Amtrak706

That is what many people have been lead to believe, but it’s not the whole picture. Brake mods in the 80s and early 90s were the real issue, not signal control lines and spacing. Take a look at this, it’s a good read and explains a lot of what I am talking about.

The R68 propulsion discussion is fantastic to see happening. However, ideally I would like to see an analysis of the signal control lines and spacing from before trains’ brakes were modified in the early 90s, which is what eventually led to the Williamsburg crash. If it’s not considered “safe” to revert the trains’ performance to 1940s-90s design levels, maybe the brakes need to be reverted back to design specs as well (inshot valves, etc). The system ran fine that way for 50 years...

I regret not picking up an R40 rollsign when I had the chance. Hopefully the MTA will sell R32 or R42 rollsigns when the scrapping begins en masse in a couple years. A side LCD from an R46 might also be cool, although they never sold any from the R44s.

What happened to 3454/3455, 3496/3497, and 3706/3707? Retired?

No. The huge array of pantograph gates that were installed in the 70s fixed that problem. The R38 through R44 had carbon steel frames and roofs and were really falling apart towards the end. I remember seeing many cars with huge lengths of duct tape down the whole side of the roof. The R32s survived because they are entirely Budd shot-welded stainless steel, and the MK R42s because they were the least awful hybrid steel cars structurally and mechanically.

I can’t stand them on the . I’ve never seen them kick anyone in the face in almost 20 years but I still don’t trust them at all. They also seek out people that don’t look interested to try and get a fist bump. So patronizing, lol. And if you manage to dodge them and not get kicked in the head by 125 St, you still have to deal with the mariachi bands between 168 and 175. It can be a real zoo

How long could it possibly take to install number plates? It just seems like an odd choice for something to skip out on to save time.

That's kind of bizarre, any idea why?

The type of metal used for the frame would not be visible. Despite their stainless steel carbodies, the R38, R40, R42, and R44 used LAHT carbon steel for their frames. The SI R44s are structurally the same as the NYCT ones, the frame rot was not as bad because the NYCT ones were hit much worse during the graffiti years and got lots of acid baths. They also ran on the A for most of their service lives and were exposed to a lot of salt water spray out in the Rockaways.

Yes I know, the first time this was posted here I asked for a source. Hence why I said "again"

Again, I have never heard of this anywhere else. Source?

Do tell...

Citation? Not doubting you, but I’ve never heard of this.

I would highly doubt that capacity on CPW is any higher than it was as originally designed in 1932. Even today we still have not surpassed the high point in ridership during the 1940s, plus the trains’ acceleration and braking is much worse. Are you sure those “capacity targets” weren’t just an attempt to keep up with what was once standard?

Interesting. Was there much of a difference in speed/runtime on the Manhattan side in that era as well, or were those timers earlier? I started riding the around 2002, but I was still pretty young so I don’t really remember. Indeed. And think about how much faster it was even on top of that back when the cars performed as designed. I think my favorite quote about this is from a 2001 SubTalk thread I found when I was first researching this issue many years ago: “Damned shame one of the best little railroads in the world has been turned into an amusement park ride.”

It is interesting that pretty much all TA and other official literature pays no attention to the scope and impact of the "accleration mods" carried out on the whole fleet after the Williamsburg crash. This document seems to assume that the mods simply reverted the fleet back to the R1/9 performance that the signal system was largely designed around. It actually crippled the cars much harder than that and everyone seems to have just eaten the substantial change in speed and travel time over the past 25 years without much complaint.

Does anyone know if the pre-GOH SMEE cars (R33 9306, the R17, R15, etc) in the museum fleet still have field shunting enabled?

No shit. Thanks for that insight. When a new set is getting prepped for entry into revenue service, it has to pass a simulated revenue test run which involves stopping at each station and opening the doors on the wrong side. There are also “R-179 TEST TRAIN” posters placed on the door windows in a futile attempt to get the public not to try and board the train once it stops. That is what I was referring to.

I caught an R32 on the today and saw some interesting stuff from the front window. There is a big yellow sign at Nostrand Av warning T/Os that the next station is a “fast station” and to start braking early. How long has this been there? It certainly doesn’t make any sense given the timers immediately before Utica. There is a relatively new looking GT35 sign for them, but the T/O took them at about 29 (you can see the speed indicator pretty easily through the hinges).

There is a new 10 car R179 heading southbound on the for a test run. Stopped at 145 and opened the doors on the wrong side at 2:15pm. Couldn’t get a pic since I went by it on a northbound but the last car was 3272 if that tells anyone what set(s) it is.

There is one R40 slant pair, one R40M pair, and one R42 pair preserved that run on the TOMM. There is also a mismatched pair of one R40M and one R42 that was preserved by RPC and is sitting in Coney Island Yard non-operational. This set was the result of the Williamsburg Bridge crash as the two cars’ original same-class partners were the two cars that crashed into each other.

You have a few errors in there with car build dates. Here are the correct ones: R32: 1964-1965 R44: 1971-1973 R46: 1975-1978 R68A: 1988-1989 R143: 2001-2002 R179: 2016-present R188: 2011-2016

Edit: never mind.

Yes, I understand the concept - I’m just not quite sure what “fan” refers to?

Fan-happy?