Railfan 007

Some folks were unable to view the images the first time, since it was required to sign-in with a google account to view them, so here are the same images, but shared properly without the need for a google account. I apologize for the double posting, as it seems like there is a time limit for editing posts (Today I Learned lol)

3 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

They still havent fixed that FIND screen?

IIRC, its still the same way on the J FIND screen for the R179s, right?

Just now, JFK Depot said:

From my understanding Monday marked the 30th Day... so I’m wondering what happened ?

Yeah, I thought so too. However, testing started on February 10th. Its actually been 24 days lol

3010-3019 has ads in the train. Aren't the test sets not supposed to have ads yet? Or is it since more than 15 days have passed, MTA "expects" the train to pass? (Today is Day 24. I miscounted as I forgot the start date lol)

23 minutes ago, JFK Depot said:

This restarts the clock smh... halfway thru the 30 days too 

False alarm...... train is still in service. Confirmed through someone who is currently riding it. Plus, its not halfway through, today is Day 27 for 3010-3019. Once nothing happens over the weekend, and it completes its run on Monday, it has passed. Time flies once the foamers disappear lmaoooo

TL;DR: Even though this idea is pipe dream, in my opinion this idea of mine would increase reliability for the . Make it express in Manhattan, and remove it from 60th and place it in 63rd to help increase its frequency. This also a plan to de-interline the Broadway lines for increased reliability. A lot of one-seat rides disappear for more frequent, reliable service.

: Coney Island to 96th St-2nd Av; via Sea Beach, 4th Av express, Broadway express, and 2nd Avenue

: Coney Island to Astoria Blvd; via Brighton local/exp, stop at DeKalb, Montague tunnels, Broadway local, 60th St tubes.

: Bay Ridge-95th St to Forest Hills; via 4th Avenue local, stop at DeKalb, Broadway express, run via 63rd Street, then Queens Blvd local

For Dekalb Interlocking:

DeKalb interlocking is built in such a way so 4th Av local trains can head to the Manhattan Bridge at the same time Brighton trains can head to Montague tubes, without needing any new construction. This means s heading for the bridge can continue without delaying s heading to the tunnel. s proceeds its normal route with no issues, and now either increase the frequency of the  and route s to 9th Av / Bay Ridge-95th. With the  being the only provider of service for Brighton,  makes a comeback as a weekday line for Brooklyn, specifically Brighton express. 

34th St-Herald Sq crossover, current choke point as the  switches from local to express/vice versa:

Nothing merges here anymore, so no more bottleneck! Plus, with the  doing the express and  alone (although running frequently), there isn't any need for switching here.

63rd St connection for the /  and / merge

This will be a new bottleneck, and I need to do more research, but this idea would also require the swapping of the /. It can probably work without an / swap, but it maybe more problematic with scheduling  in between s and then line it up to . If the  moves to 63rd however, the  will have to make a comeback on Queens Blvd, as 36th St to 65th St would only be served by 63rd tunnels with no connections to 53rd. Hopefully in the future Lexington Av-63rd St station and Lexington Av-59th St stations can have an in system connection. Late night service would require Roosevelt Island and 21st St-Queensbridge to have some service if the /  are doing 63rd, so it would make sense to keep the   via 63rd. Either these 2 options:

1. Weekdays run  via 53rd and nights run if via 63rd

2. Leave the  on 53rd and have buses serve the stations at nights

Another issue I see people complaining about is lost in system transfer at Lexington Av-59th St station for the

60th Street tunnels

The Q will be the sole provider for the Astoria line and coming off the high frequencies from both / from Brighton, funneling it all up Broadway local, and then over to Astoria, it should provide very frequent trains for Astoria riders to not complain. Yes they lose express service, however its a simple cross platform transfer at 57th, 42nd, or 34th, as the  are running together express.

Fleet movement

With the  reduced in route length, a few trains can be diverted to the . Same for the , as its running via 4th Av instead of Brighton. With the  express, it would also reduce its fleet by a little, further providing sets for , and with the  being rolled into , more sets. 

4 minutes ago, R179 8258 said:

 NOOOOOOOOOOOOO ! Please not like the R160s 

The R160s propulsion is nearly 20 years old lol. It could be the same propulsion for parts commonality, but with the R179s having a different propulsion than the R142A/143/188, even though both trains have Bombardier propulsion, I doubt the R211s will have the same propulsion package as the R160s.

1 minute ago, VIP said:

Where’s 3198-3201 and 3202-3205 ??

Those should also be testing. They have been delivered, so if they are not in service yet, they are still testing. Surprised @Coney Island Av missed those sets lol

Plochochi is the name (paused the video where there is no CC) and he says around the 58:40 mark that the R211s will have Alstom propulsion, for people who want a source to quote: 

On 2/18/2019 at 10:31 PM, Cait Sith said:

Just so you guys know, the times for the 179s are not consistent. Last Sunday, it ended its trip at Far Rockaway and went to the yard around 9:30-9:45PM. This past Sunday & Today, it ended its trip from Lefferts and went into the yard around 8:30PM.

And the last thing you guys need to do is bother personnel about the train. When it ran on day one, a ton of fans were bothering line personnel about it....

For those who want a more specific time, yesterday it left 207th at 6:30pm, terminated at Lefferts, and then was NIS heading to the yard at 8:00pm

20 minutes ago, danielhg121 said:

So any last minute confirmed info? Really bouta be out there blind tmrw and if I wake up at some odd hour to try to make it and I miss it  .We don’t even know for sure where or when it’s going to start. 😐 

Unless you work for MTA/know someone who knows the time the train leaves tomorrow, you will be flying by the seat of your pants lol

2 hours ago, LaGuardia Link N Tra said:

*DISCLAIMER* THIS IS ALL JUST SPECULATION!! 

 

If all R211’s (from Option 1 only) arrive plus the 2 additional Open Gangway Trains, they should be prioritized on the  and  first since the  has very high ridership and the  is the Short version of the . For a period of time, they might share R32’s, R46’s, R179’s, R211’s, (and maybe R42’s). Keep in mind that this is just speculation. 

So plenty of R160’s should be on the  in the near future. 

40 minutes ago, VIP said:

I think the  should get R160’s instead, those who ride the  do not deserve luxury, yet. Leave the R211 in wealthy neighborhoods.   and   perhaps?

I highly doubt the /  will get these first. If the swap to make the / fully NTT with R160s doesn't happen by 2020, then they will be getting R211s from the base contract. The excess sets from the base contract can then head to the / until the option orders come in to fully replace the R46s on the /.

1 minute ago, LaGuardia Link N Tra said:

Did you not read the beginning of my post?

I think he was being highly sarcastic. Only person who would say something like that and mean it is Flushing Express.

On 1/20/2019 at 1:30 PM, beelinefan said:

There will have to be three and four car sets in this order to accommodate the 42nd st  

I doubt MTA would do that. The entire fleet for IRT is all in 5 car sets, except for the shuttle and half of the  fleet. Plus, there is(was?) a plan for the shuttle to be expanded to accommodate 5 car trains while also opening a transfer to 6th Avenue station on 42nd Street. Idk if that plan still going through though.

1 minute ago, V886132 said:

Is it somehow more likely that the  would receive the 5-car R179s than the ? I'm wondering why it's been said that the 4-car sets are testing on the , but that the will become full-length and the  may get the 5-car sets.

The  has 4-car sets testing on it since the sets go through preliminary testing at Broad Channel test track, and its easy just to run the set on the , as Pitkin Yard is handles the preliminary testing. The 4-car sets are running on the  to help familiarize the crews/yard personnel before the 5-car trains come in and run on the /.

20 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

In other words, work will still last for at least 15 months, but it will be done during overnight and weekends and  L trains will run on a limited capacity between Brooklyn and Manhattan during overnight and weekends.

I really hope this trash Coumo is spewing has to be approved by the board. Everyone, from the communities to the MTA themselves have spent too much time planning for the shutdown only for Coumo to say "Its not going to happen folks, not on my watch!!" That is a waste of time and money that MTA has spent, and would be quite sad it could be canceled like this. Plus, I doubt the tunnel work could be done in 15-20 months via weekends and late nights. Highly doubt.

8 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

I just hope the MTA does not scrap the plan for full length G trains. 

The  will get it 480' trains whether the L shutdown happens or not. If the MTA decides to send have a higher spare factor of cars, then the G won't get its 480' trains. Like others have said before, and it will be said again, there will be a surplus of 480' trains. Only place for them to go is either the  or the . If the  doesn't become 480' after all the R179s are delivered, then when the R211s come in the  will be 480'.

On 11/9/2018 at 6:57 PM, U-BahnNYC said:

In that case, since fleet swaps directly involving R179s on the A/C are underway, where are the official MTA plans? The shutdown is rapidly approaching.

I doubt MTA will publicly say which fleet goes where, but the basics of what lines get service increases and what lines will need a fleet change are already said publicly. If you want to know which cars are going to go where and and what line, you will find out April 2019, as MTA is not going to publicly say that information.

My own clips of 3150-3157 running on the , and if you have seen too much of R179  service, you can fast forward to 7:58 in the video for 3162-3165 heading to the test track. Enjoy!!
 

On 11/1/2018 at 4:01 PM, bulk88 said:

R179 clearance tests were done in 2016. R179 already visited all Div B trackage. I saw the R179s on 63rd street line and at 179th in 2016. These tests must be announcement testing as someone said or CBTC on culver or reliability testing of some sort. J has no high speed sections. All local, all timered. Even crossing the east river is slow on Willy B.

I know that clearance testing was long time done. What I meant by the train could pass testing on any line was burn-in testing. The sets have done burn-in on the  and the , and recently on the . There is nothing to prevent them from doing burn-in on other lines to make where ever the cars are sent, they will be able to run in revenue service. But like Lance said, it was most likely announcement testing MTA was doing.

On 10/28/2018 at 7:44 PM, subwaycommuter1983 said:

Although it is kind of odd to have 8 car trains testing on the F line, I think it's a good idea that the r179's, especially the 10 car r179's, test on the F line, since the A often gets rerouted on the F whenever there's track work or any issues.

That would be not be a reason at all to why MTA would test the cars on the F. I do not have an idea why they would test on the F, but your reason does not make sense. Run a full train from Coney to 179th and back because  trains are occasionally rerouted? That is a definite no. Most likely it was testing on the F to make sure the cars can pass on any line they are placed on.

49 minutes ago, R32 3838 said:

3170-73 on its way to pitkin yd

3170-3173 is delivered and heading to the flats, but 3070-3073 is still not on MTA property yet. Surprising the car numbers keep going higher and higher and 3070-3073 still is not in NYC yet.

Same set (3150-3157) caught on Reddit doing burn-in at Columbus Circle
 

46 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

The plan for making 14 street "bus and pedestrian only" is excellent. My concern is that the number of buses may not be enough to accommodate displaced L train riders in Manhattan, who rely on the L train to go crosstown.

At least displaced L trains riders in Brooklyn will have a lot of options to get to Manhattan

A standard bus can carry ~80 people, while an Articulated bus can carry ~110 people. Last time I heard, they will be running buses at 4 min intervals during rush hours, which will mean 15 buses per hour. 15 standards in an hour, packed, it ~1,200 people, while 15 Artics per hour will be ~1,650. Will it be enough? Possibly. However, including the M14SBS route, on top of the M14A/D, which already runs artics, and increasing the frequency of those routes too, I think it will be enough, as the carrying capacity should be close to 3-4k people per hour. 1st and 3rd Avenue are not generating that many people that buses can't keep up with.

If the buses are slammed the first week, MTA will make adjustments. My only concern with the plan is morning rush hour probably can't be covered by buses, as it probably will be too many people arriving at once. All other times, the buses should do fine for Manhattan, once they are not held up in traffic.

22 hours ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

Yes, and I pick on the A and C trains because they are the two most unreliable lines due to all the issues that are affecting the lines. What are the issues?? It doesn't matter!!! What really matters is that ALL these issues need to be fixed ASAP!!

The whole subway system needs to be fixed!!!

Are the / most unreliable lines? Really? What fact are you making this statement on? Nah don't answer that unless its a link to an article/MTA pdf. Last time I checked, the  are the most unreliable in terms of on-time performance (Link to a NYTimes Article). But yeah, sure continue talking. Nah, wait, find facts before talking again next time.

20 hours ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

Anyways, this is the latest update confirmed by the MTA, in regards to Canarsie. The people who love on the I line in Manhattan are screwed.

Click on the link:

https://www.amny.com/transit/l-train-shutdown-1.22311753

Now, those same people are the ones who are fighting the alternatives that the MTA/DOT are proposing, such as bus only lanes along 14th Street, and banning traffic along 14th Street during the day to increase the reliability of the buses. MTA has got New Flyer/Nova pumping out buses like faster than 32s leaving East New York yard for 207th, so there definitely won't be a shortage of buses during the shutdown. So, if they continue to fight the MTA/DOT on the bus improvements they are planning for 14th Street, that's their problem to deal with when they have to walk to 14th-St Union Sq instead if having the option of taking a bus to Union Sq. No one should feel sorry for the people of Manhattan as they fight against the MTA/DOT, when all NYC/DOT want to do is help alleviate some of their problems they will have when the  closes. 

6 hours ago, VIP said:

Welp, R179 3074-3077 already is damaged by acid markers in the hands of graffiti “artists” 

R179 3093 was tagged back in July, so it seems like the "artists" have started to make "their mark" on the new cars

21 minutes ago, m2fwannabe said:

Just sayin'...

At the present average rate of acceptance (about 10 cars per month), it will take until July 2019 to get all 196 4-car R-179s into revenue service, and then another year (up to July 2020) for the 120 5-car portion to complete the process for all 316 of the R-179's.

It seems like the cars are coming in a little faster now, as 12 cars showed up within this month, and maybe more on the way. Bombardier/MTA is still cutting it real close to April 2019 for full delivery, but we'll see

58 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

BTW communication issues go beyond the A. Even some NTT's have had issues with announcements. For example, look what happened with the J in terms of announcements when they were sent to Metropolitan Avenue. This issue affected r179's and other NTT's on the J.

That issue happened due to the fact none of the NTT's had programs for a to Metropolitan Avenue, which was fixed the second time that G.O. happened.  

58 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

I also agree with @LaGuardia Link N Tra in regards to some subway conductors. Many of them do a very good with the announcements. However, there are conductors that don't make announcements and I have witnessed conductors on the D train with attitude issues.

Every single time I have rode the out to the Rockaways (which is a good 15-20 times now), the conductor ALWAYS makes an announcement as the train approaches Rockaway Blvd, stating the destination, and if they need to transfer wait for Lefferts Blvd/Far Rockaway Bound   at Rockaway Blvd. Every time. Even when the train in on the platform the conductor 9 times out of 10 states the terminal AGAIN, telling people if they need to wait or not, before then announcing the next stop and closing doors. Some PA systems need work done, as it is muffled, but most times it is loud and mostly clear. 

1 hour ago, Bosco said:

Except they have upgraded a few R46s to have brighter lights and stanchions.  I agree it's a waste for those cars, but if the MTA is going to upgrade them for their last few years, they should at least do it right.

I wondered why Jamaica's R46s have been getting the LED and double pole treatment, when by the time 2023 comes (if the R211s are not delayed 🤞) the R46s will be history. These upgrades haven't reached Pitkin's sets yet, but time will tell

On 9/18/2018 at 11:21 PM, subwaycommuter1983 said:

FYI, I have never said in any previous post that aging signals/tracks, passenger crowding, track/signal workers, timers, and the subway's complexity does not play a huge role of subway delays. The article does mention those issues and I agree with it.

Also, passenger-related issues also affect service as well. I don't know the percentage, but that is something that federal, state and local government should take care of by providing more funding towards mental health.

True. However, any chance you can get, you endlessly harp on the fact there should be more R179s and the R32/42s need to leave. Do they have the lowest MDBF of the fleet? Yes. Should they be retired? Yes. Can MTA retire them right now without making the fleet shortage less problematic? No. So they are here to stay, probably until the R211s come in. Wanting the R32/42s to leave any sooner will cause more problems than it will solve.

6 hours ago, m2fwannabe said:

It appears that 3130-3133 and 3138-3141 entered and service around September 14 (?).  They were already in separate trains on September 20.

6 hours ago, m2fwannabe said:

4-car R-179 deliveries seem to have petered out 

I think, I'm not sure, the train sets are separated after they pass Burn-in and run in service for a few days is the reduce the usage of the cars until the entire fleet has arrived and is accepted by the MTA.

Each delivery of a 4-car set happens every 2 weeks or so, all that can be said is to be patient and wait. (Unless you want to camp at 207th until all the cars are delivered /s)