Eric B

They're scheduled according to the tram.

And the Third Ave. el also. (And since that lasted six years longer, they could have well built some of them, but just scuttled the whole idea). I always wondered about that too, and was not sure how it would have worked. Perhaps "skirts" like the el cars they would have replaced?

The A Div. version of the R32 was the WF R33's and 36's. They just weren't built with stainless steel. The R39's would have been IRT-sized counterparts to the R38's.

IT would be good to have that on Cooper to serve the mall, instead of the 54, which could just go straight again. That route would be a good connection between two areas unbelievably hard to get between.

I think that could be a matter similar to the combo. People didn't demand it, because they didn't think of it (And this area does not seem to be big on demanding more direct transit). But once implemented, it came in very handy, and drew a lot of riders, who may not have even known about the possibility before. The 58 should really be for local Grand Av and Fresh Pond Rd. riders. People traveling from Ridgewood to Queens Blvd or Flushing should not have to ride through that long winding congested path. (Especially if they have to then change to something else, like to the malls on Queens Blvd).

To provide a quicker, straight route from Ridgewood to the Queens Blvd corridor and beyond, as an alternative to the slow, winding Q58.

That's a piece of history! Wasn't that the original IRT barn? I'm glad I got to work up there, before it's gone. It really is antiquated, though. Wonder if they're going to redo the whole elevated yard!

The thing to do in lieu of SAS is to order extra 179's right away, to replace all the 32's and 42's, and then some 46's would be put into storage until the additional cars are needed, so you would not need to wait for the 211's.

If those are mockups made by someone here, how about using my colored bullets (White letter; multicolor, in this case, blue, circle!) Let's put the idea out there!

The looked like it was almost all 46's still. I did see a 42 and a couple of 32's (rode downtown from finishing at 16u8 on one), but it was mostly 46's. I thought the would be mostly 32's.

(And they had the opportunity to do that when nearly all the eastern div. stations were renovated int he 90's; some with apparent undecked steelwork platform extensions visible! ) As for Met, it would be difficult to do without moving the switch. I looked into the idea of moving the bumping block basically to the edge of the Metropolitan Ave property line, so that the stationhouse doors would basically be replaced by the turnstiles, and the platform would begin as soon as you went through. The fare control area would have to be moved to the new area to the side, and you would have to go outside and then back in, to get from the booth to the platform. The dispatcher's office and likely the employee men's room would have to be moved upstairs and the first floor opened up, so the platform could be extended to the beginning of the switch. I still wonder if that would even get you two more car lengths. But I guess moving that switch would probably not be all that hard, since it's outdoors.

What I was told, the barn has to release all 160's. There are enough to cover the lines, but usually, a bunch are out for inspection or whatever. But now, they're all being pressed into service. I should point out, the place where they cannot go is Met, because they wouldn't be able to get behind the switch.

It's not about curves (that's what keeps 75ft off). While they can't fit in the stations, this was running light, so it doesn't matter. And the Deck can hold 10 cars.

I passed by a 10 car 42 set leaving ENYD today.

They're going to install a new switch there for real? Why? And are they really doing that much of the whole line? (All the way to Atlantic?)

I had suggested Van Wyck, if nothing else: http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/topic/34293-queens-bus-proposalsideas-thread-2012/page__st__140?do=findComment&comment=531097 It's ridiculous that from Ridgewood, you have to transfer to something else, and the Q54 they made even slower by rerouting it to the mall. If they had been smart, when suggesting eliminating the Q56 a year or two ago, they would have proposed extending the Q55 then, so that some people losing the 56 would have still had something (it seemed to be mostly the people in Richmond Hill anyway, as most of the rest of the line is covered by the ).

If the 3rd Ave. el had been converted to BMT/IND like that, they probably would have used the opportunity to convert the Dual Contact lines (Jerome, Pelham), by connecting them, so they would use those yards.

Re: Q51 I would route something like that directly to Kings Hwy instead of having it backtrack to Sheepshead Bay. One good thing about taking the people away from the Q35, is that you are diverting them from the IRT to the BMT, which has more room. It reminds me of the QM16, which they had not too long ago extended to Roxbury, but then I believe quickly cut back. I had said that it might have been better off routed through Brooklyn, perhaps made an extension of one of the BM routes, instead of going way out of the way all the way via central Queens. Again, my proposals for Bklyn had always been to use Beverley for the express routes from Flatbush or Ocean directly to the Prospect Expwy. All they've done is rerpoute a couple of them even further down traffic streets, to Park Circle.

Ever since they reconfigured the area around Essex, I had figured a scenario where both the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges were closed. You would reverse signal J1 from Essex through Canal. Southbound 6th Ave. trains could then reverse in the station, instead of going out onto the bridge. The platform could even be extended back to the reverse signal (Which is now a marker, but would be replaced by a regular home signal). You would have to knock out about 10-15 feet of the concrete, but the columns could probably stay. The wall actually diverges from the track, so the further toward the signal you go, the more space you would have for the platform, and you would't have to knock out any more wall. The train would neatly fit between that signal, and the other end of the station, where a 10 car marker would be added. So it would come in on BJ1 and head back out on J1, and cross over to the southbound between Canal and Chambers, and then continue through Montague. Northbound would just come in on J4, as the now does, also reverse in the station, and then cross over to BJ2. That side of the platform could also be extended, and a station dept. room would have to be demolished. The only problem would be crossing over each other near Chambers.

I figured it would just loop around via Metropolitan and 132nd St.

Here are all my old Queens suggestions: Q38, which begins and ends a few blocks apart in Rego Park, but loops over to the Metropolitan Avenue M station and back. A nice shortcut through Middle Village, but requires either the train, or bus transfer to get the rest of the way to Ridgewood. So the northern half, which goes straight across Eliot Avenue (a 20 minute ride from Metropolitan) would be discontinued. It would now end at a loop Mt. Olivet Crescent, Eliot, Fresh Pond and Metropolitan, (to serve those on this side of the cemetery who would be more likely to need access to the Metropolitan station than those further out on Eliot. Those on the other side of the cemetery would still have the Q67 or whatever might replace it on 69th St.) This would be replaced by either the Q58LTD, rerouted off of the busy Grand Avenue, or another line, perhaps an extended Q88, which goes along the LIE from the east, to Queens Blvd. The 58 is an incredibly long winding route, on traffic packed Grand Avenue and the meandering Corona Avenue, and even with the LTD, often suffers from large gaps due to bunching (because of all the riders). Riding one end to the other from Flushing to Ridgewood feels like getting off a Greyhound from another state! This should either be straightened (and let the Grand Ave. riders have their own route), or at least give us another line across Eliot to Queens Blvd. where the mall is. Exending the 88 might also lure some riders away from the busy Queens Blv. subway to the less used M! Q39 and Q67. These are the winding routes connecting the area with Long Island City. There was speculation they would be combined somehow, or one discontinued. Since the 39 is the one that comes closest to here, that is the one I suggest straightening out. The 67 could continue to focus on all the little residential pockets dotting the factory belt, and pick up some that would be abandoned by the 39 in my suggestions. Not only are they not even thinking of making the 39 more direct, but they're made it more indirect, by taking it off of 58th St. in one direction, where the street is being made one way. So now it goes up Maurice avenue, and cuts across to the current route. Like it wasn't long, slow and winding enough! So northbound, the Q39 after Metropolitan would take a shortcut across Andrews Ave. and 59th Pl. (northbound) or 60th St. (southbound) to 59th Dr. and then Rust St. to 48th St.; then along Borden Avenue to Van Dam, where it would take Queens Blvd. to QBP, and then start and end at the Courthouse Sq. 7 station, (perhaps via 21st St.) instead of swinging by there (out of the way) enroute. The current route along Fresh Pond gets caught in traffic, and then along Greenpoint Ave. and 58th St to the BQE is very long and indirect. 48th St, segment can also be slow sometimes, and taking Thompson and swinging by Courthouse Sq. also adds more time. All of this adds up to a very long trip, for the moderate distance actually being traveled. The Q67 could pick up the Thompson/Van Dam/48Av./48St./BQE/58th St. route, and then continue, as current, beyond 58th St. Then, I would create a more direct route between Ridgewood to the busy Jackson Heights, Roosevelt Avenue hub (or at least the LIRR Woodside area). This would involve extending either the Q18 or Q47, (and straightening them out while at it). A DOT consultant had suggested extending the 18 down 69th St. to Metropolitan Ave. station to replace the 67, which they suggested reducing to rush hours only. So then I got the idea to just extend it all the way into Ridgewood, somehow. One plan was to extend it to the new Atlas Park Mall (a nice grassy shopping center that looks reminds me of something you would see in Orlando's International Drive, or California), but area residents have been opposing it. (Meanwhile, it is a different through route that does get rerouted out of the way there!) Also, the area's only express bus to Manhattan, QM24, takes the LIE way out to Rego Park before coming back towards Fresh Pond on Eliot Ave. This I would have leave the LIE at the Maurice Ave. exit, and take 64th St. to Flushing Avenue, and then Fresh Pond, then the rest of the route. Manhattan-bound, they would take 61st St. to Borden Ave. east to 69th, to Queens Blvd. One of the other express routes, such as the QM10 could be extended along the Eliot portion of the line to 69th St. Or, one of them could serve Eliot first, using the same exit at Maurice Avenue, and follow the QM24 to Eliot Avenue at Fresh Pond Rd. and turn East on Eliot. Since this would draw many of the QM24 riders to the other line, the QM24 could be extended via Myrtle to the Union Tpke/Metropolitan Ave/Woodhaven loop (and maybe also the Yellowstone stretch) currently served by the QM12, giving those riders an alternative to the busy Rego Park routing. Also, the extension of the Q55 from stopping just short of Jamaica in Richmond Hills to continuing all the way into Jamaica, or at least to the Van Wyck E station. Now, the Q54 is the lifeline to Jamaica (accessible by the M or 58, otherwise, other trains with transfers), and that too is slow with traffic during the day. Not only that, the one fast stretch, through a little cemetery they have eliminated to make it swing over to the new mall on Cooper Avenue. More turns, traffic and narrow streets! It's just amazing how the one line that goes straight to Ridgewood cuts back, and even the other ones they make slower. It almost seems deliberate!

Only on the weekend shuttle, that is.

They almost never swapped them, back then in the 80's. A it was, the still had non GOH 33's, and never got redbirds until the 33's were converted, and then, while one might pop up on the (along with the roving R36 sets later), the equipment seemingly NEVER popped up on the . I remember before then, the time I saw a MK set arrive at Franklin signed as in the front, and I said "about time", but it was really a sent out to fill a delay. I had never even seen a MK rebuild from the on the . That's how strictly the followed the assignments back then. Even after the 33's were turned into redbirds. I think it was when they began swapping the assignments around (the got the 33's, and the got the MK's), that they began getting looser with the assignments, and they would swap them more. So that can't be why they didn;t get 62's, and the and were the same, with the strictly 62's, and the strictly 62A's, again, until they began switching them around in the new millennium.

They're apparently looking into building a switch from local to express north of 57th, creating a flying junction. (Would be easy northbound, require more work southbound). I sure hope they do.