So a tree just took out the catenary wires in South Orange…

…because NJ Transit just wasn’t having a bad enough week. 

A tree on Meeker St (which both NJT and PSEG  knew about) came down with a HUGE crash. Our whole house shook and we’re 4 houses away. The fire dept. responded rapidly and then PSEG showed up. My understanding is that some folks may be trapped on a nearby train, but they should be able to get off fairly easily. 

Hope nobody was hurt.

I do hope no one was hurt.

I have a friend who was supposed to be visiting from NYC, she’s on her way now, but the 6.11 left NYP at 6.55-ish, now going only to Broad St. There’s a bus service running to South Orange.

If you know, metaphysician:   did it uproot or snap?

Was it known to be a potential hazard for a reason other than its location?

No one was hurt. The train was trapped by a lack of power, not the tree. 

There are a lot of trees along the train line behind our houses, as well as telephone poles. The Power lines, cable lines, FIOS lines and telephone lines all run through those trees. I know that both PSEG & NJ Transit knew that tree was in bad shape. And there are others.

They took down a huge oak tree in our backyard Oct 2019, using the largest crane available in the state to reach over our house. 

They have no track equipment capable of coping with these large dying trees. 

I feel badly that the crew have to be out working in this bitterly cold weather. 

Any updates? Did they remove the fallen tree?

phenixrising said:

Any updates? Did they remove the fallen tree?

Service to South Orange has been resumed sometime this afternoon, according to the WCBS and NJTransit.com. Still haven't heard an estimate on service further west.

I am so glad I am retired. I hated my super-long commute and incidents like this just put the icing on the cake. I feel for all of you that have to rely on NJ Transit, but I guess it's still better than driving into NYC.

This is the tree on Meeker St (photo from Twitter) that took down EVERYTHING. Our power was out for 16 hours. Fortunately, we have an auxiliary heat source, but not all our neighbors were so lucky.

A few trains have gone by, very slowly, this morning.

Also, there are backhoes and other machinery on the tracks, still cleaning up branches, etc.

And our Scandinavian friends & relatives smile politely and shake their heads (their power lines are sensibly underground).