speedyracer90

13 hours ago, Amtrak706 said:

Interesting. Was there much of a difference in speed/runtime on the Manhattan side in that era as well, or were those timers earlier? I started riding the  around 2002, but I was still pretty young so I don’t really remember.

Indeed. And think about how much faster it was even on top of that back when the cars performed as designed. I think my favorite quote about this is from a 2001 SubTalk thread I found when I was first researching this issue many years ago:

 “Damned shame one of the best little railroads in the world has been turned into an amusement park ride.”

The only new timers I can recall in Manhattan are on the SB / local south of 86th street, just south of 34th street on the SB / local. and just north of Canal Street on the S/B express track. I'm honestly surprised the SB express stretch from 59th - 14th Street didn't get touched during that period. The other infamous slow spots (135th St, 34th St N/B, etc) have been around since forever. I believe the timers added on the CPW express section were installed around the mid - late 1980's from what I remember reading somewhere, someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

In Brooklyn, going Manhattan bound is still sort of the same aside from the timers added at Broadway Junction and around Jay Street. This is going by what I remember from about 1993 and on.

On 8/15/2019 at 2:49 PM, Amtrak706 said:

I caught an R32 on the  today and saw some interesting stuff from the front window. There is a big yellow sign at Nostrand Av warning T/Os that the next station is a “fast station” and to start braking early. How long has this been there? It certainly doesn’t make any sense given the timers immediately before Utica. There is a relatively new looking GT35 sign for them, but the T/O took them at about 29 (you can see the speed indicator pretty easily through the hinges).

On 8/15/2019 at 3:13 PM, RR503 said:

The 35s entering Utica were, I believe, post WillyB control line safety mods. The sign about it being a 'fast station' predates them, and as you say is now somewhat useless.

If I remember correctly, that sign went up a few years before those timers were added around 2010-2011 (someone correct me if I'm wrong?). I think they also added the timers at B'way Junction, the curve around High Street, Grant Ave SB, and a few others along the 8th Avenue/Fulton Line around the same time. Maybe my memory is starting to get a bit hazy. I used to catch the RFW of R32/R38 's whenever I could from 2003 until about 2009 and do not recall those timers during that period.

Man I wish they would have kept the long window doors on the R40S/M and the R42's. I'm actually surprised the pay phone in that station is working.