Museum Car Discussion Thread

[Dj Hammers]

Thanks, my bad for speaking out of line.

 

Hey DJ, do you think we are going to have another Rockaways Special with the TOMM?

 

I sure hope so! That was great!

Too early to tell. Plans for summer trips aren't finalized. 

[Fan Railer]

Not too early anymore lol. Schedule seems pretty sparse for now; hopefully some stuff will get added onto the calendar. Several things to note would be the annual Coney Island and Woodlawn Cemetery trips, in addition to the multiple Coney Island Shop tours:

http://web.mta.info/mta/museum/programs/

[Javier]

In the Coney Island Shop Tours do they allow you to go inside the R160's?

[Fan Railer]

Doubtful. That's a safety issue. Those tours are heavily monitored and participants are screened before being cleared.

[P3F]

Personally, after being on the Coney Island tour, I wish they'd do a tour of the 36-38th Streets yard. That one seems to be unique and interesting.

[Interested Rider]

If my memory serves me correctly, the 60th Anniversary of the A train going to Lefferts Boulevard and the Rockaway extension is at the end of April (I think April 29).

 

The 40th Anniversary of the opening of the New York City Transit Museum is July 4. I remember that the Electric Railroaders Association had a tour before it opened and I was on the tour which included a ride from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the Queen Mary Double Decker bus.

 

Anything planned for either of these two anniversaries?

[+Young+]

In the Coney Island Shop Tours do they allow you to go inside the R160's?

Doubtful. That's a safety issue. Those tours are heavily monitored and participants are screened before being cleared.

 

I agree 100%...not only is it a safety issue, but if you attempt to climb up and fall...then what happens? If you're lucky, on some of the cars they are working on, they'll have the side doors open, so you can see inside as far as what is going on. I know this is true when they replace the floors on the R46s.

 

I went on a Coney Island tour several years ago..and we did NOT go inside any of the cars.

[Lance]

If my memory serves me correctly, the 60th Anniversary of the A train going to Lefferts Boulevard and the Rockaway extension is at the end of April (I think April 29).

The extension of the to Lefferts Blvd occurred on 29 April, 1956. When the Rockaway Line opened for subway service two months later (28 June), the was the direct line from Manhattan, not the . It wouldn't be until mid-September that the would run to the Rockaways for the first time.

[baron34]

This may be a bit off topic but I'm not sure where to ask the question...

I rode the BMT quite a bit as a boy in the late '50s and early '60s. Used to board at Queensboro Plaza, switch to the Brighton Express at 57th Street, and ride to Brighton Beach for the day.

 

So here's the question:
I remember the drab green interiors of the BMT Standards, along with the wicker seats, with sharp edges that often stuck up and jabbed you in the butt. But right around '60, a group of the Standards were refurbished with new interiors. They got cushioned red leather seats and a strange (to me) interior paint scheme. It was sea-foam green with speckles of white spattered over it. I don't think all of the Standards got this treatment.

Does anyone know if there are any examples remaining of this unique paint scheme? What about the red seats? I can't find any photos on the web, but there has to be someone else here who remembers. It's so clear in my mind.

Were the recent refurbs of the Standards according to their original (olive green) interior color?

Thanks in advance!

[Interested Rider]

Shoreline Trolley Museum has 2775 and that was one of the 396 cars done in the speckled green color. There was originally only 200 cars that were supposed to be done and the number was increased to 396 cars later on. 

2390 - 2 are in original olive green color but I remember that  2830 - 2 remained in that color along with 2321 -3, 2342 - 4, 2345 - 7 with no modifications. The reason that I remember these cars was when the Culver Line was cut at 9th Avenue from Chambers Street in 1959, the standards came back to the Sea Beach Line for the first time since the Triplexes took over the line so I was able to ride the rebuilds and the non-rebuilds with the numbers of 2300 - 2899 as the standards and the triplexes would appear on the line as they did on the West End Line. 

For the record, rebuilds and non-rebuilds were mixed in the same train of six cars and the two additional cars on an eight car train at the south end were always rebuilds.

[Javier]

What Redbirds currently are still operational and or good condition? (Not just on NYCT property)

[Fresh Pond]

What Redbirds currently are still operational and or good condition? (Not just on NYCT property)

Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport Maine has 2 operational ones.

 

Shoreline Trolley Museum also has an operational one.

 

All 3 cars operate on overhead trolley wire.

[RockawayLcl]

The last TOMC was pretty cool. It's the first ride i had on the redbirds since they were in revenue service. Last one i remember taking was the 5 train going to Fulton. Thing is tho i wished they had the R33WF 9306 on it. Guess it was too late to put them on? Did they not have enough time? Maybe since it's a pure 1964 model (never refurbished) then maybe they didn't want to risk the rain hitting it? It was cloudy that day.

[Around the Horn]

Not too early anymore lol. Schedule seems pretty sparse for now; hopefully some stuff will get added onto the calendar. Several things to note would be the annual Coney Island and Woodlawn Cemetery trips, in addition to the multiple Coney Island Shop tours:

http://web.mta.info/mta/museum/programs/

The Floyd Bennett Field bus trip sounds interesting but I'll definitely try to make a Rockaways trip if they have one.

[Kamen Rider]

Simple thing is they didn't want to have to drag one car out of the museum for an event that bearly lasted an hour. The coupled up the SMEEs already in Indwood and figured "yea, that'll do".

[SubwayGuy]

Doubtful. That's a safety issue. Those tours are heavily monitored and participants are screened before being cleared.

 

It's been done in the past but it depends on the facility. It was done in Jamaica Yard once, and in Hillside (LIRR). But they're not going to let people climb up. There are staircases cars & shops uses to access the cars kind of like the ones at Home Depot the clerks use to reach items on high shelves, that line up with the door thresholds. If those are available, they may (at the discretion of cars & shops) allow guests to board a subway car, and incorporate it into their tour. If not, fugheddaboudit.

[SubwayGuy]

This may be a bit off topic but I'm not sure where to ask the question...

 

I rode the BMT quite a bit as a boy in the late '50s and early '60s. Used to board at Queensboro Plaza, switch to the Brighton Express at 57th Street, and ride to Brighton Beach for the day.

 

So here's the question:

I remember the drab green interiors of the BMT Standards, along with the wicker seats, with sharp edges that often stuck up and jabbed you in the butt. But right around '60, a group of the Standards were refurbished with new interiors. They got cushioned red leather seats and a strange (to me) interior paint scheme. It was sea-foam green with speckles of white spattered over it. I don't think all of the Standards got this treatment.

 

Does anyone know if there are any examples remaining of this unique paint scheme? What about the red seats? I can't find any photos on the web, but there has to be someone else here who remembers. It's so clear in my mind.

 

Were the recent refurbs of the Standards according to their original (olive green) interior color?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

There are actually several photos from the mid 1960s on NYC subway showing the changeover you're talking about:

 

(old style)

 

 

(soft seats)

 

 

(both styles mixed)

 

Edited April 12, 2016 by SubwayGuy

[Javier]

I have a suggestion for the museum collection:

 

I know that the R110A's can no longer operate since their electronics are since worn out and there's only one good "A" car (8010) and it can't operate because it's missing its "B" cars. Is there anyway they can convert 8005 into a "B" car and couple it back up with 8001 and 8010 to form a 3 car set or is that not possible?

 

And for the R110B's, they still have both "A" and "B" cars intact, but why can't they operate anymore? Is it because of damage?

[Fan Railer]

No... You need at least 1 B car for every A car. You cannot run a 3 car set of that train. Needs to be at least 4 (2 of each car). Additionally those cars are a wreck (internally). You have parts missing (that are no longer serviceable) like the cab computer (I think), and the cosmetic condition is quite deplorable. It is feasible and reasonable to spruce one up and put it on static display, but you will never see a set in nostalgia service.

[Javier]

A static display is fine, but I wonder when they will become a static display, They're just sitting there gathering dust.

[Fan Railer]

8010 is actually in decent display shape compared to the rest of the remaining fleet. It just needs to be approved by the higher-ups for the necessary work and movement to the museum.

[Lance]

It may be too late for any of the R110A cars. I recall reading somewhere that the MTA is planning on converting the remaining cars into work service. I'm looking into it for confirmation.

 

As for the R110Bs, only four cars remain on NYCT property, two of which are completely inoperable because they were cannibalized for parts to make 3001-06 run.

[Fan Railer]

Like I said, keep your eye on 8010 in the coming months.

[RTS9000]

8010 is intact, but 8001/8006 are missing parts, and 8005 is completely stripped so 8005 is a goner.

[Javier]

Yeah but cant the striped parts from 8005 be used to repair 8001/8006?