Workers carefully maneuver new rail onto new ties and fasteners in the tunnel outside the PATH Hoboken station.
Image and caption courtesy of PANYNJ
HOBOKEN, N.J. - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have shared progress photos and video showing the second week of work completed at PATH Hoboken Station
Port Authority Chief Operating Officer Jim Heitmann said, “The complexity of this – what we call the interlocking – is a really complex mechanical-electrical device that is so important. . . To have a brand new one, and put [in] that kind of reliability, is just a really great example of what the outcome of this is going to be.”
Below is a gallery of images with captions courtesy of PANYNJ.
The track switch — known as an interlocking — just outside of the PATH Hoboken station. Work was in full swing to replace the critical switch during the second week of the station closure.
A worker guides a section of rail into place by hand, soon to be fastened and secured to the new track ties.
Once track is laid down, workers use a track jack to align the rail and fasten it into place. Rail alignment is a meticulous process; trains require a consistent gauge, or space between the rails, to operate reliably. Any deviations, even by a fraction of an inch, can cause problems.
After lifting out the old Hoboken Interlocking switch during the first week of the closure, crews began installing a new switch system that allows trains to move between tracks leading to the station. The new switch will enable more efficient and reliable operations at the station, removing an old piece of equipment that often had mechanical issues.
Crews use a track jack to fasten and secure new rail to new ties. The complex interlocking system is visible behind them.
Extensive work continues 24 hours a day, seven days a week, both throughout the station and into the tunnels beyond.
Crews work on one of the four new staircases leading from the mezzanine to platform levels. The new wide, steel staircases will replace the narrow, steep concrete stairs original to the 117-year-old station.
While the platform level already sports the station’s new white and Lackawanna Green color scheme, crews worked on the mezzanine level to strip old paint off the station’s ceiling and columns to prepare for the new paint job. The shade of dark green pays homage to the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, which ran trains out of Hoboken Terminal in a dark green livery.
A worker secures a new guard to the side of the platform as an extra layer of protection for the concrete surface.
