# Fire at Jamaica Station cripples LIRR

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 23, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187 "2010-08-23T18:44:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187/1 "2010-08-23T18:44:15Z")

</div>

Apparently there’s been a serious fire at one of the towers at Jamaica. Every Long Island Rail Road line except Port Washington passes through Jamaica Station, meaning all service has been indefinitely suspended except for Port Washington trains. :eek:

They don’t know if repairs will be in place for the afternoon rush yet. This will make for some interesting commutes, I’m sure.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187/2 "2010-08-23T23:14:39Z")

</div>

The NY Times [reports](http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/fire-cripples-long-island-rail-road/?hp) an update: some lines are now running reduced service, with most trains skipping Jamaica.

The fire apparently destroyed part of the manual switching system that was built in 1913. (If it ain’t broke…) If you’ve ever seen Jamaica Station, you know that’s a pretty complex switchyard with eight revenue tracks and a couple sidings.

I got home just fine on the subway. 😛 Some of my coworkers will not be as lucky.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187/3 "2010-08-24T08:13:42Z")

</div>

To anyone victimized by this . . . I feel your pain. A number of years ago, the LIRR workers went on strike, and I was a commuter from Long Beach to my job in Manhattan. It was not a good experience for many of us.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187/4 "2010-08-24T10:01:05Z")

</div>

To think they were just about to upgrade that switching station after what… 97 years!?!

I find it funny they didn’t have a back up plan.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-at-jamaica-station-cripples-lirr/551187/5 "2010-08-24T19:15:52Z")

</div>

> [@Race\_Harley](#):
>
> I find it funny they didn’t have a back up plan.

According to the Times this morning, they had guys out on the tracks with mallets manually operating the switches.