TrainRider Railfan

On 4/3/2021 at 6:50 PM, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

Ridership on the Franklin Av Shuttle is low compared to the rest of the system. And I believe one of the two platforms at the old Franklin Av stop were already disused, before it was renovated. The MTA did consider sacking the line entirely since it was considered decrepit, and incredibly costly to renovate. Many problems persisted too, it had huge amounts of fare-beating at the time which was part of why Dean Street closed.

The MTA’s main goal with fixing the line was to cut the waste (including removing unused platforms or extra track) that were not needed, and to remove that awful paper transfer that allowed farebeating between Franklin Av and the Fulton line. I can only guess that all else was noise to the agency.

And they tore down some of the last Fulton El remnants and built a new bridge over Fulton? I’m not saying to keep unnecessary tracks and platforms but tearing things down but they intentionally destroyed history when it really wasn’t necessary.

1 hour ago, Kamen Rider said:

There is a photo here suggesting the move was done via car float.

http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nycta207.html

Thanks for this! Will include this possible source in the video!

7 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

I’m figuring this was done by the railroad connections at New Lots on the Canarsie line and the Unionport railroad connection adjacent to the IRT at East 180th St. I know that cars that were delivered to the original Dyre line came through Unionport and scrap cars left that way before the connection was severed up there. Just my take. Carry on.

Thanks! I didn’t know about that connection at the time but that makes sense! Pretty crazy to think just how complex that transfer would be. I’ll put this in the script and if I find any proof later I’ll include that. Appreciate the help.

10 hours ago, Trainmaster5 said:

From what I’ve told you about the Montague tunnel just continue southbound past Dekalb to the Fourth Avenue or Brighton lines. Change ends at the first opportunity and proceed northbound via the IND to Concourse Yard or 207th St Yard and connect with the IRT there..

Remember, this is before the Chrystie Street Connection in the late 60s and before the first 2 IND-BMT connections in 1954, so as far as I know there was no connection between the BMT and IND at the time.

1 minute ago, Trainmaster5 said:

Not sure if I understand your question. I’ve personally made a transfer from Corona Yard to ENY Yard. Corona to Vernon-Jackson s/b. Take the switch back north to Beebe on the Astoria. Take the switch and proceed south on the BMT through the Montague tunnel to Court St. . Head back north and take the Nassau loop lineup to the Willy B and proceed to Eastern Parkway. Cake baked. Same procedure can be done today. Carry on.

Yes, that allows to go from the Flushing Line to the BMT, but from the BMT, how could you get back onto the main IRT?

55 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

I really wish we still had 32s on the to watch the new pace in the Cranberry tubes. The old 30mph limit is now 45mph, I understand. Not sure if that just looks like a GT40 closer to the bottom or what. Those cars were getting to 42 or 43 in the past anyway, but that was with the old timers.

I remember going through Cranberry in an R32. They had great RFWs. I wish they were still around. Oh well, they were getting pretty old.

In 1942, the track connection between the IRT Queens system and the main subway system closed. But then in 1950, all Steinway Lo-Vs were transferred onto the main subway. If there was no longer a connection between the 2 systems, how did the cars move from one to the other? Was it via the BMT? But did the BMT connect to the main portion of the IRT at the time? Maybe it was via the BMT and the railroad network? Did the main IRT have a connection to the railroad network at the time? I need this information for a history video I'm making.

Thanks,

TrainRider Railfan

On 12/18/2020 at 10:15 PM, TrainRider Railfan said:

I've seen them running 60 footers before. They used 160s (too far to tell which kind from the sound), not sure if they were 4-car, 5-car, 8-car, or 10-car sets though.

I was there. I was also too far to tell which subtype but the trains were definitely 10 cars long so 5 or 10 car sets.

9 hours ago, Kamen Rider said:

ADD:

Fort Hamilton Parkway 

Kings Highway 

THE N IS COMPLETE! 
 

THE BROADWAY LINE IS COMPLETE!

 

also Hewes St.

8 left to go.

Fort Ham on Sea Beach would’ve been helpful for me 7 months ago haha

Next year I go somewhere else

9 hours ago, R10 2952 said:

Always wondered that myself; I get the impression it was something they planned but gave up on halfway through (probably when the shells were already constructed).

Because of how they ultimately changed it, the half-width cabs never made sense to me.  In fact, I've never even seen photos or footage of R68/As operated from the half-width cab.

I mean, they weren’t single units for that long, and after that there would be no reason to use the half cab. Even while they were single units, trains would always be arranged to have a full cab at either end, so maybe the half cab was there in case the car was in a yard alone with no other cars and needed to be moved in both directions. Don’t know why that would happen though. Since they were single units they were probably required to have cabs on both ends.

On 12/10/2020 at 2:34 PM, 125thstreet said:

I count 18 stations to go.

Wow, we’re getting really close! I see you also have the G as your profile picture.

23 minutes ago, Eric B said:

That probably was the R55. It was proposed a few years before the R68's came out, and if you think about it, the 44/46 and 68 bodies are pretty much the same; the same 75foot layout with the orange seats. Main difference was the cab one each end of every car (one ful width; one small), the wall panels went from faux wood and the beige to stainless steel; the front end door was again recessed, and a single ridge was added on the side in the middle of the strip between the two sets of three ridges.

So the 55's may have just been a continuation of the 44/46, as in the early 80's the faux wood color scheme was still new and in vogue, but they had given up on the P-wire and went back to the SMEE system. A few years later, as the battle against grafitti had gone into full effect, they went with the stainless steel interior (starting with the 62's on the IRT), and by that time, the contract number was up to 68. (this is probably also when they changed the car configuration and added the small cab and changed the end doors. They had essentially reverted back to the the R42, but 75feet, one cab full width, and stainless steel.
What I'm interested in was the proposal to have the full width cab collapsible, like how the 62 cabs are convertible that way. The door pretty much closes the operator side into a small cab, but I don't know how they would have folded down the other side with the curved walls).

Thanks! Lots of super helpful info, although I’m almost completely sure that what I saw was based off of the R68s and came after, but now I’m starting to think I mixed up 2 different pieces of information. What you’re saying makes a lot of sense. That’s interesting about the collapsible full cab!

11 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

R142S was an supplement order to the R142A order. R142A supplement cars were the cars assigned to the while the had the orginal order of 142A's. "R142S" is exactly the same as the R142A mechanically.

Thanks!! So basically they were identical to the 142As, the MTA just wanted more of them and decided to give them a different designation?

On 11/23/2020 at 8:20 AM, Lawrence St said:

Major signal failure on the Culver Line this morning;

No between Church Av & Coney Island. Some runs via the or .

What kind of failure would kill the whole BMT Culver? Did a whole system fail or just one signal?

On 10/13/2020 at 10:53 AM, mine248 said:

Don’t think the  can use 4 car 60’ trains. Iirc back when the  used 4 car R32s post sandy, one set lost power over a third rail gap. Then the R46s replaced the R32s

I've seen them running 60 footers before. They used 160s (too far to tell which kind from the sound), not sure if they were 4-car, 5-car, 8-car, or 10-car sets though.

On 4/7/2011 at 8:27 PM, 4P3607 said:

 

train to 149 St again next weekend, more R142S (R142A) trains!

I know I should already know this, but I've looked everywhere. Can somebody please tell me what an R142S is?

On 11/30/2020 at 1:12 PM, Lance said:

They'll have to deal with those problems as they come up as there's no way they'll be able to preemptively without some divine intervention. Let's hope the 46s can last long enough to weather this.

Those R46s are falling apart, though. Last year I rode them daily and the signs were always breaking, the doors would get stuck sometimes too. Once my dad got trapped in an R46 car because the doors wouldn't open at stations. Those locked end doors are gonna end up killing someone in a fire or something.

Where’s the question? All I see is an R68A (this guy’s profile picture)

On 4/29/2019 at 12:31 PM, rbrome said:

I've noticed that instead of the black/blue "TEST PHASE ... COMING SOON" screen, some readers now display a yellow "METROCARD ONLY" screen, with an icon for a traditional mag-stripe MetroCard. Nothing happens when you try to use these readers; the tap function seems to be turned off completely. 

...whereas the ones that say "TEST PHASE ... COMING SOON" do seem to be enabled for certain kinds of internal testing. When I try my phone it does respond, but it doesn't work. I get this error message: 

Interesting...

I love all the different colors and the corners that light up too. Can’t wait to see all the messages they will display in the future.

On 11/30/2020 at 7:27 PM, Mtatransit said:

By converting the Atlantic Branch to a subway line, The cost of operation will go down. LIRR has a very high cost of operation. Plus service could be more frequent under the subway proposal. 

In the future the Woodhaven Station could be reopened, providing a transfer to the "hopefully subway" Rockaway Beach Line. 

Its a win- win for everyone. MTA saves money, no crew will lose their positions (LIRR will be reallocated to ESA service) and more work for NYC operators

I think this idea is really cool, however the stations on the Branch are much farther apart than normal subway stations, and Atlantic Terminal has tons of tracks which would definitely not be filled up by subway trains. Where do you propose the connection between the Branch and the rest of the system should be? And are the platform lengths the same?

7 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

Maybe the R55's?

I found a page with someone saying that a certain contract was the R55 and that an R83 was MOW equipment.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find what they were replying to.

Maybe what I saw was something about an R83 being what I described in the original post, but it was changed the R55 before becoming the R68 and R68As?

Just now, danielhg121 said:

Maybe the R55's?

Actually I believe that the R55s came before the R68s, but later evolved into them.

Now that I think about it, maybe the R55s were just R46s with new controls, then the bodies were changed

hmmmmm 🤔

I’m making a video documenting the history of the R68 and R68A. Somewhere online I found information about a proposed car order with the controls of an R68 and the body of an R46 that would be compatible with the R68s (it could be put in mixed consists with them). I lost the website and I can’t seem to find it again. Does anyone know anything about this, or am I going crazy? Also, any interesting facts about the R68s or R68As that I should include? Thanks!

On 11/25/2019 at 9:44 AM, T to Dyre Avenue said:

The poorly managed DeKalb/Gold St junction, where  and  trains just can’t seem to get out of each other’s way.

I wish they could just demolish and redesign the whole junction so that trains wouldn't interfere with each other so much. Just looking at it makes my brain hurt.

Neither express trains stop here, but I use 4 Av/9 St  ALL the time.

Also Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts  is very useful.