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Return of signal woes means Braintree trains went slow; riders' tempers about to blow

UPDATE, 11:40 a.m. A Red Line train exhaled its last at Andrew and now the T reports "severe" delays.

Yes, it was return of the signal problems from hell on the Braintree branch this morning.

But don't feel so smug, Orange Line riders - one of your trains bought the farm near Sullivan Square, causing delays from there and Oak Grove.

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Thank you for providing the first explanation of these mysterious "signal problems" that I have seen anywhere.

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People may be interested in knowing that some train failures are sometimes caused by the Cineston Controller not working right, or its associated safety systems go fubar, but to the advantage of safety.

Now... to understand the system, the brakes have two air lines. One is for the emergency brake and one for the service brake that stops the trains at the platforms. The emergency brake has a spring-loaded mechanism so if air pressure is lost to the train, it will also be lost to the emergency brake lines which holds the brakes open. When that happens the springs pull the brake shoes into the wheels and the train stops.

If air is lost to the emergency brake for any reason, the control stand has to be shut off and air pressure rebuilt to the emergency brake system. This pulls the brake shoes away from the wheels and you can go. The service brake over-rides the air in the emergency brake for general operation of the train for stopping at platforms. It's a very well-thought safety system.

Not all that long ago I was sitting next to a control cab on the Orange line and the shade was up and could see the air gauges. We pulled in to North Station and stopped as usual. I was able to watch the air pressure gauge which shows the pressure in the emergency brake, and in the service brake. When we went to pull out you could feel the train start, but the air in the emergency brake was lost. The train went into emergency and killed power. The operator reset the brakes and it pumped up OK. He started to power the train and emergency air was lost again. We repeated this 3 times before it finally took and we were able to go. I was certain we were DOA.

This suggests that the "dead man" emergency linkage in the Cineston was not working right and it thought that the operator was letting go of the throttle handle. It may have been something else, but in any event he had to reset the train 3 times before we got going. This happened again 2 stations up, but eventually we got to Forest Hills.

Now, one might think that the train with a known issue would be taken out of service. Not so. This train reversed ends and departed with passengers headed for Oak Grove. Now, of course running the other way you have a different Cineston Controller, but when you reverse at Oak Grove you have the bad one again. Of course they could have taken it out of service at Wellington but there is no way to tell.

Keep in mind the Orange Line trains pre-date the current subway and were in service several years on the "EL" and date back to about 1980 making them about 35 years old on average.

Before we rant about what is right and wrong, lets remember that these operators are under pressure to make these trains work, and no new ones will arrive until sometime in 2018-2019, and that's the date range for the first units to arrive, be tested, and then have any bugs flushed out. That can take from weeks to months. If the operators took every train out of service or refused to operate ones with known flaws, nothing would be running, or we'd be at the service levels of the post-2015 winter storms again.

After reading those two linked articles I have to wonder who made the decision to put the bypass switch on the outside of the train when the trains were rebuilt in the mid-80s? That places these operators in dangerous territory at the 3rd rail, and other exposed parts that carry high-voltage. The second article is most revealing, or so I feel.

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     ... violating the rules and enabling the accident to occur.

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Please.... The XB "emergency" manual braking system is only used for emergency stops or to lock down a set of coaches in place for the night. It has to be cranked up and takes a couple of minutes to do so. Think of it like jacking up a car to change a tire. The crank handle is pretty much the same.

I assure you, ... no operator sets that brake on any train.

When you get to the end of the line you hear a big "whhoooosh" which is the sound the train makes when the Cineston is placed in brake and lock mode. This is your service brake and emergency brake together. Its like putting a car into "Park."

The operator goes to the other end and unlocks the Cineston at the other end and you go.

If they dropped the XB "emergency" brake someone would have to stay in the cab to crank it up.

Same is true if the operator overshoots the platform. Lock the Cineston, walk to the back of the train, activate the Cineston and back it up a few feet. Then repeat the process to get going again.

When the Governor and Pollack were talking about an emergency brake, they meant locking the Cineston in the "off" position. Let's keep in mind neither of those people have ever had any throttle time in the cab.

As for the press... "Polly Want a Cracker." They repeat anything they are told. Had the Globe not done something on this, and some of it anonymously, no one would know anything. Hint: Look in Reddit.

If you walked up to Charlie Baker and asked, "Why don't they drop the panto on the fly anymore on the Blue Line," he'd be clueless. And for those who know, yeah that's old school.

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Please send every one of your T problem reports to the Governor. I'm sure the T won't.

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George the Beatle already said it,

'' But it's gonna take money
A whole lotta spending money
It's gonna take plenty of money
To do it right child

It's gonna take time
A whole lot of precious time
It's gonna take patience and time, ummm
To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it
To do it right ''

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Remember that "$7.2B" figure to get the MBTA back to a state of good repair? According to the recent FMCB report, it's actually going to cost $24.8B to do those $7.2B of repairs.

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I have zero faith or confidence in the T. There is no accountability and you can bet your tush that if it is cold outside there WILL be delays. Happy new year

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In what world would an orange line rider feel smug to begin with? If they were talking to someone on the B-line, I guess?

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And the T went down for the count. Wait till Mother Nature throws a hook or a body blow and the whole system collapses.

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and the constant neglect by the people in charge. Although the MBTA's problems have been long-standing, Charlie Baker hasn't helped, and neither has the fact that he was one of the people who advocated cutting aid to the MBTA and improvement of services in the first place.

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Your meter is improving. Keep working on it though.

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