Amtrak706

OK. Makes sense, thanks.

OK...so then why would an 8 car train accelerate faster? All car types from the R10 on have been designed for 2.5mph/second. I doubt the 179s have broken this rule. Old tech trains with D.C. propulsion, as I understand it, have a system of resistor banks that automatically keep this rate of acceleration until maximum current is applied to the traction motors, and the acceleration rate starts naturally dropping off. Field shunting used to enable further acceleration, but nowadays this is disabled and "balancing speed" is around 35-40mph. I'm not familiar with the A.C. version of all this, but I would assume that some computer regulates initial starting current to limit acceleration like the resistor banks do. If it's possible that this could be turned off, then maybe they turned it off during testing? Unlikely, but I guess possible.

Isn't the power-to-weight ratio the same though?

That makes more sense. Still, couldn't they take them out of the yard 3 minutes earlier and make the stops at Dyckman, 190, 181, and 175?

OK, so back to my original question: why do they start at 168 St?

Interesting. I have seen a southbound signed up as Rockaway Park-bound, around 3:50 PM, skip 181 St, 175 St, and stop at 168 St, on like 3 separate occasions though. Maybe it's just that one train?

Why does the Rockaway Pk rush hour start and terminate at 168 St?

When any cars with DC motors (R32 through R68A) go from full parallel to coast at relatively low speed, there is a loud "TOCK" sound. I've always assumed it was part of the relay mechanism, but I don't really know. Does anyone know which sound I'm talking about, and what exactly it might be?

Yeah I'm not sure exactly when it started. And I never got the chance to ride an R110B. Interesting that the C/R boards marked "R-110" used to be everywhere on the until fairly recently.

Nice, how did you get one? And yeah, I used to ride those cars a lot. They were fast and sharp-looking, but they were really hanging on by a thread in their last days. For whatever reason I don't think they ever ran on the in mixed sets. I remember riding on a solid R38 uptown in 2007 or so, just before the temporarily got all those R40s and R42s. As we were coming into 125 St, the brakes seemed not to be fully applying. We ended up just past the 10-car punch box, and the T/O had to come out of the cab and open a passenger window to get our lineup.

I remember mixed trains as early as 2004 or so. They weren't as common as solid trains until 2007-09 when cars started to go. I don't know if this was the train you saw, but the very last R38 in passenger service was just one pair, with the other 3 pairs on that being R32s.

There is still a map that doesn't even have the extension at the south end of 125 St on the IND.

Whoops - you're right, I just looked at my other photos. Never mind about the all 4 stations part then. Still, most other stations have multiple punch boxes? I guess that wasn't in the $4.5 billion budget.

Anyone notice that there are just 'S' car stop signs at all four SAS stations, except in the wrong-railing direction where there are '8' and '10' signs?

is cut is cut is cut is cut via Concourse Lcl all times lengthened to 600', increased weekday headways Ditmars Blvd to Brighton Beach via tunnel/Brighton Exp, to Whitehall St nights/weekends replaces , Metropolitan Av to Bay Ridge-95 St all times Jamaica Center to Myrtle Av nights/weekends replaces weekdays only, Jamaica Center to 2 Av via Queens Blvd Exp/53 St/6 Av Lcl via Queens Blvd Local, to Court Sq nights/weekends via Broadway/4 Av Local all times, via tunnel nights/weekends I might be forgetting to fix something

Yeah that makes sense. I wonder if any computer system upgrades are in store for the R160s? Now would be a good time do to it, with WiFi and USB coming and those fancy new LCDs waiting to be properly used. Those LCDs would make a nice replacement for the current FIND system.

How come NTT outside displays don't change to reflect where the train is on its route? For example, a S/B train at Herald Square still reads "QUEENS BLVD EXP" even though the computer knows the train is already off Queens Blvd?

My point exactly.

Most passengers probably don't know what "West End" means anyway or simply don't pay attention to the signs past the route bullet. Still funny though that these cars will see long-term use on a line they don't have proper rollsign readings for.

Got it. Sorry for any confusion, I seem to have had misinformation. The R32s don't have via Brighton rollsigns, so it will be interesting to see if that reading is added or they make do with the via West End or readings.

I seem to remember reading that there was a G.O. banning them from those lines outright in order to enable possible reroutes through Montague. Otherwise there would be no reason to ban them from the . But I may be misremembering or have a bad source.

When the Montague tubes were rebuilt following Hurricane Sandy, electrical conduits and other equipment was moved up from track level to the sides of the ceilings. R32/R42 cars (as well as museum trains) will not clear this new equipment, and are therefore banned from service and I believe service as well.

So I saw this in R46 6038 on Sunday: Notice how there is no "December 2016" or other map date. Maybe they aren't 100% sure after all.

Interesting. So these cars were basically work motors for both NYCTA and LIRR. They could never get away with something like that today. A somewhat related question: how were the R44s delivered via the LIRR? Where was (is?) the connection to the subway system?

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46954 http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46955 http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?39297 These R4s were apparently converted to haul new R44s around. However, at least one end of one of these cars appears to have a standard railroad coupler, and even more surprisingly, these cars appear on their own on the LIRR on more than one occasion. Several questions come to mind, such as how in the world the FRA let structurally unmodified subway cars onto the national rail network, and how the prewar traction motors didn't fry on the 750V DC like the R44s' did during their speed tests. Does anyone have more information about this?