By Jeff Plungis and Frederic Tomesco, Bloomberg News, November 05, 2012

On top of having to fix damaged tracks and an operations center ruined by floodwaters, New Jersey Transit’s biggest obstacle to restoring full service for 276,000 daily rail commuters may be finding cars and engines.

The Newark-based agency had 257 rail cars and 65 engines -- 23 percent and 35 percent of its totals, respectively -- damaged or ruined by Atlantic superstorm Sandy, Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman, said. The agency hasn’t determined how many, if any, can be repaired, she said.

New equipment won’t be a quick solution, as about 330 unionized production workers went on strike Nov. 1 at the Bombardier Inc. (BBD/B) factory in La Pocatiere, Quebec, that builds the shells for the agency’s cars [....]

Replacing rail cars isn’t as easy as borrowing whatever can be found. Rolling stock is often custom-made to accommodate a particular system’s tracks and signals. It generally takes years to finish orders built to specifications, like Bombardier’s 2008 contract with New Jersey Transit [....]