Amtrak706

During most of the time the JFK Express ran, the A ran express in Brooklyn during rush hours only. It wasn't until 1988 that the A started running express during midday periods and the C was expanded from a rush-hour only route. That expansion of service was the final nail in the coffin for the JFK Express.

Interesting. So during rush hours trains would occasionally be put on the local track to get passed by trains?

I've always wondered about this: back when the was running, how did it make a faster trip than the ? After a few skipped stations, the would surely get stuck at regular express speed behind the next and sit in the tunnel behind each station stop of that next train? Or am I missing something?

On the topic of R46s, are all the A-A sets out of Jamaica?

There are quite a few based out of 207. It is not uncommon to see an A train with no R46 B cars.

Wonder what type of propulsion they will have?

Bombardier MITRAC like the R142As and R143s.

As far as I know (ENY can't set it straight) all R42s are as good as gone once R179's hit.

And that makes sense, considering I've just found out my own argument is BS, lmao:

 

http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/160222_1000_Transit.pdf

 

Page 28 shows that R42s have a slightly worse MDBF than R32s as of December.

 

Oops. 

I think it was said before but the R32's at ENY are in better shape than the ones 207 have. The remaining R32's that are staying will probably be the ones ENY have. Where would they go who knows.

We already know that the upcoming R179's is suppose to replace the fleet on the sending the R160's back to ENY and ENY will get a few sets themselves. The only other route that comes to my head is the .

I am not sure if it was confirmed where those 5 car R179s would go but I always believed it would be the to do one of two things.

1. The R179s would retire the worst performing R46's.

2. The R179s would go to the bumping R46's to the Jamaica which would then send some R160's to Coney Island for the extension.

The only reason I believe they would be best for the is because Piktin is already used to store and sometimes maintain some cars the uses.

Ah, that makes more sense. So a fair amount of SMEEs from ENY will be staying after the R179s arrive. I still don't get why they wouldn't compose that fleet of the 50 R42s plus however many of the best performing R32s are necessary, but I guess time will tell.

 

That would be interesting if a few R46s were retired. I would assume that their MDBF is a lot better than that of the R32s and R42s but I haven't actually seen the stats on that.

 

 

I see what you are talking about. The reason why the MTA wants to retire all of the R42's before hand is the complaint that they get from riders. When the R160/R32 swap happened in the summer, it was to give riders the new R160's so they could stop whining and to give the R32's a break from the underground. Now for the particular reason why the R42's are all going to be retired is (correct me if I'm wrong.) to balance out the NTT fleet on the and .

Right now, the is about half-and-half R32 and R160, and the is roughly two-thirds R32/42 and one-third R160. All of the 4-car R179s are supposed to go to 207th Street for the , so the will almost certainly get some R32s from the . I'm not sure how the would balance out the NTT/SMEE fleets on the unless a bunch of R32/42s move to another yard, which (as far as I know) is pretty unlikely.

There are more R32's here than R42's. R42's were originally all suppose to be scrapped and the ones that managed to get saved were in real bad shape compared to the R32's. ENY has been able to keep them up so far and now they run throughout the day and on weekends. About 2-3 years ago it was rare to see an R42 outside of rush especially when was all R160.

And there are going to be R32's that get retired when the R179's come in. The remaining R32's are suppose to be for service increases and a increased spare factor. They should all be gone when the R211's arrive.

Right, but from what I understand, all of the R42s and only a few dozen R32s are supposed to go. So that's somewhere around 80-90 cars that will retire once the R179s come in. That means that about 80-90 R32s could be retired, keeping the 50 R42s and the remaining ~150 R32s.

 

And even though the R42s look terrible (which is being taken care of with the recent SMS), they have had a higher MDBF than the R32s for some time now. The resulting lower maintenance costs for the 60' SMEE fleet would certainly offset any costs involved in keeping parts, etc. for the R42 fleet.

 

Or am I completely and totally mistaken, lol?

I have been reading through these threads, and one thing in particular seems odd to me. Why is it that the R42s are slated to be retired first once enough R179s get here? The R32s have a lower MDBF, and the 42s appear to be currently going through heavy SMS. As much as I like the R32s, I feel like it would make more sense to get rid of the worst performing 32s first, then the better ones, and kill the 42s last.

 

Side question --- how many of the 290 R32/42s will stay after the R179 order is complete?

You bet they did! Those R33s were delivered with an impossibly red color scheme with yellow grabholds. See this post with some period photos:

 

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/topic/22675-the-nostalgia-thread/?p=854573

Wow, I stand corrected. That's really interesting. I wonder how long they stayed that bright, haha. Those photos almost look photoshopped.

Hi all - new member here.

 

Random question: why did the MTA choose to paint R33 pair 9016-9017 in that weird not-quite-a-Redbird paint scheme? No car ever wore bright red from roof to trucks, with yellow handrails, etc.