In a new twist on marine preservation, the John B. Caddell, a 712 ton tanker built in 1941, decided to preserve itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMh8KhcYEfQ

Any word from NJMT and the Pine Creek Railroad? They're right at the Jersey shoreline.

Matt Bumgarner

A thorough check of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum property in Baltimore this noontime reveals all is completely well--the absolute worst to report is one dead tree down atop one storage "shed" (no wires) and two minor drips in the ceilings at two different locations. No flooding or wind damage otherwise.

Queens Midtown auto tunnel also got water. A wire service reports claims that 1 of the Long Island Rail Road's east river tubes got water. Amtrak owns and also uses all 4 of them.

She was sold foreign almost 2 years ago and has sat in NYC since. I imagine she is doomed to the torch now. Sad, only one large coastal oil tanker left, Mary A. Whalen with PortsideNY (Currently looking for a home).

The railroad ferry BINGHAMTON was further swamped by Sandy.

A good video clip on The CBS News tonight regarding the subway.
A news crew following a MTA van gets the technical evaluation of the condition of the subway first hand. As the worker exits the subway he states
“the waader is up to-da TOP of da tunnel ... FO-GET about it”.

I just saw pictures of the New Jersey Transit Hoboken terminal, the one they just redid, full of water and mud.

I guess most people have seen the pic of the boat blocking a 3 track Metro North mainline in NY.

Some of the worst problems occurred on the county-owned Great Allegheny Passage Trail.

“The portion of the Great Allegheny Passage through Allegany County, Maryland, has suffered significant damage from Hurricane Sandy,” said Bretta Reinhard, the county’s public information officer, in a press release. Allegany County officials don’t want people on the trail.

“Trail users are advised to proceed at your own risk. Allegany County is not responsible for any personal injury or property damage suffered by any user of the trail,” Reinhard said. Cleaning up the trail will begin as soon as possible, she said.

Most of the damage is from the Brush Tunnel west to the Mason-Dixon line, including limbs and trees down. Washouts have occurred in the Woodcock Hollow area and in other areas."

http://times-news.com/local/x1400209443 ... crews-busy

Someone on the first page asked about the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut. Here's their latest report. (I've been a member of Shore Line since the early 1980s.)

Museum staff were present at the museum at the time of the peak storm surge on Monday evening, and again at the museum on Tuesday, to assess the damage. The flooding was 10 inches higher than that caused by Irene last summer, but it could have been much, much worse.

We hope you and your family are safe tonight. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the many residents of East Haven, Branford, and indeed the entire area who have been affected by the storm. We know that many of you care deeply about the museum and its collection.
While the collection has once again sustained significant damage, we missed a catastrophe by only 3 hours. Had the storm surge of 9 feet arrived a little later, it would have coincided with high tide and resulted in a flood equal to the Hurricane of 1938. Flood waters would have been up to 3 feet higher, and not a single car would have been spared.

On the other hand, had the Elevating the Collection project been completed, with its two new buildings 2 feet above the 1938 flood level, the majority of our collection would have been completely safe. We therefore urge you to once again consider your own commitment to the museum's historic collection. Please visit http://www.elevatingthecollection.org to learn more about the campaign, and how your support can be memorialized through our Bricks Drive.

From the lessons learned during Irene, the museum was much better prepared for Sandy. We were fortunate that the cars moved to higher tracks did not sustain any significant tree damage. In fact, there is apparently little damage to the railway line at all.

Sandbagging around the basement and substation was also apparently effective, limiting flooding to only a few inches in these locations.
Combined with the other preparations such as moving parts to higher shelves,this meant no significant damage.

At the moment, utility power in both Branford and East Haven is out.
The museum's office will be closed until power is restored. We then expect to make quick progress in clearing the line and resuming museum operations.

Also at this time the members-only web site http://www.bera.org is down, therefore we are sending this email to you through a third-party provider.
Our shorelinetrolley.org site remains up.

Once a fuller survey of the damage has been performed, and we are able to get in contact with our caterer and the church on the green, a decision will be made on the Annual Meeting which is scheduled for this Saturday.
We will announce that decision tomorrow.

This flood has now surpassed Irene as the worst in the museum's history.
All of the cars that had been flooded in Irene and not yet repaired have been flooded again, and a few of the repaired cars have sustained minor to moderate flooding as well. In the coming days, we will prepare a report to the members with more detailed information about the status of specific cars in the collection. It appears that at least 4 passenger trolleys and the most critical work equipment are unaffected, and thus we will be able to complete our 2012 season program.

-Jeff Hakner, President
-Wayne Sandford, General Manager

Superstorm Sandy’s wrath felled trees along the tracks of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad between Cumberland and Frostburg, said Frank Fowler, the railroad’s general superintendent.

Also talks about 734"s maintenance later this year

http://times-news.com/local/x688465614/ ... from-rails

The Trolley Museum of New York took a hit from Sandy. Details, including many pictures, are here: http://tmny.org/Sandy. Please make liberal use of the Donate button, or use our GoFundMe site, http://www.GoFundMe.com/Mind-the-Gap, to help support the museum. We're having a big volunteer cleanup of the site this Saturday, Nov. 3.

From their Facebook post of about two hours ago (and that's how long it's taking me to long in to RyPN with whatever weather glitches are going on):

I have lived at the Jersey Shore my entire life (save for college years in Scranton and Syracuse). There still aren't many of us with power and Internet to tell the tale. My problems are NOTHING compared to what folks a mile or two away have suffered.

Once power comes back and the gas station lines disappear a lot of clarity will come through on the historic devastation... there's more than one old ROW that isn't there anymore.

With the North Jersey Coast Line (NY&LB) hammered like it never has been before and the rest of the current railroad infrastrucutre around the eastern side of the state pummeled, I am sure the stories will unfold over weeks as buildings are inspected.

There are several "historic" but unpreserved rail artifacts that I haven't heard updates on yet, and I expect a couple of former depots on the barrier islands may be gone.

When Bruce and friends do their fundraiser on NBC tomorrow, don't doubt the need. It is that bad. And that's just my first-hand perspective in NJ, not to mention what NYC (especially Queens) and CT have gone through.

It will take months to truly survey and account for the damage to historic transportation sites.. there will be a big difference between what survived Sandy and what will still be standing in a month or two.

Stay safe friends. It would be good to hear from all the RYPN folk in Sandy's path to confirm the most important thing -- that we all made it through.

Rob

Update from Wilmington & Western Facebook page: