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Your oldest memory of the subway


rr4567

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Myrtle Ave El from Bridge-Jay to Broadway. Fulton St El from Hinsdale to Rockaway Ave w/free transfer to the (A) downstairs. East New York yard and the various track connections between Eastern Parkway-Broadway Junction and Atlantic Ave.There were tracks from Atlantic Ave to the Broadway, Canarsie, Fulton lines and the yard. There were also 30-40 car freights running on the Bay Ridge branch of the LIRR back then, early to mid 1950s. We had a teacher in my elementary school who would have us line up and count the cars on the freights and els . Sadly only 1 track remains in use on the railroad and the Atlantic Ave complex is no more.

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Myrtle Ave El from Bridge-Jay to Broadway. Fulton St El from Hinsdale to Rockaway Ave w/free transfer to the (A) downstairs. East New York yard and the various track connections between Eastern Parkway-Broadway Junction and Atlantic Ave.There were tracks from Atlantic Ave to the Broadway, Canarsie, Fulton lines and the yard. There were also 30-40 car freights running on the Bay Ridge branch of the LIRR back then, early to mid 1950s. We had a teacher in my elementary school who would have us line up and count the cars on the freights and els . Sadly only 1 track remains in use on the railroad and the Atlantic Ave complex is no more.

 

Are you that old??? Wow, seems like you've seen a lot.

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I could never determine a definite "first memory". I just knew if you went one way down Newkirk, you came to the letter lines, and the other way was the number lines. They all had a mix of older cars, but at some point the (D) became almost all 32's (at least every time I rode it), and I liked the 70(3) better because it still had the mix of older cars. I also remember the R1-9's (which were probably what I remembered on the (D) before the 32's took over), and those began disappearing, and then eventually the brand new 44's came out (first the (A)70(F) and then, the (D)), which was totally different from anything else. Everything on the (D) and 70(3) remained pretty much the same until the 80's, when I was in teens and began riding and exploring on my own.

 

That's equipment. The other part was the actual riding, and the whole labyrinth of tunnels was always fascinating, as was the outdoor Sheepshead Bay-Stillwell stretch. (which still had wooden platforms on several stations).

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Are you that old??? Wow, seems like you've seen a lot.

 

" Old " in what way? I've been on this blue planet called earth for quite a while now but I have never forgotten some advice I got from my mother, grandmother, and the teacher I mentioned in my previous post. Open your eyes and take in all that surrounds you. Every day try to learn something new, whether from a book or your elders. The day you stop learning something new is the day they close your casket. So, yes I'm considered old by some but by reading these forums I'm still learning new things about the transit system and I've worked for NYCTA for over 25 years. BTW my mom, who is still here, said that I forgot to mention riding the Church Avenue trolley when I was a kid and she laughed when you called me old. She said the proper term is "experienced" or " knowlegeable", not "old".

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" Old " in what way? I've been on this blue planet called earth for quite a while now but I have never forgotten some advice I got from my mother, grandmother, and the teacher I mentioned in my previous post. Open your eyes and take in all that surrounds you. Every day try to learn something new, whether from a book or your elders. The day you stop learning something new is the day they close your casket. So, yes I'm considered old by some but by reading these forums I'm still learning new things about the transit system and I've worked for NYCTA for over 25 years. BTW my mom, who is still here, said that I forgot to mention riding the Church Avenue trolley when I was a kid and she laughed when you called me old. She said the proper term is "experienced" or " knowlegeable", not "old".

 

(translation) *Trainmaster*: Get off my lawn you damn whippersnappers! :P Just kidding lol

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" Old " in what way? I've been on this blue planet called earth for quite a while now but I have never forgotten some advice I got from my mother, grandmother, and the teacher I mentioned in my previous post. Open your eyes and take in all that surrounds you. Every day try to learn something new, whether from a book or your elders. The day you stop learning something new is the day they close your casket. So, yes I'm considered old by some but by reading these forums I'm still learning new things about the transit system and I've worked for NYCTA for over 25 years. BTW my mom, who is still here, said that I forgot to mention riding the Church Avenue trolley when I was a kid and she laughed when you called me old. She said the proper term is "experienced" or " knowlegeable", not "old".

 

Hey Trainmaster, didn't mean to offend in any way. But all in all, it's good to see that there are people willing to share their times of the subway before it all or mostly changed.

 

Have you ever rode the Culver Shuttle before it was demolished?

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Hey Trainmaster, didn't mean to offend in any way. But all in all, it's good to see that there are people willing to share their times of the subway before it all or mostly changed.

 

Have you ever rode the Culver Shuttle before it was demolished?

 

Yes I did take the Culver shuttle 4 or 5 times back in my exploration days. I had a free bus and subway pass in my school days and 2 of my neighbors were BMT motormen back then. They would tell me and my friends about interesting things that they saw while working and that piqued our interest in subways and buses. IIRC back in those days there were 3 separate seniority lists for motorman, BMT,IRT, and a combined list which included the IND people. I also remember them telling us that there were trolley operators who became motormen instead of bus operators because the job of trolley operator was similar to motorman. That's why we loved talking to them so much. Without them we probably would have never made the connection between the jobs. To our young minds trolley=bus, not train.

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Agreed trolleys ARE more like rapid transit cars than buses...

 

As for my earlier memories I'm "only" 23 so mine go back to the late 80's...here are a few...

 

-Riding redbirds on all 3 Lexington Avenue Lines. (this is probably one of the two oldest)

-R62A's on the (6), occasionally the (5), and the (4) being R62.

-Brooklyn Bridge and 59th St/Lex BEFORE the renovations...

-Wall St before the renovation...one of the best looking stations in the system with the old blue tiles...

-Riding a green R-10 on the (C)...my ears are still ringing :P (this is the other of the two oldest)

-How the BMT Broadway line seemed to always crawl between 59/Lex and 49th...and of course the then unused express tracks.

-Riding the old service patterns...when I was a kid I always liked the slants so the first time I went out to Coney Island with my father it was (:P slant via west end out (N) slant via Sea Beach back...

-The old Franklin Ave shuttle (rode it once...)

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Taking the 4th ave local to Manhattan when I was 5 with my Mom and Sis.

My Mom told me to look for the two green lights on the front of the train to make sure it was the right train. When the train came into the station (9th St.),it was so loud I cried and was afraid of it. That was early 1957.

 

My cousins lived on Beverly Road and East 7th Street. Normally we would take the B75 to the B68 to Beverly. Some days though, my Mom would take the B63 to 39th st and we would switch to the Church Ave Trolley. Anyone remember the tunnel under Ocean Parkway?

 

I remember taking the (D) train from 7th ave to Coney Island along the Culver.

 

I remember taking a ride on the Myrtle Ave El from Jay St to Broadway a few weeks before it stopped running.

 

Taking the old Culver Shuttle frequently in the mid 60s on winter Sunday afternoons with my friends. It was too cold to shoot hoops so we took the subway all over the city. That's how we discovered the Fillmore East back in 1967

 

My parents took us to the city a few weeks before they closed Penn Station .

I guess it was mid sixties.

 

My first MLB baseball game, my Dad took the(D)train from 4th ave to Yankee Stadium in 1960.

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Wow, looking at all these responses, I feel old!

I remember when the R10's were the 'new trains'!

When there were Adams Chicklet gum vending machines on platform columns.

When you paid a nickle for a ride....yes Before tokens were used!

When you dressed up to go for a ride.

When you could always look out the front window.

When you could always see the conductor performing his duties.

When the seats were all padded.

When you could walk through the trains from end to end.

When you could have lunch at a 'Nedicks' without ever leaving the station.

When..........

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Well for me going to Liberty Island back in 1998 on the (1) at South Ferry I was on a red bird.. it was my first and last time.. I sure do wish I rode them more B) it was my first time on the NYC Subway system and my first time in NYC.. I had just moved up from North Carolina.

 

I'm getting better... back in March first time I used the subway without needing a map ;)

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Wow, looking at all these responses, I feel old!

I remember when the R10's were the 'new trains'!

When there were Adams Chicklet gum vending machines on platform columns.

When you paid a nickle for a ride....yes Before tokens were used!

When you dressed up to go for a ride.

When you could always look out the front window.

When you could always see the conductor performing his duties.

When the seats were all padded.

When you could walk through the trains from end to end.

When you could have lunch at a 'Nedicks' without ever leaving the station.

When..........

 

Thank you for the great post. It brought back memories of a better time in NYC transit history. I see that I'm not the only "experienced" poster out here although the 5 cent ride was paid for by my parents, not me. I rode for free in those days, on someone's lap.

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The Oldset Subway Memory:

 

1993 Riding an R30 (C) train from Broadway Junction to B'way Nassau st

 

1994-97 riding R26,28,29 and R33ML's on the (2)/(5)

 

1997 Riding an R38 on the (:P, (207th st yard borrow)

 

1997 Riding an R32 (B) from 21st queensbridge to Coney Island

 

1997 riding R36Wf/ML mixed train on the (6)

 

1998 & 2001 Riding an R38 (E) train on a sunday afternoon when It was going to Euclid (G.O.)

 

2001 riding an R32 (W) train to Coney Island, Because of a stupid Vandal, We got rerouted down the sea Beach

 

2002-early 2003 My Last R33 Main Line Redbird Rides on the (4)

 

september of 2003 My Last Redbird ride on the (7)

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This was either the Long Island Railroad in Penn Station or the Subway (I think it was the LIRR, but it kinda fits here), this was in the Spring/Summer 1997 or Spring in 1996.

 

My entire family (It was about 7 of us, my grandmother and I were in the back of the group) was going somewhere in Manhattan, I was 5 years old when I fell in between the gap, I was holding on to the yellow part of the platform while the train pulled off and was in motion in back of me (about 15-25mph, I was afraid my jacket was gonna get caught on the train then I was pulled up by my grandmother and some man, it was a scary moment I'm glad I was 5 years old and could actually fit in between the train and the platform.

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This was either the Long Island Railroad in Penn Station or the Subway (I think it was the LIRR, but it kinda fits here), this was in the Spring/Summer 1997 or Spring in 1996.

 

My entire family (It was about 7 of us, my grandmother and I were in the back of the group) was going somewhere in Manhattan, I was 5 years old when I fell in between the gap, I was holding on to the yellow part of the platform while the train pulled off and was in motion in back of me (about 15-25mph, I was afraid my jacket was gonna get caught on the train then I was pulled up by my grandmother and some man, it was a scary moment I'm glad I was 5 years old and could actually fit in between the train and the platform.

 

scary indeed. :eek:

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This was either the Long Island Railroad in Penn Station or the Subway (I think it was the LIRR, but it kinda fits here), this was in the Spring/Summer 1997 or Spring in 1996.

 

My entire family (It was about 7 of us, my grandmother and I were in the back of the group) was going somewhere in Manhattan, I was 5 years old when I fell in between the gap, I was holding on to the yellow part of the platform while the train pulled off and was in motion in back of me (about 15-25mph, I was afraid my jacket was gonna get caught on the train then I was pulled up by my grandmother and some man, it was a scary moment I'm glad I was 5 years old and could actually fit in between the train and the platform.

 

That's crazy; glad you made it out OK!

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My oldest memory of actually riding the trains would be November 9th 1965 going to my cousin Mikey's birthday party in Gowanus. My mother, little brother, sister and I took the (A) from Utica Ave to Jay Street and caught a (D) to Smith/9th. Got to my cousin's house and watched the lights go out across the city.

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Oldest memory of the subway?

Hmmmn i have a few,let's see

I remember the old 70(GG) double letter designation during the Early 80's

The actual trackage remains of the Culver Shuttle 70(SS) and the Coney Island bound Ditmas Avenue platform itself an island platform before the Culver Line & station rehabilitation

The token fare was in 1984 i believe 75 cents or 1$,don't remember lolz

Old wooden turnstiles and Iron Maidens,before HEET was installed

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Oldest memory of the subway?

Hmmmn i have a few,let's see

I remember the old 70(GG) double letter designation during the Early 80's

The actual trackage remains of the Culver Shuttle 70(SS) and the Coney Island bound Ditmas Avenue platform itself an island platform before the Culver Line & station rehabilitation

The token fare was in 1984 i believe 75 cents or 1$,don't remember lolz

Old wooden turnstiles and Iron Maidens,before HEET was installed

 

I remember a two car set on my 8th avenue line (AA) and one of the cars had no lights on. The really bad yet cool days when ur a kid. I also remember the grafitti R12, R12, R17, R21, & R36WF. Also the R44/46 with the blue stripe and also grafitti. Boy those were some tags back then. Also the pre GOH days were great for speed but not for A/C. Trains were shorter alot shorter lengths at different times of day & night. Great times.... but gone.

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2005, on a trip to manhattan, I forget where I was going, I know it originated somewhere on the (F) and the second half was somewhere on a line served by the R142s. I didnt know much about the subway back then.

 

Untill then my trips to NYC were mostly by car (airports, destinations in queens), or by the train and then walking to a destination (shea stadium, javits center).

 

After that first trip I was hooked lol

 

Many city trips later I have ridden every route except (H) and (Z), i'm kinda hoping they just can the (Z) so I don't have to bother with it. As for (H) one day ill work up the courage to go down there.

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