In some of the yards I have worked we would have these trains at the ready even for a heavy summer thunderstorm. This is the A & C line Cranberry street tunnel as we know it, under the east river near Fulton Street in Mann. You can see the high water mark just over half way up.
Bring on the the pump train - A 10 car train pushed in by a deisel locomotive to reach into the flood zone.
There is a siphon hose out the front and one that is bigger below the car out of view. The train pumps 1,500 gallons of water per minute.
Inside one of 7 cars called a reach car that carry water to hoses out the back of the train that leads to the street.
Once the water is gone. Signal and track dept go in to inspect track and every signal and switch that was under water. I now dispatch trains with flats and a crane cars. These trains would be used to clean debris and muck that has settled in the tunnels. The one below is carrying exit hoses to help continue to pump water out.
And below..... "an once of prevention..." this an example of a dam set up at 148st and lennox terminal on the #3 line It could have completely flooded the entire terminal. It held out the east river as you can see, saving a lot of sea water entering the tracks below that would need to be pumped out.
Now the A line to the rockaways, that's another story....
Foot note to the last pic in the rockaways. We plan to take apart a train and truck it to the to the rockaways reassemble it on the track and run limited service to meet with shuttle busses.
