zacster

What is the protocol and signaling for non-CBTC trains in CBTC territory? Are they just longer blocks, very long blocks, with standard signaling? does the flashing green turn solid green to allow the train through? Do all other trains then have to wait for it to clear the block? Are the blocks from one station to the next? I'm still trying to process how all this works. Is there a knowledgeable writeup out there somewhere?

Too late for that. They are how late already? A year and a half?

Since both option orders on the R211s are moving forward, it will just be a matter of time before all of the B division is NTT. And while they will all be slightly different they will also all be CBTC capable and could run almost anywhere, the L notwithstanding, although I have to believe it will become a consistent system at some point. How long would that be? 5 years? 10 Years? At this point they haven't put one in service yet and they are late.

Nothing they do will truly speed up the merges/curves at and around Dekalb Ave. But at least the rest will be faster. And if they eliminate the stop at Gold St the trains could run straight through or paced so they don't have to necessarily stop. I rode Queens Boulevard yesterday for the first time since CBTC went on and it was impressive how fast they run there, but there aren't any tight curves since it was built to IND standards. It reminded me of how it was on CPW in the past. Only the turnouts to Archer and Queensbridge were slow and even that wasn't bad. If you were coming from Airtrain, the E to Manhattan was truly fast. Unless you are going to Penn it is a better choice than the LIRR since it has direct transfers. I'm curious about how fast it would be in the AM rush going in or PM going out.

I was at 63/lex the other day midday and a set of R46s were deadheading to "86th St", meaning CI Yard, probably due to mechanical issues. Those cars are on their last legs. I was surprised that the upper eastsiders didn't put pressure on Cuomo when he was still gov to get them off the line. The 2nd Ave Subway was one of his pet projects and then the MTA put the oldest trains on it after originally having the newest, all decked out in special graphics too. Meanwhile, the R211s are nowhere to be seen.

About half of the R46s on the Q have poor AC. They also have bad springs, bad signs and bad doors. They are basically a complete mess with the lowest MDBF of the fleet.

You are confusing the "els" with the elevated subway extensions that were built as part of the dual contracts of 1913-1920 or so. The els were lightweight structures that mostly could not carry heavy subway cars, whereas the dual contracts extensions were built to carry the heavy subway cars, such as the BMT standards and the IRT Low-v. Many of the original els were also connected to these extensions, but all of them are gone now. I had a whole series of photos that I took last year of all the old el connections from street level on Subchat, but alas, subchat appears to be dead. 9th Ave to Jerome Ave, 3rd Ave to WPR, 2nd Ave to West Farms, Queensborough Plaza, Broadway Junction/Atlantic/Snediker/Van Sinderen, Myrtle/Bway, and wherever else I knew of an el connection that was no longer. They are all hidden in plain sight. I did them all from my bike, starting at my home base in Brooklyn I'd take pictures whenever my training rides took me near them. One unexpected finding was that at Queensborough Plaza there is a structure that curves away to run down Jackson St that was to be the Bklyn/Queens crosstown ELEVATED structure. It was eventually built as the IND crosstown subway. What surprised me is that I got pushback from all the "experts" but yet there it was in plain sight. The plans for the el got killed before final approval of the dual contracts, but QBP was still built with trackways to accommodate it should it ever be built. The trackways were eventually used instead to build a turnaround tail track that follows the Flushing line almost all the way to 33rd/Rawson. Another unexpected finding, what started me on the quest to photograph everything, was that the West End line structure ends abruptly on Stillwell Avenue and the tracks curve off towards CI yards where they meet up with the Sea Beach. Everybody says that was the original plan, but I found something just the other day that tells me otherwise. At the other end, at 9th Ave, the track structure follows the tracks all the way to 9th Ave. Why would they not have built the original track structure on Stillwell the same way if it were intended to curve away? Not everything that was built for the dual contracts is still standing either. The 3rd Ave el on Webster was an addition that was torn down with the rest of it in The Bronx. The 2nd Ave el's Bergen Cutoff was torn down when the 3rd Ave el stopped running. The Fulton el in Brooklyn was upgraded in parts but then torn down when the city took over in 1940, also some parts of the structure at Atlantic Ave were recently torn down. The Jamaica El past 121st St was torn down and put on Archer Ave instead. The 2nd Ave el over the Queensboro Bridge was dual contracts but torn down 25 years later. All of the dual contract lines still standing were built for and operated as subway routes. The West Farms line was built as part of the original IRT subway so it is older but still maintained as part of the subway. The Brighton line is on an embankment and cut and replaced an earlier street level route. And the F train over the Gowanus Canal? That's a bridge, not an el.

While Broadway may be a problem, it isn't as bad as you are all making it out to be. The line is 4 tracks, so it is unlikely but still possible that all traffic is blocked. QB and 2nd Ave have alternates, but may not be used by non-CBTC trains. Astoria has no alternate anyway. So that only leaves the Q train as not being able to run through assuming it doesn't have CBTC equipment. If Broadway is completely blocked the N/W aren't going anywhere. From the other direction you have the N being screwed no matter what, the R can run through on 6th Ave. And again, the Q needs to go through. But this only matters if BOTH tracks are blocked in either direction. That leaves catastrophes like a water main break, which screws everything, a derailment that fouls both tracks, although it would likely need to stop anyway, or a crime like a shooting where they stop everything anyway. A simple mechanical problem on a train, the most likely source of a blockage, won't stop the line from running on one track, slow as it may be. If it is a short term issue too, they can always reroute a 6th Ave train to/from 96th St to fill the gap. And the 7 train will get crowded. And if it looks to be longer term, put some CBTC trains on the Q for the day and run them on 6th Ave, or discontinue the B to BPB and run it to 96th/2nd instead. They cancel the B at the drop of a hat now, so that could just be the contingency. Instead of cancelling the B, cancel the Q and let the B fill in.

Nobody wants a local to Franklin. It is like when they did the F express and the G local, nobody wanted the G. The only way that would work is if the B ran double the number of trains but that would mean more than half of the riders would need to transfer. When the Manhattan Bridge was half closed aside from the merger at PP it was deinterlined. It didn't save anybody anything.

You can't extend the platforms north, the brick tunnel is there. The Park Place platform is over the track but the station house isn't and there is plenty of room to move it back. I use both stations from time to time. But why are we "fixing" the shuttle anyway? 10 car 60' trains? Why? 2 car 75' trains are enough unless the B/Q is stopped, and then only one b/q train will actually unload at PP, the rest will hold in place. I do remember one time in 1965 when there was a water main break. They had the QT running to Franklin and the 8 car trains could still platform. That makes 1 time in almost 60 years where they did that.

It was and always will be the Brighton, Sea Beach, West End and 4th Ave. I was too young to have the Culver in the mix as that was IND and we NEVER took the IND, anywhere. The IRT sometimes.