Fantasy Subway Map: Draft 1

[CenSin]

Okay. Here is the big update. This was redone from scratch with a bit of influence from the previous versions. It's not quite done yet (no station names and other labels), but I'm putting it up to solicit some feedback (especially criticism).

 

 

Things that should be noted (not an exhaustive list):

 

• The station at 145 Street has been removed. There's no place in my map for stations that can't handle full length trains.
  
• The express service in Bronx has been added.
  
• The express has been added from Gun Hill Road to East 180 Street.
  
• The Nostrand Avenue line has been extended to Sheepshead Bay. Most of the stations should be obvious.
  
• The Flushing line has been extended to College Point and Bayside. The serves Bayside while the new (8) service serves College Point. All trains run express while the (8) is in operation.
  
• The Liberty Avenue line has been removed between Euclid Avenue and 104 Street. The express tracks are now connected to the Rockaway branch via South Conduit Avenue with the local track leading to 150 Street.
  
• The no longer runs to Ozone Park. Instead, trains alternate between the two Rockaway terminals.
  
• The ( returns to the Washington Heights terminal in Manhattan.
  
• The 6 Avenue line is no longer connected to the Manhattan Bridge nor the Williamsburg Bridge. Instead, it has been reconnected to the express tracks at 2 Avenue leading to an underground Marcy Avenue station.
  
• The and have been rerouted to use the new east river tunnel to run to Flatlands and Brighton Beach respectively.
  
• The Grand Concourse line has been extended to Coop City along with the 3 Avenue line.
  
• The has been extended to Coop City.
  
• The has returned to Grand Concourse in Bronx.
  
• trains no longer run via Fulton Street, but via Worth Street, Broadway (Brooklyn), Throop Avenue, Franklin Avenue, and the Brighton lines to Brighton Beach.
  
• The Hillside Avenue line has been extended to Springfield Boulevard.
  
• A two-tracked super express line connects Queensbridge-21 Street to the Hillside Avenue and Archer Avenue lines. It also has a connection to the 34 Street crosstown line in Manhattan allowing for direct access to every trunk line in Manhattan from southeast Queens.
  
• The Archer Avenue line is planned to be extended southward via Merrick Boulevard and eastward via Jamaica Avenue.
  
• The runs express from Springfield Boulevard to Coney Island in both Queens and Brooklyn.
  
• During rush hours, the runs express via the Queens super express line.
  
• The provides one way express service between Church Avenue and Coney Island. During this time, all train terminate at Kings Highway.
  
• The remains of the Liberty Avenue line has been extended in both directions via the former LIRR Rockaway branch and a two track underground line to Springfield Boulevard.
  
• The has been extended to Springfield Boulevard via the Liberty Avenue line.
  
• The Myrtle Avenue line is now entirely underground.
  
• An unused connection exists connecting Bedford-Nostrand Avenues on the Crosstown line to Knickerbocker Avenue on the new underground Myrtle Avenue line. I plan to run an (X) from the Crosstown line to Inwood via the Triboro RX line.
  
• The Jamaica line has three tracks from Myrtle Avenue to 121 Street. The portion from Myrtle Avenue to Marcy Avenue is now part of an underground trunk line.
  
• The runs local from Jamaica Center to Bay Parkway in Brooklyn. The line is planned to be extended to Springfield Boulevard via Jamaica Avenue.
  
• The <J> provides one way express service along the Jamaica line for those looking for a fast ride to lower Manhattan.
  
• The terminates at Broad Street at all times.
  
• A new trunk line has been created along 5 Avenue connected to 57 Street-7 Avenue running to 263 Street in Bronx. The line has 4 tracks from 72 Street to 125 Street. The local tracks are stubs below 72 Street (planned to connect to the 34 Street or 14 Street crosstown lines). The line has 3 tracks from 125 Street to Marble Hill.
  
• A crosstown line has been created along 125 Street connecting to the 2 Avenue trunk line.
  
• The express runs from 125 Street-Broadway to Coney Island.
  
• The is express in Brooklyn via the Brighton line.
  
• The has been extended to 179 Street-Jamaica.
  
• The has been truncated to Whitehall Street or City Hall (lower level).
  
• The has been eliminated from the Rockaway branch.
  
• A 2 Avenue trunk line has been created connecting to Coop City, Queens Boulevard, Williamsburg, Manhattan Bridge, and the Fulton Street line.
  
• The runs from Bedford Park Boulevard to 150 Street (north of the JFK airport).
  
• The (U) runs from Coop City to Kings Plaza express in Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
  
• The runs from Springfield Boulevard to Coney Island express in Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.
  
• The <V> provides one way express service on the West End line.
  
• The replaces the in Astoria and runs to Bay Ridge local.
  
• The (Y) runs from a new line from Inwood to Bay Ridge via Fordham Road, Hell Gate Bridge, and the LIRR Bay Ridge branch. It is planned to extend to Staten Island.
  
• The Staten Island Railroad will be removed and repurposed for subway use.
  

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

"The station at 145 Street has been removed. There's no place in my map for stations that can't handle full length trains."

 

/\ Awesome /\

 

 

That train looks way too long for just local service.

 

Having a line up 5th Ave would be a great idea (if it wasn't the most expensive street in America )

 

How do you propose connecting your subway through Bed-Sty to the Franklin Shuttle (which is elevated)?

 

The 34th St Crosstown-Superexpress is a cool idea, try expanding it out into Queens more (maybe along the LIE).

[CenSin]

That train looks way too long for just local service.

You might be right; it has 50 stops (tied with the )! The late night service wins the trophy though at around 56 stops. The is 53 stops.

 

I removed most of the stops from the (Y) that didn't involve transfers anticipating an extension to Staten Island (which would make it very long lengthwise). The (Y) outside of Staten Island is supposed to be a connecting route to make travelling outside Manhattan easier.

 

Having a line up 5th Ave would be a great idea (if it wasn't the most expensive street in America )

That was the point of the line: to get shoppers directly there. I might connect the Central Park West portion to the 34 Street crosstown line and name it the pink . It goes well with the letter P and N (both make digraphs in various languages).

 

How do you propose connecting your subway through Bed-Sty to the Franklin Shuttle (which is elevated)?

The elevated portion will be torn down (as with the Myrtle Avenue elevated, a portion of the Jamaica Avenue line, and the Liberty Avenue elevated). The open cut portion will lead directly into the tunnel which will weave through Halsey and Throop Streets to Broadway and Union Avenue.

 

The 34th St Crosstown-Superexpress is a cool idea, try expanding it out into Queens more (maybe along the LIE).

The from Astoria will be extended there (as in draft 3), though I'm worried for the length of the line. (It was in the second system plans too.)

 

 

Thanks for your response.

[Grand Concourse]

Very ambitious!

The only thing I'm not too sure of is the gutting the Ozone branch as the Rockaway Park branch really doesn't need that much service most of the day.

[CenSin]

I'll leave it at this for nowand think about possible routing changes.

 

This is a 2100×3400 bitmap:

[R32 3348]

This is quite an interesting map. The only thing I would recommend that comes to mind is the Astoria Line airport extension.

[CenSin]

This is quite an interesting map. The only thing I would recommend that comes to mind is the Astoria Line airport extension.

This one has white dotted lines along the connections I added. I haven't decided on what to do with them yet. It's hard to see if you're not looking for them, but they are:

 

• 34 Street and 5 Avenue connector

• Crosstown line and Astoria line connector

• Astoria line extension to LaGuardia Airport and eastern Queens

• Crosstown line and Central Avenue line connector

• Queens Boulevard line and Rockaway line connector

 

Getting the routes to work out might be a bit difficult since I place emphasis on certain rules when making routes:

 

• Every pair of track in a line gets two routes maximum. A 2 track like can serve 2 routes. A 3 track line can serve routes. A 4 track line can serve 4 routes.

• Routes further from the important destinations usually become express halfway to those destinations and local routes take over where the other routes become express. Track alignments are modified where necessary to enforce this pattern (e.g., from Brighton Beach to Ocean Parkway the storage tracks rise up above the Ocean Parkway station to become a pair of relay tracks).

• Local trains usually stay local for the entire route. The same goes for express trains (e.g., the is the 2 Avenue, Broadway, and Brighton express).

• Routes are created for the most flexibility possible. (e.g., Coney Island has access to 2 Avenue, 6 Avenue, Broadway, and 8 Avenue via the at Brighton Beach).

• Track sharing and/or switching is usually reduced at the cost of routing flexibility when the arrangement appears to be delay-prone.

 

 

I'll provide track diagrams for the new connections and lines soon.

[E Local]

This one has white dotted lines along the connections I added. I haven't decided on what to do with them yet. It's hard to see if you're not looking for them, but they are:

 

• 34 Street and 5 Avenue connector

• Crosstown line and Astoria line connector

• Astoria line extension to LaGuardia Airport and eastern Queens

• Crosstown line and Central Avenue line connector

• Queens Boulevard line and Rockaway line connector

 

Getting the routes to work out might be a bit difficult since I place emphasis on certain rules when making routes:

 

• Every pair of track in a line gets two routes maximum. A 2 track like can serve 2 routes. A 3 track line can serve routes. A 4 track line can serve 4 routes.

• Routes further from the important destinations usually become express halfway to those destinations and local routes take over where the other routes become express. Track alignments are modified where necessary to enforce this pattern (e.g., from Brighton Beach to Ocean Parkway the storage tracks rise up above the Ocean Parkway station to become a pair of relay tracks).

• Local trains usually stay local for the entire route. The same goes for express trains (e.g., the is the 2 Avenue, Broadway, and Brighton express).

• Routes are created for the most flexibility possible. (e.g., Coney Island has access to 2 Avenue, 6 Avenue, Broadway, and 8 Avenue via the at Brighton Beach).

• Track sharing and/or switching is usually reduced at the cost of routing flexibility when the arrangement appears to be delay-prone.

 

 

I'll provide track diagrams for the new connections and lines soon.

 

wow you will provide track maps for specific areas on the map?

[NX Express]

Love it!!!

I'll have to take some ideas from this...

[CenSin]

wow you will provide track maps for specific areas on the map?

And here is the first one:

This is for Ocean Parkway and Brighton Beach on the Brighton line. The extra tracks between Ocean Parkway and Brighton Beach actually rise up to a second level above the current Ocean Parkway station. I figured if the structure was strong enough to carry 6 tracks, there shouldn't be a problem with elevating it a bit further. The Ocean Parkway station seems to have a very sturdy foundation for a station so lightly used so a second level could probably be built over it without any issues.

 

During the evening, the stops running and the assumes the role of the for the Brighton line. The also runs local since express service is unwarranted.

[vanshnookenraggen]

And here is the first one:

 

 

That's really nice. I might have to step up and make some too.

[NX Express]

That's an original map. I think I'm gonna have to update all my track maps one day. I'll start now.

[E Local]

not to be rude or anything, when will the map come out?

[CenSin]

This is a minor update since the last one (click to enlarge):

 

In the final, the large bullets adjacent to the terminal stations will be replaced with square ones, smaller circular and diamond ones will be placed along the routes, and all stations will be labeled. There are currently no bullets adjacent to part-time terminal stations. See if you can guess the service patterns.

 

I'm still not sure what to do with the Astoria extension. The crosstown line will have a connection to the local tracks while the Broadway line will have a connection to both the local and express tracks. Where the Astoria line branches I'd like the express to serve the longer of two routes (the one not going to the airport), but that would mean I'd have to send 3 different services through the Astoria line. I could always make the airport service a shuttle or make a service have two terminals (like the ).

[E Local]

This is a minor update since the last one (click to enlarge):

 

In the final, the large bullets adjacent to the terminal stations will be replaced with square ones, smaller circular and diamond ones will be placed along the routes, and all stations will be labeled. There are currently no bullets adjacent to part-time terminal stations. See if you can guess the service patterns.

 

I'm still not sure what to do with the Astoria extension. The crosstown line will have a connection to the local tracks while the Broadway line will have a connection to both the local and express tracks. Where the Astoria line branches I'd like the express to serve the longer of two routes (the one not going to the airport), but that would mean I'd have to send 3 different services through the Astoria line. I could always make the airport service a shuttle or make a service have two terminals (like the ).

 

I think for the Astoria Extension, you should extend 3 lines there, the lines. the LGA extension could be given the , while the get the queens extension. the express & the local.

[NX Express]

I find the extension rather pointless, since the doesn't go to Manhattan anyway. If necessary, the and should switch east of Jackson Heights/Roosevelt Avenue.

[E Local]

I find the extension rather pointless, since the doesn't go to Manhattan anyway. If necessary, the and should switch east of Jackson Heights/Roosevelt Avenue.

 

That's true, plus the is too long to have the extension as a local train.

[2Line1291]

Have the and along the Astoria line w/ the goes to LGA and the goes to Eastern Queens disconnecting the Broadway lines from Queens Blvd.

[Luis1985]

im likeing the map. looks really good!

[CenSin]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. You may be right about the Astoria extensions; I am still unsure of the best approach to go about filling in the extension, but I'm sure the is fine.

 

The in this map doubles as a sort of feeder line shuttling people in currently underserved areas to the Merrick Boulevard, Van Wyck Expressway, Jamaica Avenue, and Queens Boulevard lines. The rationale is: if the ran along the entire length of Queens Boulevard as a local, most people would take it begrudgingly and get off at the nearest stop for a transfer. Thus, my decision to make the serve an extension on its own makes it useful.

 

As for the Astoria extensions, I don't think having all the Broadway lines go to the same place is a good idea. I am, however, open to the idea of connecting the Crosstown line to it (a probable expansion), or resurrecting the Queensboro Bridge as a structure for subway traffic (which it formerly was) and connecting the LaGuardia Airport to the 2 Avenue line. I still have a rule against having more than 2 routes per pair of tracks for any line regardless of the headways though, and so I might do something crazy line remove the from Harlem and extend it from under Central Park to the LaGuardia Airport; I always thought the two station stub was useless anyway.

 

By the way, can anyone spot at least 2 mistakes? I was adding, moving, and deleting lines but forgot to move some dots representing the stations.

[CenSin]

Here's an updated map with some strange new routing flavors and lines.

 

• The goes across Manhattan to Astoria and LaGuardia Airport.
  
• The returns as the 2 Avenue local.

 

 

[NX Express]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. You may be right about the Astoria extensions; I am still unsure of the best approach to go about filling in the extension, but I'm sure the is fine.

 

The in this map doubles as a sort of feeder line shuttling people in currently underserved areas to the Merrick Boulevard, Van Wyck Expressway, Jamaica Avenue, and Queens Boulevard lines. The rationale is: if the ran along the entire length of Queens Boulevard as a local, most people would take it begrudgingly and get off at the nearest stop for a transfer. Thus, my decision to make the serve an extension on its own makes it useful.

That's not necessarily a good thing. If the goes where nobody needs it to go, all the extension passengers are merely going to transfer for another train whenever they get the opportunity. Especially in NY, one seat rides are always best.

As for the Astoria extensions, I don't think having all the Broadway lines go to the same place is a good idea. I am, however, open to the idea of connecting the Crosstown line to it (a probable expansion), or resurrecting the Queensboro Bridge as a structure for subway traffic (which it formerly was) and connecting the LaGuardia Airport to the 2 Avenue line. I still have a rule against having more than 2 routes per pair of tracks for any line regardless of the headways though, and so I might do something crazy line remove the from Harlem and extend it from under Central Park to the LaGuardia Airport; I always thought the two station stub was useless anyway.

 

By the way, can anyone spot at least 2 mistakes? I was adding, moving, and deleting lines but forgot to move some dots representing the stations.

Another idea...maybe a line to City Island, or to {the area east of the line in the Bronx}.

[cotb16]

Another idea...maybe a line to City Island, or to {the area east of the line in the Bronx}.

 

Reading the map, the best option would be to extend the over there. It would split off the Concourse Line at Yankee Stadium, then run on 161st, 163rd, and Lafayette Avenues before terminating at City Island. It would serve portions of Soundview and Castle Hill and Throggs Neck that are south of the Bruckner Expressway as well as serving as a South Bronx crosstown line serving the Courts and Hunts Point.

 

Stops

Yankee Stadium

Morris Av/161st St (MNRR connection, serves the Courts)

3rd Av/163rd St (2nd av line)

Intervale Av

Hunts Point Av

Boynton Av/Lafayette Av

Rosedale Av (serves Monroe and other housing projects)

Bruckner Plaza

Castle Hill Av

Brush Av

Balcom Av

East Tremont Av-Throggs Neck

Dean Av

City Island

 

Your thoughts?

[NX Express]

Reading the map, the best option would be to extend the over there. It would split off the Concourse Line at Yankee Stadium, then run on 161st, 163rd, and Lafayette Avenues before terminating at City Island. It would serve portions of Soundview and Castle Hill and Throggs Neck that are south of the Bruckner Expressway as well as serving as a South Bronx crosstown line serving the Courts and Hunts Point.

 

Stops

Yankee Stadium

Morris Av/161st St (MNRR connection, serves the Courts)

3rd Av/163rd St (2nd av line)

Intervale Av

Hunts Point Av

Boynton Av/Lafayette Av

Rosedale Av (serves Monroe and other housing projects)

Bruckner Plaza

Castle Hill Av

Brush Av

Balcom Av

East Tremont Av-Throggs Neck

Dean Av

City Island

 

Your thoughts?

I would make a slight change to that:

Stops:

161 Street/Yankee Stadium

Melrose MNRR station

3 Av/Boston Rd/163 Street

Intervale Av

Hunts Point

Spofford Av/Halleck Street

Hunts Point Meat Market

Soundview Av/White Plains Road/O'Brien Av

Norton Av/Castle Hill Av (near Bx22 terminal)

Possible stop at Brush/Schley Av Google Map, featuring a park & ride

East Tremont Avenue/Cross Bronx Expressway/Dewey Avenue (featuring a Park & Ride)

Dean Avenue/Lafayette Avenue

City Island/Pilot Street

City Island/Fordham Street

[cotb16]

I would make a slight change to that:

Stops:

161 Street/Yankee Stadium

Melrose MNRR station

3 Av/Boston Rd/163 Street

Intervale Av

Hunts Point

Spofford Av/Halleck Street

Hunts Point Meat Market

Soundview Av/White Plains Road/O'Brien Av

Norton Av/Castle Hill Av (near Bx22 terminal)

Possible stop at Brush/Schley Av Google Map, featuring a park & ride

East Tremont Avenue/Cross Bronx Expressway/Dewey Avenue (featuring a Park & Ride)

Dean Avenue/Lafayette Avenue

City Island/Pilot Street

City Island/Fordham Street

 

I'm a little sketchy about having the line serve the Food Center and Clason's Point. I have it run on Lafayette Av since it serves more heavy residential areas (like the housing projects by Rosedale Av) and more popular places (like Stevenson and Msgr. Scanlan HS's).

 

As for the Melrose MNRR stop, my Morris Avenue stop's entrances would be at Park Av/161st St and Morris Av/161st St.