Talk:Staten Island Railway
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[edit] Equipment
The Staten Island Railway#Nature of the Line section says ...and its equipment is specially modified subway equipment, purchased at the same time as nearly identical cars... So, what are these modifications?
- I can't give you a point for point rundown (hopefully someone else here knows more detail). Originally the modifications were made for Federal Railroad Administration approval. The SIRT was and is an RFA railroad, though it now operates under waiver. Since I know about the requirements that would have been needed on the SIRT from private company days, these would include fairly minor stuff, assuming that the equipment itself has sufficient structural strength, which I believe the R44s have.
- So, the other things include handrails and grabbars on the exterior, headlamps of sufficient intensity, crewing requirements and opreating cab equipment. The door controls were modified, IIRC, to deal with some of the short stations and the need to open only a single door at times.
[edit] Connection to other rail lines
Does anybody know how this rail line is connected to others, namely the other lines of the subway? The article states that maintenance is performed in Coney Island, and I can't imagine that frequent trips like this are made any other way than by rail. Possibly, this is done through New Jersey? If anyone knows the details of the connection, it would probably make a valuable contribution to this article. Galaxydog2000
There are no connections between the SI Railway and any other rail lines. The SIRT has it's own maintainance facilities in Clifton. I don't know what the writer is referring to by maintenance performed in Coney Island. There is no rail line over any Staten Island bridge, except the old SI Railway Bridge to Elizabeth, NJ -- which is maintained, but unused. Even so, the SI rail line does not connect to this railway over any functioning line. The North Shore rail line that leads to the area near the Railway Bridge is defunct and needs complete rebuilding. Sections along the waterfront have erroded into the Kill Van Kull, and the section between the old U.S. Gypsum Plant and the Ball Park station has been pulled up to make way for the new vehicular access to parking lots for the ferry via Jersey street. I suppose they can ship cars via barge, but I don't believe they do this for general maintenance. EGregory 16:06, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
As Gregory noted, maybe it should be clarified for Galaxydog: the SIR (or SIRT for older folks) is NOT part of the NYC subway system. SIRTOA (the legal entity that owns the line) is a subsidiary corporation of the MTA, as is the NYC Transit Authority (which runs the subways and part of the bus system). In many ways, SIR is treated more like a sister (but independent) line of the MetroNorth and Long Island Railroad than as a sister of the subways. The SIR's rather extensive maintenance shop in Stapleton/Clifton (it sits between those two stations) is, as far as I know, adequate for whatever their needs are. As Gregory pointed out, the line stops at St. George. The run between St. George and Mariner's Harbor (the "North Shore line") is trackless through the ROW still exists, and in some places there is literally no land beneath what would be the rail bed. The Arthur Kill RR Bridge is maintained only to connect a short line of stationless track leading to the Howland Hook Marine terminal containerport to the NJ Central -- that bridge and line on the Staten Island side are meant only for freight and are as yet unused for a variety of reasons.Amherst5282 17:04, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
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