimated 225,000 line stacked up behind it. It was the line’s sick passenger are a train waiting for EMS people will shift over from the Lexington second sick passenger that morning; anoth- to come. What if an EMS crew were wait- line. That’s a mere 12 percent of its 1.95 er was reported on a northbound 5 at Ful- ing during rush hour at every high-traffic million riders. And now phase two is in ton Street at 8:02 a.m., delaying a dozen train station? “We had EMTs at Grand limbo. Tunneling for it can’t logistically trains for the next 15 minutes. Central,” says MTA spokesman Adam begin until 2019, and the MTA cut $1 Lisberg. “I think it was moderately suc- billion of the project budget from its capi- That afternoon, a passenger who ultimately cessful and it got cut in budget cuts.” tal program. After a public outcry, MTA refused help caused a ten-minute delay on chairman Tom Prendergast said the agency a 5 train at 59th Street at 3:34 p.m., affect- By the time the downtown 5 train resolved would look for ways “to deliver the project ing eight separate trains. Then there was a its sick-passenger problem and moved on, faster.” nonresponsive passenger on a 6 train at 19 different trains had been delayed or 4:58 p.m. at 77th Street who eventually rerouted — a calculus the RCC operators The MTA has also explored private part- was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital (it sat for must make for the good of the whole sys- nerships to help fund subway upgrades. 17 minutes, affecting 25 different trains); a tem. “There’s 2,000 people on the train Russianoff recently sat in on meetings with sick passenger who refused assistance on a behind that, 2,000 on the train behind that, both the MTA and the developer SL Green downtown 6 at 59th Street at 5:21 p.m. and 2,000 on the train behind that,” Calan- to create more space on the platform at (nine minutes, six late trains); and a drunk drella says. “The quicker we could redis- Grand Central. SL Green, in return for passenger who fell on the southbound 6 tribute the load, the better it is for the bankrolling the effort, would be allowed to platform at Hunts Point Avenue at 9:11 6,000 as opposed to the 600.” erect a larger building nearby. “The MTA p.m. (25 minutes of delays, 16 late or di- made it pretty clear that they thought they verted trains). 9:38 a.m.14th St Union Sq could get one more train an hour by doing The section between 86th Street and Grand High ridership aggravates other sorts of $220 million worth of repairs,” Russianoff problems. Overall, the subway is much, says. “And they were doing things like — Central is a particular hotbed for sick pas- sengers. “The p.m. rush hour is always much safer than it was even a decade or this is my favorite one — shave a pillar, so two ago. From 1990 to 2014, there was an you can walk around it more easily on the more hectic than the a.m.,” Calandrella tells me. “The a.m. rush hour, nobody’s 87 percent drop in felonies, from 17,500 platform. It’s a cautionary tale — $220 incidents per year to 2,200. During that million here gets you just one extra train
16 The Times February 2017 same period, annual ridership climbed from more than what can be attributed to over- Sometimes it’s the worn-away insulator of 1 billion to 1.7 billion. In the past year, crowding. a “turnbuckle” — a short metal rod inserted though, there’s been an uptick in subway across the width of the rails to help it main- crime: a 20 percent increase in robberies It was a track circuit that caused the 10:50 tain the proper distance of 56 and a half and 16 percent increase in felony assaults a.m. delay on a southbound 6 train. The inches. Sometimes it’s a shaving of metal in 2015, compared to the same period in train was passing Astor Place when it sud- from the brakes or the wheels or the rail 2014. Certainly the crowds don’t help mat- denly came to a stop. The emergency itself. Whatever the reason, the signal can’t ters. Mid-morning on October 16, a male brake had activated. The RCC dispatcher go green again and trains can’t run until the passenger was walking backward to let held all trains behind it and instructed the cause of the failure is determined. The good other customers off on an uptown 6 train train operator to go see what the problem news is that this is why you never hear and was pushed, he said, tripping in the was. about a collision in the New York City space between the train car and the plat- A little credit, first: The track-and-signal subway system. The bad news is that dur- form. system is by far the most essential holdo- ing rush hour, a track-circuit failure means EMS responded, and the customer refused ver from the early years of the subway game over for your commute. A team assistance. It took 15 minutes for normal system, and, in its time, it was revolution- might even have to set up “flagging,” with service to resume, holding up four 6 trains ary. The problem is, that time was almost track crews manually signaling trains and five 4 trains. 150 years ago. When rapid transit was first through at slower speeds. (This is what’s envisioned, it was impossible to track the happening when you see workers waving The MTA is currently embracing a new set precise location of a train. lights along the track.) of small strategies — a third way between muscular crowd- control tactics and expen- Instead, in the 1870s, William Robinson Sixteen minutes later, at 11:06 a.m., the 6 sive capital projects — to slowly change devised an ingenious work-around that train at Astor Place was back in service. the behavior of New York subway riders to made it physically impossible for one train The cause of the glitch remains a mystery. fit the new, crowded normal. The MTA to collide with another. Every few hundred Four trains were made late in that time — casts this as cultivating civility — a strate- feet of the system would compose its own or later than they already were — and three gy that maximizes the system’s efficiency. circuit. Whenever a train tripped a circuit, others were canceled. This was a good “The public has a large role here, and I hate an operator could assume the train was outcome, compared to the norm: The to say it,” says Wynton Habersham. occupying a specific section of track, until MTA’s data shows that in 2014, each the train had moved completely to the next weekday incident based on signal problems The MTA has introduced platform control- circuit of track, and so on down the line. caused an average of 17 separate delayed lers equipped with wireless microphones at trains. Grand Central, 51st Street, and 125th Every time a circuit breaks, the signal goes Street, who make announcements and coax red, and a foot-long metal rod flings up- 11:02 a.m.14th St Union Sq people onto platforms. “It’s a different ward from the track. This is the stop arm; As soon as rush hour ended, the mainte- voice than just hearing the automated an- any train coming past would hit it, flicking nance workers at Union Square had tried to nouncements, so it gets people’s attention if on the train’s emergency brake. It’s a fool- get gap filler No. 6 up and running for they’re not plugged in with their earbuds,” proof method of preventing collisions, but good. To do so without interruption, service he says. “If the platform controller can it tends to overreact. “Any slight impedi- on the downtown 6 line was completely assist them in getting to the platform, just ment, if you will, on the roadbed, on the suspended between 14th Street and Brook- getting off the train, we can move the train track, the track circuit has to possibly see it lyn Bridge. With the line shut down, the along.” He’s also a fan of the step aside as a train,” says Habersham. “It doesn’t workers were finally able to assess the boxes, large rectangles painted on the plat- know. problem, which appeared to be a single form of some stations exactly where the We just know that energy is not getting to loose bolt. They tried to bring the trains train doors open that are meant as a visual that electromechanical relay. We have to back online, restoring service on the local 6 cue for riders to make way for passengers assume it’s a train. So the signal system track at 11:02, but seven minutes later, the as they leave each train car. “That’s the gap filler failed to retract again. biggest problem,” Habersham says excited- has to react accordingly, and signals have to go red.” This is exactly what happened ly. “People really do stand right at the door- That train and all the trains behind it were at Astor Place; a stop arm was in the “up” ways when the trains are coming in, and held in place. position, and no one knew exactly why. people can’t exit the train.” The MTA has a reputation for being slow, Track circuits break constantly — system- 10:50 a.m. Astor Place deliberate, and plodding — sometimes out wide, signal failure occurs once every 11 of necessity, other times just because. “It Crowd control may be the MTA’s main hours on average. “Probably 70, 80 per- takes them 21 days to open an envelope in focus because crowds seem controllable, at cent of signal-related failures are caused the MTA,” Governor Cuomo said in Janu- least by comparison with its other big prob- by the track circuit,” Habersham says. ary. The latest bitter pill — at least for the lem: propping up the ancient, enormously Sometimes it’s a piece of garbage or debris 225,000 people, on average, who commute complicated subway system. There are 865 that gets caught in the wrong place — between Brooklyn and Manhattan each miles of track, enough to connect New Habersham recalls the time, not long ago, weekday on the L train — are the reports York to Chicago, and an amazingly com- when they had to shut down the East Side that the MTA may have to close the train’s plex intermingling of the tracks and stations trains at Bowling Green during the after- tunnel for repairs related to damage caused once built and run by separate private train noon rush hour. “We had teams out there. by Hurricane Sandy. If train crews are lim- companies and now crudely jammed to- Forty-five minutes to set up, because the ited to working nights and weekends it gether, carrying 6 million people a day, approach to Bowling Green is in an under- could take seven years, and so the MTA is sometimes on train cars that date back to river tube. We got down there to find out considering closing the tunnel entirely to when the Beatles played Shea Stadium. So it’s just a bottle of water in between the expedite the project, which would mean no it’s not all that surprising that track and switch point that was causing the switch to cross-river train service for as long as 18 signal problems, along with other un- fail.” months. Sure, some of the sluggishness planned events and scheduled maintenance, Sometimes it’s metal plates bolted to the may be warranted — keeping track workers account for about 48 percent of all delays, track that have come loose over time. and passengers safe is, of course, job No. 1. The Times February 2017 17 -and-signal system. Under that system, trains sometimes keep thousands of feet ordered southbound 6 trains to bypass 14th But as an instructor in the MTA’s manda- Street until further notice. Crew members tory track-safety courses told me last fall, apart from one another, when the mini- mum safe braking distance between trains would wait until after the evening rush to “Here in New York City Transit, we say, try again to fix the problem. ‘There’s no such thing as a simple is just 325 feet. But CBTC’s signaling shortcut, only quicksand.’ ” equipment radios its position so that a 7:35 p.m. RCC central control knows the exact speed that 12:00 p.m. Manhattan's West Side Lines train should be at to make it through the At 7:35 p.m., the maintenance-of-way next step on the route. More trains could division issued an emergency general or- By midday, the cascading delays were no run on the existing lines safely. CBTC also der. If they had to wait anyway, they de- longer confined to the Lexington line. supposedly all but eliminates the need for cided, they might as well replace the pis- Trains were so backed up on the East Side a person to drive the train. “Don’t call it a ton, too, which would be sent from the that the RCC dispatchers made the deci- robo-train!” Calandrella says. “There’s MTA’s Tiffany shop in the Bronx, where sion to send some 5 trains up in the Bronx always a train operator on it. Don’t be the the structural steel used throughout the down the 2 line. They had no choice, real- New York Post.” (But it basically is. On system is fabricated. The problem would- ly—those trains needed to get to Brooklyn the L, the train operator’s job is largely n’t be completely resolved until the next somehow or the evening commute would limited to pushing a ready-to-go button, morning. Before it was fixed, that one be toast, too. But they knew the decision staring out the front of the window, and loose bolt in the gap filler delayed or redi- would mean more traffic on the West every 20 seconds pushing another button rected 625 different trains — 132 on the 4 Side’s 2/3 express line — which, in turn, to let the RCC know he’s still there in case line, 119 on the 5 line, 306 on the 6 line, would mean more delays. By the end of of any problems.) and the remaining 68 on West Side 2 and 3 the day, 30 downtown 2 trains and 29 trains. downtown 3 trains would be made late by CBTC won’t be coming to the whole sub- East Side trains that had been diverted way for decades. It’s not just about replac- There’s another argument that the real because of the gap filler. ing the track-circuit system. It requires problem behind the increase in delays isn’t remodeling or replacing the entire fleet of the culture of subway ridership or even a Back on the Lexington line, delays on the subway cars. Even when it does come, it’s budget shortfall but the culture of the downtown line had rippled onto uptown an open question whether CBTC really MTA. When the agency lowered its on- trains, stalling 59 uptown 6 trains, 15 up- will keep up with the demands on the sys- time goals, was it being realistic or accept- town 5 trains, and 25 uptown 4 trains. But tem. On the L line, Habersham says, the ing defeat? I’m reminded of the recent the Lexington-line passengers were luckier MTA thought it would need 18 trains per Comptroller’s report and its condemnation than most in at least one way: At least hour, so it equipped 22 trains. “By the time of the MTA’s dysfunction. “Transit offi- everyone waiting knew when the next train we went live with the system,” he says, cials,” the report concluded, “had no for- would arrive. The countdown clocks are “we needed at least 25 trains. The ridership mal corrective action plans or programs to the subway system’s great triumph, the one just ballooned by like 500 percent.” The minimize the chronic underlying problems thing that customers love without question. L’s end-to-end travel time has gone down that caused delays.” Instead, the delay But right now, only seven lines have them just 3 percent with CBTC. Yet without it, problem is being picked apart by more — the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and L. The numbered the crowding, and the delays caused by than a dozen task forces, studies, and initi- lines are tracked by a program called Auto- that crowding, would have exploded. atives. matic Train Supervision, or ATS, which adds a digital overlay to the existing, cen- Money is naturally behind all the system’s It’s like they say in track-safety school: tury-old track-circuit setup so that trains shortcomings. Last year, after the MTA There’s no such thing as a simple shortcut. can be monitored remotely. leadership declared a funding crisis, the Only quicksand. city committed a record $2.5 billion to the Most crowded platforms, October 2015 Additional reporting by Edward Hart and agency’s capital plan, and the state com- James D. Walsh. Downtown 4 at 86th Street 104% Ca- mitted $8.3 billion. Even with that new pacity (31,027 riders) $29 billion budget, only 68 percent of *This article appeared in the February 22, Uptown 5 at 14th Street – Union Square stations will have countdown clocks by 2016 issue of New York Magazine. 103% Capacity (27,320 riders) 2020. Downtown 2 at 72nd St. 99% Capacity Comment on this article –Letter to Editor, (25,013 riders) 2:30 p.m.14th St Union Sq Facebook The long-promised Holy Grail of system With the 6 line still shut down, the crew Return to Contents page upgrades, for some people, is called Com- asked for the RCC to send a test train emp- munications-Based Train Control (CBTC) ty of passengers to make sure the gap filler — a whole new technology, already being would work, and at 2:30 p.m., all seemed MTA schedules here used on the L line, that, once it’s fully well. But when the next train came a few rolled out, probably a generation from minutes later, the gap filler once again now, would largely replace the musty track failed to retract. At 2:56 p.m., the RCC
18 The Times February 2017 MS found in a WTT – answered. Tony McIlwain, Geoff Lambert, Stuart Kean and Billy Lewis answer the question posed in the January issue –when was the scrap of paper written?
HE SLIP OF PAPER WAS written by has uncoupled and pulled forward to take arrived from the south and reversed its a rail-fan or driver on #31 Mixed, water. This image was published in the train through the crossover to the down T Central to Goulburn on the night of NSWRTM 1996 calendar, for the month of main and then 3643 on No. 430 arrived on Friday 9-May-1969 [bottom right, page 2]. May. The photographer was Mick Mo- the up line having watered at Yerrinbool The cover photo was taken by Billy Lewis rahan, long time editor of the NSWRTM (now a very rare sight). 3825 and 256 pro- at 11:03 the next morning. Roundhouse, and author of books on ceeded to Picton and then the section was The winner of the competition is Tony NSW steam locomotives. occupied by No. 21 Southern Highlands Express which was running rather later McIlwain, who receives a years free mem- So far, the scrap of paper confirms that bership of ATA. than it should. Next train to traverse the 3825 hauled 256 Goods, but 430 Goods section was No. 14 Goulburn 2 car diesel Tony reasoned as follows: had engines provisionally assigned to 376 and at last when single line working was & 342 Goods. cancelled 3643 and load departed for En- I disagree; the photos are the solution to field. the problem. The cover image looked fa- The third image on that day appears in the miliar; I recognised the location NSWRTM Calendar for 1993, April. It This doesn't seem to be the complete story as Wingello on the NSW Southern shows the familiar 430 Goods at Werai, as no mention is made of assistance given Line and I was sure that the image or one just to the south of Moss Vale, with 3643 + to 3825 on 256 by 3645 (could it have taken alongside the photographer had been 3645. Mick Morahan is again the accredit- been 3643, missing from the front of 430 previously published. A quick trawl ed photographer. On the Down line is in the Bargo image) or that 430 was photo- through my scans of old railway enthusiast 5905, on No. 331 Goods, which the scrap graphed double headed at both Wingello calendars found a colour reproduction of of paper suggested would be hauled by and Werai Hill. an almost identical image published in the 3638. NSW Rail Transport Museum calendar These details were confirmed by Our Man Of course, the scrap of paper could be for On The Ground, Billy Lewis, who kept a for 2001, April. The photographer was J another day, but the March to June 1969 Miller, and the image was described as No. log-book of the day [Editor’s comments period was particularly busy for goods are in square brackets]: 430 Goods hauled by 3643 & 3645 on 10 traffic on the Short South to Goulburn, and May 1969. J Miller is not a familiar name Bill arrived at Goulburn “Loco.” at 10 May had the double attraction of steam- 3AM on 10th May, after an overnight to me from those times; was he the Victo- hauled trains plus the complications of rian school teacher? [no– see below– Ed] drive from Coimadai. some single line working because of track- At that hour, Goulburn loco contained May 10th 1969 was a Saturday and the work, which would bring out the photogra- 3643 [NOT off “#321”?], 3230, 3825 first week of May was usually school holi- phers. Also, the photo match with The [for #256 Up Pickup], 3827 [for Up ], day time then in NSW and, I think, Victo- Times cover illustration is so exact that it 5112, 5903, 5240. Loco 5920 and a ria. It's afternoon sun, and being May, the must be this date. Standard Goods were shunting in the time is around 3 pm. I don't have the WTT Was the note found in a Southern Division yard. to confirm. WTT for the 1969 period? [it was in a Shortly thereafter, 3825 left Loco, to couple up to 256 Goods [unusual for a The plot thickens a little. The scrap of pristine copy of the May 1968 WTT– Ed.] 38 on a Pick-Up; 3652 had been ros- paper shows the Southern Division down So, we have a locomotive allocation list tered and presumably broke down]. and up train numbers and the allocated compiled from various friendly railway At Tallong, at about 4AM, 3645 was on locomotives, obviously supplied to the sources, perhaps days prior, before mobile a Down Goods [presumably 335 and scribe by someone in Train Control or phones and emails and instant information, destined to work 340?]. Loco who was friendly to enthusiasts. But on what to expect for a Saturday in the At Marulan, #256 pickup was refuged did these allocations all occur? school holidays in the NSW Southern for the Up Southern Highland Express Train No. 430 is shown as having 3652 + Highlands. Minis were reasonably com- (SHE ) with 3827 [due at 07:50]. 5902, but the caption says 3643 + 3645, so mon cheap first car transportation in those No. 430 Goods, with 3643 and 3645 it seems there's been a change. Well, times, with a willingness to go anywhere - departed Goulburn 10 AM [information there's more evidence. There's another I had one from 1970 to 1972 - and the blue Bill garnered from other rail-fans on calendar photo from the same day, taken at EPU 840 was probably one belonging to the day]. Bargo, showing two Up trains side by side one of the enthusiasts following the trains, The cover photograph is of this train [bottom left, page 2]. There's 256 Goods and someone worth getting to know. coming up the Wingello Bank into headed by 3825 on the Down track, and Further information came from Tony: Wingello Station at 11:03AM. 430 Goods headed by 3645 on the Up No. 256 and No. 31 Mixed with 3810 track. You see, there's track-work going on Here is an extract from ARHS NSW Divi- “passed” each other at Bundanoon. and single line working, so the goods sion New South Wales Digest for May No. 309 goods with 3638 and 5902 trains are stacking up awaiting a pilot for 1969, Item D7.44 Southern Line Notes: (which was running in) “passed” No. the single line working ahead, probably to 256 Pickup at Bundanoon [No. 309 was On 10/5 single line working was in force Exeter or perhaps all the way to Moss due here 05:52; No. 256 due to pass between Picton and Bargo while re- Vale. I can only surmise on the operational here at 05:26, so both a bit late]. ballasting of the up main was in progress. detail; I have the date but not the Special No 430 Goods, “passed” No. 336 At Bargo there was a concentration of Train Notice. But there's 3645 leading No. Goods (5905) at Werai [Neither the steam power which is not likely to occur 430, not 3643; what's going on? Well, I train nor its loco appear in the WTT or again. Standing in the down refuge was think the simple explanation is that 3643 on the slip of paper]. 5914 in charge of No. 335. 3825 on 256
The Times February 2017 19 At Moss Vale 3643 was taken off 430 six Saturdays and the fact that it was a Three entries for the train engines on Goods and 3645 continued alone. Victorian School holiday narrowed it fur- the Up trains are altered by scrawls. At Bargo 321 [“No such a train” in my ther to two dates. I was also able to esti- These altered entries are written in a speculations] very late, “met” 256 on mate the time of the cover photo by meas- different hand by a different person Down Main [due 13:25, on time] and uring the lengths of the shadows in the [“Person 2”—note the differences in 430 on Up Main [due 13:25, 35 late]. photo and plugging those numbers into an the “4”s in each hand]. No. 321 Goods was seen at Maldon. It astronomical ephemeris. This came up These hinky alterations seem to have was running “a few hours late” accord- with a time of 10:40, which turned out to been made “on the fly” - probably from ing to the Picton signalman. be fairly accurate. My further speculations the unstable footplate of a steam loco- There were “Gunzels Galore” on this were: motive on a Down train. morning, but no sign of a blue mini. Normal running times for 36-class engines with a full goods load was 63 I thought the rostered train engine num- Bill fell asleep at Maldon and missed Nos. minutes, Goulburn to Wingello. There- bers were copied from the AMBA by the 256 and 430 when they passed. At Dora fore, the train, whatever it was, would driver of #31 mixed for a rail-fan, who Creek the next day, Bill was told that an have left Goulburn at about 09:35. subsequently travelled on the footplate of Up Goods, with 3638 and 3810 [ex Down 06:40?—where, presumably, Person 2 that train. It is possible that the Blue Mini SHE] left Goulburn at 19:25, but 3638 was discovered the substitution of 3825 for belonged to another rail-fan who was mo- removed at Picton with a hot-box. 3652]. torcading the train. My own reasoning was very roundabout. All of the trains listed were worked by It is clear, both from the slip of paper, Although I had access to Railway Digest, steam engines. Diesel-hauled trains Bill’s observations and Railway Digest, in a severe Seniors Moment I totally were ignored. This probably means that that things did not go according to plan. A missed what Tony had spotted. the AMBA [“roster”] was copied from factor was the single line working in the Eveleigh loco depot and/or that the list Bargo area. My reasoning, with help from Stuart Kean, was written out for a steam-loco tragic. involved an analysis of the railway goings All of the train number entries are legi- Comment on this article –Letter to Editor, on during 1969, in particular the brief re- ble, as are all the original entries for the Facebook turn of the 36-class to the Short South and locomotives rostered to work them. the train numbers found in the WTTs of These were written down by a single Return to Contents page the day. The loco numbers on the scrap of person (Person 1). paper narrowed the possible time frame to
http://www.steamtrainart.com.au/_frame/3825-de-ashing-Moss-Vale
20 The Times February 2017