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Moving Forward
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Spring 2015
News for customers, employees and friends of the New York & Atlantic Railway
NY&A instrumental in clearing snow after storms
On Monday, January 26, 2015,
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
issued a state of emergency as Storm
Juno hit Long Island with heavy snow,
high winds and coastal flooding. Parts
of Long Island saw more than two feet
of snow. The Long Island Rail Road
(LIRR), Metro-North Railroad and all
main roads were closed by 11 PM. The
New York & Atlantic Railway temporarily ceased operations.
NY&A operations started again on
Wednesday, January 28 and the railroad was instrumental in clearing snow
for the LIRR. NY&A crews helped
reopen passenger and freight lines in
central and eastern Long Island.
Two NY&A GP38-2 locomotives
were used to push the LIRR’s Jordan
Spreader—a heavy maintenance unit
equipped with a plow and blades that
normally spread gravel ballast (bed
for railroad tracks) and create drainage ditches. However, the spreader can
also serve as a snow plow.
Due to continuous winds and
drifting snow, there was a significant
amount of snow that had to be cleared
several times. About 800 locomotive
miles were operated over a three-day
period and, by mid-February, well over
1,000 locomotive-miles were consumed in this snow removal service.
Immediately after the storm, the
NY&A maintenance team cleared
ice and snow from the rails and at all
switch points. “We had to dig out all
the switches and worked with the train
crews to get to our customers to make
sure there were no interruptions in service,” says Bob Clark, chief engineer.
The LIRR’s 53-foot-long and 80-ton steel Harsco Spreader Ditcher, also known as a Jordan Spreader and nicknamed “Darth Vader,” gets a push from two NY&A GP38-2
locomotives. The Jordan Spreader was used to clear the
tracks between Ronkonkoma and Riverhead, eventually
ending up in Montauk.
Photo by Joseph A. Tischner
NY&A 261 after a day of clearing snow and
ice. Photo by Joseph A. Tischner
MOW supervisors share the workload
The Maintenance of Way (MOW)
and he gave me the opportunity to work
department at the NY&A has not one but
on my first railroad job.”
two professionals keeping an eye on their
Bob goes on to say, “It’s a much
tracks: Bob Clark, chief engineer, and Eddifferent railroad than when we started.
win De Leon, MOW supervisor.
We’ve upgraded the condition of the railBob, a native of Canada, has more
road substantially over that period, with
than 60 years of experience in the railroad
welded rail and a lot of capital jobs.”
industry. He started out in the engineering
“I think we work well together,” says
department for the New York Central RailEdwin. “Our relationship has developed
road. As his railroad career progressed, he
over the past six years and we’ve been
worked in various locations around the
able to do a lot together for the NY&A.”
northeast United States and the Midwest,
Bob replies, “Edwin is a very hard
subsequently ending up in Philadelphia.
worker and maintains a high quality of
He retired as the assistant vice president
work. He is a real asset to this railroad.”
of engineering at Conrail in 1994.
When they’re not working, they each
(From left) Edwin DeLeon and Bob Clark
“I met Paul Victor in 1999, while we
spend time with their families. Bob has
were individually doing consulting work in Mexico,” says Bob.
been married to his wife, Mary Ellen, for 61 years and has four
“When Paul became president of the NY&A, he asked if I could
children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
assist the NY&A in strengthening its MOW organization.”
Edwin, a New York Yankees fan, enjoys working out and
That’s when Edwin entered the picture. He was self-emlifting weights and spending time with his wife, Cecilia, and
ployed, doing contract right-of-way clean up work for the
their three daughters: 17-year old Ashley, 14-year old KimberNY&A. Edwin says, “I asked Paul for a position at this railroad
ly and 2-year old Makailey.
ELM Global Logistics relies on NY&A to build business
ELM Global Logistics, located in
Brentwood, Long Island, is the only
direct rail-served, third-party, full-logistics service provider in Nassau and
Suffolk counties. They are also well
positioned to serve all five boroughs of
New York City.
Located 40 miles east of New York
City, ELM has been using NY&A services since 2003. Through the railroad,
they connect with all major rail carriers, receiving goods from as far away
as California, Mexico and Canada.
Plans are under way to expand
track capacity and improve crew utilization by removing an interior wall in
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the warehouse. Currently, railcars need
to be separated and hand brakes applied at different openings in order to
unload them. Completing this project
will allow more railcars to be unloaded
at a faster rate.
ELM, which has experience handling a wide range of consumer and
industrial commodities, has an additional rail spur that can be opened once
the need arises.
“We are pleased to partner with a
company that is such an effective rail
logistics provider,” says James Bonner, director of sales and marketing at
the NY&A. “ELM handles inbound
freight for a number of customers that
are crucial to the Queens, Brooklyn,
and Long Island markets and tirelessly explores new opportunities as they
arise.”
ELM's Director of Sales, Cindy
Farley, says, "ELM formed a partnership with the NY&A as they have the
ability to offer competitive rail rates
with connections to all major rail carriers. As such, their rates reflect a substantial savings in trucking costs."
Three of ELM’s current rail customers receiving inbound cargo are
Azteca Milling, Inter-County Bakers
and Clearwater Paper.
New York & Atlantic Railway
The New York metropolitan area,
as well as the northeastern region of
the country, has been in a deep freeze
since almost the beginning of the New
Year. There have been repeated cycles
of snow, followed by rain, immediately followed by a hard freeze. This creates two specific challenges: significant
snow drifts and ice that forms over the
rails.
To combat the snowfall, NY&A,
together with the LIRR, operated a machine known as a Jordan Spreader. The
engine’s plows were a critical component because winds drove snow back
over the recently plowed right-of-way.
In addition, the NY&A contracted to use
front-end loaders and other equipment
to clear snow that collected repeatedly
on freight-only line segments after each
snowstorm.
Almost all trains and yard engines
that were operated during this period
required both contractor-supplied and
NY&A engineering personnel to ride
along with the transportation employ-
Message from the President
ees to re-clear switches and crossings.
Blowing snow from passenger trains can
quickly undo the effort just expended to
make a switch operational.
The occasional times when the mercury climbed above 32°F, especially in
concert with rainfall, repeatedly resulted in a sheet of ice several inches above
the head of the rail at many locations.
The standard practice of using under
rail portable kerosene heaters, and/or
the staging of rail cars tied down over
key switches, were simply not sufficient
to overcome the magnitude of ice that
formed. Only people armed with picks,
lining bars, propane, gasoline and jackhammers were able to clear the ice-covered areas and liberate cars frozen in
place.
In total, more than 20 people, in
addition to our own train crew members, were required to keep rail service
up and running for NY&A’s customers.
The working conditions can only be de-
scribed as bad. However, despite these
challenges, NY&A persevered and we
will work hard in order to return to the
level of service our customers expect.
We need to thank everyone for
their individual efforts and for their focus on safety over this critical period.
Paul
Bridge project completed through ingenuity
NY&A President Paul Victor recalls that the design of the bridge
was a challenge. “We have the street overhead, so we couldn’t go up.
The sewer is underneath, so we couldn’t go down, but we needed
another foot of clearance.”
The bridge in question is an integral and final component of the
railroad’s Plate F clearance project, which was initiated last fall to
increase clearance for 17-foot high cars. Constraints were the overhead intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and Fresh Pond Road, and
a 100-year-old sewer line below. In between is a 630-foot long underpass less than a mile from NY&A’s Fresh Pond yard in Queens,
New York.
Borrowing from past experience, Paul suggested a way that the
clearance could be improved. The idea was reviewed by Thomas Siwula, principal engineer and Scott Wertans, president of Saratoga
Railroad Engineering PC and approved by the New York State Department of Transportation.
With the bridge project completed, the NY&A will be able to accommodate 17-foot high Plate F cars throughout all of Queens and
Brooklyn by the end of April 2015.
New York & Atlantic Railway
Construction of the bridge showing use of I-beams (instead of conventional girders) and placement of a sample
rail. The objective was to cut the height of the supporting
structure, which would typically be 2½ to 3 feet, to only 16
inches. The bolts visible in this photo were torqued down
upon completion.
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Hollywood
at the NY&A
New York & Atlantic Railway
68-01 Otto Road
Glendale, NY 11385
Telephone: 718-497-3023 * Fax: 718-497-3364
www.anacostia.com/railroads/nya
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NY&A properties, which are within
the 25-mile New York studio zone, have
provided ideal locations for the filming
of scenes of many movies, TV shows
and advertising shoots. Some memorable
films and TV shows include "Unstoppable," "Man on a Ledge," "Person of Interest," "The Good Wife," and "Boardwalk
Empire."
Below is a pop culture quiz to see if
you can guess the movies or shows that
have been filmed on NY&A property.
1. In this reboot, featuring Andrew Garfield
and Emma Stone, a young man uses his
super powers to protect New York from
bad guys.
2. Two detectives solve modern-day versions of Sherlock Holmes cases in New
York City. It stars Jonny Lee Miller and
Lucy Liu.
3. Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni,
and Ice-T star in this TV show about an
elite squad of NYPD detectives who investigate a variety of crimes.
4. Liam Neeson starred in this film about
a hit man who has one night to figure
out who he can trust - his estranged son
(played by Joel Kinnaman) or his longtime best friend (played by Ed Harris).
5. This dark drama starring Ben McKenzie
and Jada Pinkett Smith takes place in
Gotham City years predating Batman’s
arrival.
6. This crime thriller takes place in New
York City in 1981 during what is considered one of most violent years in the
city’s history. It stars Jessica Chastain,
Oscar Issac and Albert Brooks.
Posters featuring movies and shows that have filmed on various NY&A properties line the walls of the railroad’s offices.
Top: Posters from the TV show “Persons of Interest” and the
movie “Man on a Ledge.” Bottom: Posters from the movie
“Unstoppable” and the TV show “The Blacklist.”
Answers:
1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (filmed in several locations
in 2013 and 2014) 2. Elementary (filmed at Maspeth in
2013) 3. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (filmed at
the East NY Tunnel in 2014) 4. Run All Night (Filmed at
Blissville in 2013) 5. Gotham (filmed at Dutch Kills Bridge
in 2014) 6. A Most Violent Year (filmed at the East NY
Tunnel in 2014).