NJ Train passed Maplewood Station and had to back up

The 7:01 am to Penn Station passed Maplewood Station this morning and had to back up into the station to pick up passengers. The exact same thing happened last Tuesday, according to regular passengers of this train. 


If you plan to take an earlier train, better don‘t count on the 7:01 am on Tuesdays.


All in all we seem to have only a delay of 10 minutes. We have seen worse.


This happens with some frequency this time of year.  The tracks are slippery and sometimes the train miss the station.

Fallen leaves on the tracks are smashed under the wheels of the trains and leave a slippery liquid on the tracks which can increase stopping distances .  NJT runs special maintenance trains that essentially power wash the tracks to try and combat this condition.


Alias - no doubt your points are all correct but it didn't seem like there was any attempt to brake in advance of the station this morning...perhaps the driver spaced out?  Regardless..the delay was relatively small.  This train is usually pretty reliable and not ridiculously crowded. 


If there was NO attempt to brake, the train would have been going way fast. The stuff that gets on the tracks is very slippery so it can seem as if the train is not trying to stop. Also, when this happens there is a burning smell so I think the engineer can not brake too hard as the liquid is oily and might actually be flammable.


Same thing happened LAST Tuesday too -- 7AM blew thru, unable to stop, and had to back up. I'm always surprised that they haven't figured out how to solve this problem, since the leaves fall every single year, but apparently it's really a challenge for them.


If you think about it, trains are efficient because there is so little rolling resistance between the wheels and the track.  The steel to steel contact area on each wheel is about the size of a dime.  It takes time to speed up and slow down because too much power just spins the wheels.  So a leaf or liquid can have an outsized effect.  Keeping the rails clean is tough, but important.  


This same thing happened on our wedding day 20 years ago bringing family members from the city ....the train could not just back up ...there is a protocol that must be followed so it took a little time before it actually backed up back in MPL station. Luckily all was ok...my husband was at the station in his tuxedo waiting for them.



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