After coming out of the station tracks at Penn Station, trains bound for places like Albany, Rutland, Montreal, Niagra Falls, Toronto, and Chicago make their way for the Empire Tunnel. The Empire Tunnel, a recent addition to the whole Penn Station madness, was constructed in the 1980's at the same time the LIRR's West Side Yard was going in right above it. The tunnel sides between the North River Tunnels and West Side Yard. This tunnel saw its first revenue train on April 4, 1991, when Amtrak consolidated their New York operations into one terminal, New York Penn.
The "Empire Connection" takes trains out of Penn Station and sends them up the west side of Manhattan to Spuyten Duyvil, where the trains join the Metro-North Hudson Line for the trip up to points north. This whole segment is a key feature of the Hudson Line-half of Penn Station Access, and this post has more info on that proposal and some more characteristics of the Empire Line in general.
EMPIRE interlocking, the subject of today's post, sits just outside the Empire Tunnels (located towards the top, right corner of this diagram):
The Empire Tunnel itself is only one track. It's not a significant choke point, and the single-track runs for less than a mile before splitting into two tracks for the trip north along Manhattan's West Side. The one line becomes two at EMPIRE interlocking where, just after going under the 39th-43rd Streets overbuild. From here all the way to INWOOD interlocking, the line is double tracked (but with no crossovers, unless you count the one in CP JERVIS very close to here).
Additionally, about halfway through EMPIRE interlocking, the overhead wire and third rail ends. Trains going up to Albany and further destinations use P32AC-DM's, very similar to Metro-North's, but Amtrak's have over-running third rail shoes that can work on Penn Station's third rail (much like the LIRR's Dual Modes), as the operation of diesel engines within Penn Station and its tunnels are prohibited. Normally, trains make the mode change right away after exiting the tunnels (after all, they don't have so much room to do it), and coming inbound they slow up a bit and flip the switch. The line is also equipped with overhead wire in the event a dual-mode can't change modes, or Albany either accidentally or intentionally sends down a P42 locomotive (which looks nearly exactly the same, but has 1,000 more horses and no third rail shoes). In these cases, an AEM-7, HHP-8, and now even an ACS-64, (or one of the NJTransit equivalents) can go out under their overhead wire power and tow the train into the station.
Train movement thorugh the Empire Tunnel, and parts of Empire Interlocking, occurs at very low speeds (about 15mph) due to the sharp curve of the tunnel (and you can certainly hear the screechy flanges as you're going through it!)
Additionally, EMPIRE interlocking contains a Wye Track. Up until recently, the Wye Track had another leg and actually looked like a wye, but the leg missing from the diagram has since been placed out of service, and the Wye Track is more of a short little siding than a wye track.
The track is pretty clear (though not exactly straight) for several miles north of here as it runs up the West Side of Manhattan. Eventually, trains reach INWOOD interlocking, where the two track connection is reduced once again to one, the single track crosses over the Harlem River on a moveable bridge, and the line merges into Metro-North's Hudson Line for the next leg of their journey.
A dispatcher located in PSCC (though on the other side of the aisle from the LIRR and Amtrak dispatchers who control the Penn Station interlockings), controls EMPIRE, CP JERVIS, INWOOD, and all of the Empire Connection. Amtrak hands over control of the trains to Metro-North for the territory between Spuyten Duyvil and Poughkeepsie. North of Poughkeepsie, Amtrak dispatchers once again regain control (since they recently acquired the line from CSX), and a dispatcher in the PSCC building (though, again, on the other side of the aisle form the Penn Station people), controls all of that territory as well.
If you ever get a chance to take an Amtrak train up to Albany (or beyond), I would highly recommend it. The scenery is second-to-none and gets even better once you wander north of Poughkeepsie, so if you're looking for a good rail journey to take, there's a good place to start.
Next week's interlocking walkthrough will round out the Empire Connection with a look at the above-mentioned INWOOD interlocking before we move on to the Hell Gate Line, so stay tuned!
Cool walkthrough. By any chance, do you know if the Empire corridor ever had a connection to what is now the High Line?
ReplyDeleteYes, the whole thing from INWOOD down into the Meatpacking District was built as the West Side Line by the New York Central as was a big freight route into Manhattan (though it did not tie into New York Penn). In the 1980's Conrail stopped freight service along the line. Later on, the part north of 31st street was acquired by Amtrak and they built the last piece of the puzzle which was the tunnel to Penn Station later in the 80's when West Side Yard was being constructed.
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