RandomRider0101

Thanks. I know Jamaica is one of the Queens depots receiving the newest LFS diesels. So could this be a possible transfer or loan? I'm not sure.

Just spotted Nova LFS 8467 sitting at the East NY Ave. & E. 92nd st. bus stop on the B12 in Brooklyn. It was not in service, but I'm wondering what it was doing there. Anyone know what depot this unit is normally assigned to?

Yeah, they're splicing all the announcements together for space reasons, due to the current NTT hard drive being too small/ancient, something like that. Eventually, Kathleen Campion (voice of the lines) will be doing the 'Next Stop' & 'This Is' announcements for every B-div. line on all B-division NTTs; just like how Dianne Thompson now does those announcements on all A-division lines (excluding the with the R188s). Speaking of that, I'm not sure if the partially falls on the B-div. frequency, since Flushing was once part of the B-division. Since they didn't get Dianne's voice, they'll probably end up getting Kathleen's voice in the future.

That 'super deep voice' you speak of is the guy who has been doing the A-division announcements the whole time: Charlie Pellett. He actually doesn't record anncmnts. for MTA anymore, but some of his basic recordings have been kept, including the most famous one (y'all know the one). The added-on announcement is done by a woman named Velina Mitchell, who now does most of today's PSAs. In reference to this glitch, I wasn't referring to the people who record the announcements; I was talking about an actual glitch that's been affecting this particular announcement on select trains. You must've not heard it since you don't know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I get what you mean with the flexibility. That was the priority back then with NYCT, but things have changed since. Now the priority is easier maintenance; the configured sets allow for that. It makes sense that they're testing open gangways now since they've decided to settle with configured 5-car sets (4-car sets for BMT East). Going back to Married Pairs would increase flexibility in terms of car availability; but it would make the open gangways less effective since people would only have the option to change between two cars. That's why the current set arrangement is perfect for the future gangways. From my understanding, Long Island Rail Road & Metro North have no current plans to implement open gangways in the future; so I guess their current car setup works for them. Plus you have to keep in mind that MTA NYCT is a completely different system from the others; so alot of things will be different. What works for one system may not work for another.

I was thinking the same thing😄, are they gonna announce the specific car/cars? Either we'll get more info, or we just wait & see.

Saw this on the news. It'll make somewhat of a difference.

Interesting. Yeah I've only caught this glitch on the Lex lines since I use the to & from work. Don't know what it's about. Here's another interesting story: sometime last week I hopped on an R142 coming home from work ( I eventually switched to the ) and this is what happened... they played Jessica Ettinger's 'The Next Stop Is' & 'This Is' announcements, but that's not all: Right after the respective announcements played, it jumped to the 'Ding' sound (used to make manual announcements), followed by the 'Ding Dong' door chime sound; it would never play the whole station announcement. Here is what it sounded like: Jessica- 'This is a Brooklyn-Bound 4 express train, the next stop is'...(cuts off), 'ding' sound, then 'ding dong' door chime Pretty weird and funny at the same time. When I switched to the , it played what is now the regular announcements, with Diane Thompson making all the 'Next Stop' & 'This Is' announcements. It's always a guessing game as to what can happen day-to-day with MTA NYCT.

Not sure if anyone else here has noticed this, but there's this weird glitch that's been popping up recently on the 59th St. Announcement. The part where Charlie Pellett says 'a free transfer is also available to...' suddenly becomes low-pitched & distorted, like a demon or something (very strange). It doesn't happen everytime, but it's happened a few times already & I'm wondering what's the cause of it.

Interesting fact. That does make sense for operational flexibility; just like they later decided to go with configured sets for easier maintenance. So ultimately it comes down to what is seen as the priority at the time. Back then, it was single sets for operational flexiblity; now it's configured sets for easier maintenance. Since they decided to go with configured sets, it makes sense that they're testing open gangways now. It will definitely make things easier for passengers. Thanks for sharing, Trainmaster

Just wondering what's next, possibly burn-in testing?

This is all very interesting. The thing about the MTA exam is a new thing I'm learning about; shows just how bad the is at decision-making. I absolutely agree that congestion pricing should be pushed back; is it really necessary to overwhelm the system at a time when there's already a crew shortage (in large caused by the MTA's poor decision-making).

Hmm👀

This is literally what I said before. There is still an ongoing crew shortage that many don't seem to be taking into account. People keep talking about car retirements/disposals & spare shortages, but who's talking about the crew shortages? Even when ridership fully returns back to normal, the still can't run full service if they don't have full crews.

The R262 is still in the planning stages; the bidding hasn't started yet and likely won't until most or all of the R211 base order is in.

Yea, the concept was tested before; it just wasn't made the standard for whatever reason back then.

I get the 'low spares' issue, and yes the mixed-length is not good, among some other things; but like I said, there's nothing we can do except wait for the R211s. Once enough of them are in service, they can fix these issues one by one. First, plug in the shortage gaps. Second, gradually push out the 4-car R179s from 207th to make the full length. Then, after the 4-car sets are fully out, move the 5-car R179s over to the (C), making it 100% NTT. This would be a smart move since 8th Ave. CBTC is planned to be installed on the local tracks first. CBTC is installed in segments, so there won't be a rush to make both the & 100% NTT with the base order; they can fulfill that with the first option order. In regards to scrapping the R46s, I'm pretty sure they won't do it immediately as the R211s come in; but once they have no more storage space, they will have no choice but to start the process. By then, they would have already made the plans; so let's just wait and see.

Yes; before they had AC, all subway cars had ceiling fans back then.

The R32s are officially retired now, meaning they are no longer passenger cars. The space that they are occupying will eventually be needed for fleet expansion; that is why they're being scrapped now. You & others may not agree with it, but the decisions have already been made; whether we like it or not, we all have to deal with it and accept it. There is no legitimate reason to keep these cars around. The R179s are doing better now; yes they still have issues, but they still perform decently & get the job done; and they will get better with time (SMS). Yes the R46s are also up in age and have many issues, but they aren't yet as bad mechanically as the R32s. Even if they had been kept in service, they would be dropping like flies just like the R46s, except worse; so what's the point? The R211s will be here, so everyone needs to just relax & be patient. Exactly.

Alot of people were actually expecting the R211T to come at that time, even though it was specified that standard trains would make up the vast majority of the base order; and that the open gangway would be tested in the base order. People outside the railfan community didn't really know this, which is why they were confused as to why they weren't seeing an open gangway. I've regulary seen Youtube comments from people asking 'where is the open gangway', and railfans had to explain to them that it's arriving later as a test train. Anyways, I'm excited for the open gangway as well; definitely a welcome change in my book.

BTW, the R211A is currently scheduled to start its 30-day revenue test next month in November; the first R211T pilot is scheduled to arrive sometime this month, with the second one coming in December. I haven't seen an actual source stating that the deadlines have been pushed back again, so maybe we'll see some real progress this time.

Obviously the R211s are not all here now. I mean when they do get here, there will need to be space for them to fit. Even when all the R46s & other unpreserved cars are all gone, they will still need space to store hundreds of extra cars. I didn't even mention the R262s, which will also require space to store a couple hundred more cars. You & others want the TA to save a whole bunch of cars; but y'all have to keep in mind that space is mainly needed for passenger cars & work equipment. What's the point of saving so many cars when there eventually won't be space to fit them?

They already have at least one pair of each redbird class preserved (excluding work cars). R26, R28, R29: one pair each on NYCT property (there's another R28 pair preserved at a museum in Illinois). R33ML, R33S, & R36 have the most cars preserved. On top of that, many R33 pairs & singles are used in work service; some have since been replaced by R32s, which in turn have been replaced by R42s. With all that said, how many more cars should they preserve when yard space is already limited? NYCT's top priority should be making sure they can fit 1,537 R211s; not to mention the extra cars that would later be added on as a result of late deliveries.

An R62A just passed me. I would've got on, but it was a little crowded & another one was right behind; so I just waited for that one instead (it was an R142).

That's a good point. However, the screeching is more severe on certain fleets than others, especially the Adtranz pack. The R142s & R179s don't screech as much as the other fleets, and people have said that Bombardier has the smoothest ride quality (eventually I figured out what ride quality is). From my observation, that does seem to be the case. Apparently, there is a connection between the screeching brakes and ride quality of the train.