Snowblock

Let me put it this way - everything that COULD have gone wrong in the IND Manhattan/Brooklyn this morning, DID go wrong. After asking around with some co-workers, I found out that today was straight out Murphy's Law on the railroad. If I went into greater detail I might be guilty of some company rule violations, so I'll leave it at that.

I'm not sure how things work over there (never worked the or ) but my best guess is it kept going to either Myrtle-Broadway or Bway Jct to get turned on the middle track, and then probably ran lite back to W4. Can't have a foreign train tying up the railroad. It's single-ended so that train would have had to sit there for a couple minutes while the T/O walked through to the other end, and if they tried to turn it on the bridge, it would be blocking traffic in both directions.

I'm not quite sure WHAT was going on, but there were issues on both the Rutgers and Cranberry lines this morning. They were already turning 's at 2 Av (as well as the turning at Chambers on the spur track), so I think the tower at Essex realized that the s could go to Essex instead since it was an 8 car, 60 ft train. Since south of Bway/Laff is on a different radio frequency, I didn't get to hear what happened to it after that. Yeah, all I could think was that Wallyhorse (and anyone clamoring for a chance to railfan Chrystie St) finally got their wish.

Were any of you lucky enough to catch that that got rerouted to Essex St this morning?

The only one who will get reprimanded is the T/O who didn't bring his reverser key. It's unlikely (but not impossible - I've seen it happen a couple times) for a R46 to be on the simply because that line doesn't use Hillside layups, and Jamaica Yard won't send a R46 put-in to Parsons/Archer unless there's nothing else available. Unusual equipment assignments I've personally seen since I started working here: R62 on the and -- my very last roundtrip on the to South Ferry Terminal a week before the hurricane was with a Kawasaki R62 10 car R32 on the -- last used a couple weekends ago when the was turning at Jay R160 on the -- used for Barclays specials R46 R68 R68A R160 on the -- all last summer, started showing up one week after I got bumped from that line! R68A, R160 on the -- I've personally worked the 68A twice, and missed the 160 by one interval (it was borrowed after a got rerouted) R68A on the -- worked this personally (borrowed from a rerouted ) R32 on the -- no comment R68A on the

The from Metropolitan to 145/BPK is a terrible idea, because 6th Ave is not set up for local trains to go to the Bronx. It would slow down the whole railroad to have it go 2 to 4 N/B, and 3 to 1 S/B. The from Brighton Beach to Continental via 63 St could work, since the 63 St line can go either express or local at 47-50.

If 46s get laid up on Hillside on Friday night, they'll be on the road on Saturday. There's no R160 program to run via QB Lcl AND via Cranberry so the CR must either change programs after Roosevelt or make manual announcements.

Even *IF* the were added on weekends, it would get eliminated just as often as the on Queens Blvd on weekends used to. There is ALWAYS some kind of track work happening on 6th Ave and CPW on weekends, even if it isn't a full track closure, there are still signal maintainers and inspectors out there. Like this weekend, trains were running local in both directions between W4 and 34. That itself would have been enough to cut the service, as having 3 lines run down one track, with all of the switching involved, would have been too much. Same goes for the on 6th Ave/Queens Blvd on weekends. There were some serious problems in the IND midtown this morning, after a switch malfunction at 34 St prevented trains from crossing to the local (and they couldn't remain on the express due to work trains). What complicated things further was due to the Rutgers line being OOS, we were even more limited in reroute options. Throwing the into the equation would add even more fuel to the fire. Another example is the closure of the Brighton line from Prospect Park to Stillwell. Can't have both the and turning at Prospect Park....so do we cut the , or send it somewhere else (down 4th Ave?) Sometimes a part of giving the best possible service for customers is HOLDING BACK on TOO MUCH service, which would cause further delays and actually make service WORSE!

We have another thread here dedicated to these idiotic "add express service EVERYWHERE" proposals. I've worked the West End line every day and on all tours, and the ridership capacity isn't there for express service, with the possible exception of having some holiday specials to/from Coney Island. Having the make all local stops is fine, and having a second service go there (such as when the M did) was completely useless as those trains always ran COMPLETELY empty. Futhermore, I think the should run local on 4th Ave on weekends (aka whenever the isn't running), as Dekalb, Union and 9th St could use the extra service. However, that wouldn't be feasible until the is back using the tunnel. And for those of you who refuse to listen, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the and swapping Brooklyn lines. The is a 24/7 line, the is a 18/5 line. The way the has been configured, it can be cut at ANY time without any stations losing service. Even when the was on the West End line, it never ran its full route overnight and on weekends - at times it was a shuttle to either 57-6 or to Pacific St. Also don't forget that it was the same deal with the back in the 90s - the was an 18/5 line, similar to what the is now. If the were put back on West End and the back on Brighton, then the Brighton would have two 24/7 services, which is overkill, and then what would handle the West End - do you think ANY of those riders would want a shuttle to Pacific at night rather than through service to Manhattan and the Bronx?

I have no idea. I would assume local stops since this was during rush hour.

That whole area got reconfigured. Before the Chrystie St connection, the express and local tracks continued straight from Blaf to 2 Av, with a diamond crossover between the two going southbound (similar to the way that Roosevelt Ave or Utica Ave are currently configured). Then the express tracks (B3&4) were used to create the new line to Grand St, and new tracks (BJ1&2) were inserted to run to Essex. There was no room south of Blaf to keep a diamond switch, as the grades change immediately south of the station). Remember, before Chrystie St, the express tracks from W4-2 Ave were NON REVENUE and were in place for future expansion (the north end eventually became the express tracks to 34 St, while the south end never got to see the new tunnel to South 4th St in Brooklyn (hense why the other station was named WEST 4th St, instead of just 4th). It's an unfortunate situation, especially since none of the express tracks at W4 have any switches south of the station, so a S/B train coming into W4 on the express track can not change to any other line, whether it be the local on the same line, or the opposite line.....my question on this issue is why haven't they ever installed crossovers NORTH of W4 on the upper level, like the lower level has? Because of that, if a N/B train gets sent via Rutgers, it can't get back to the express track until north of 59 St, and a S/B express doesn't even have the OPTION of going via Rutgers once it's entered 59 St! So what's gonna run via 63 St when the isn't running? Or are you gonna have both the and be 24/7 lines?

Yeah, they'll come in on tracks 1-4 at Stillwell and continue to Brighton Beach, where they'll be a crew change to continue to Manhattan. They'll use whichever line has the capacity at the time - yesterday they were using both the Sea Beach and West End.

Yes, when that train was BIE at Dekalb, all trains behind it had to go through the bypass, which puts you on the 4th Ave express at Pacific. And then when it got moving, the and 's could again go down the Brighton line, but once it BIEed for the third time, they started rerouting for a second time as they had trains backed all the way up Dekalb again. I can confirm that the two 's behind that problem train did get sent down 4th Ave, as well as multiple 's.

That train went BIE at Grand, Dekalb AND Prospect Park! It took forever for them to get it south of Prospect Park on A3, the first location where other trains could run around it.....it wasn't a pretty afternoon for the Brighton line......

I had that set earlier this week! The and share two yards, it's nothing amazing for their equipment to get shared. I've had R68A's on the as well. LOL you think it costs a couple THOUSAND dollars to install a new switch????? You must be really new here.......

Can't do the work they need to do if they have trains laid up underground in Manhattan..... note that the reason plan 5 is starting NOW instead of on Monday is to have everything in place over the weekend, since most of that equipment would just be sitting in the yard all weekend otherwise.

The is a full time line, the is part time

More plan 5 this weekend!

Yes. Some folk do it too. Right now I have no motive to return to the A though. I'm not going out of my way to catch a R188. Eventually that line is gonna be ALL R188's.......

The only runs 20 sets at peak hours. So you're already getting a 5% or better chance. Now me, I still haven't caught a R188!

Correct. 11 R160's & 33 R46's daily, 21 R160's Sat, 20 R160's Sun. The extra weekend 160's should be plucked from the and fleet.

They have weekday, sat and sun assignments. They are based on AM rush hour because that's when the most trains will be on the road. What stays out after AM/PM rush is determined by the yard dispatchers, based on which trains need relocating, servicing, washing, etc. That line has been taking a pounding on weekends. Too many GOs, too much track work. The 160's move better (even though IMO the 46's are much faster at station work) and are better at recovering time. The will in turn have more R46's on weekends.

The bulletins clipboard or TENS.

New car assignment sheets. 5 R42's on the , 1 R32. The is now going to be 100% R160 on the weekends, which I know will make some people very happy. Also 3 R62 set on the during the week.

Be forewarmed, construction flagging is going to be an ALL HANDS ON DECK situation starting in March (they've even drafted road conductors to start flagging training), so expect A LOT of it.