SUBWAY - Random Thoughts Topic

[Lawrence St]

43 minutes ago, Tonyboy515 said:

I headed to Midtown on the  on Wednesday and nearly all of the trains I saw on the  and even  on Broadway (I saw ~12 total trains) were R160 (and of course, none on the )... I still don't understand what happened to sharing R160s with the  like there was before circa December 2020 (with the  sharing a pool) because living along the Brighton line, I see none at all (except for maybe one during the AM rush, but even that technically didn't come from a real  due to rush-hour put-ins, if that makes sense), just almost entirely R46s with a few R68/As sprinkled in.

Because Astoria residents kept complaining that the R46's were displaying the wrong route information between the and so they try to keep all the 160's on the .

[vioreen]

The R46 use to have a master control similar to the NTT, why was it changed ? and why is that blue stripe removed from the R46?

[4 via Mosholu]

2 hours ago, vioreen said:

The R46 use to have a master control similar to the NTT, why was it changed ? and why is that blue stripe removed from the R46?

Like the 44, the 46 got a pneumatic brake system that was not tested before; they switched the controller to the Cineston controller which let motormen use their wrench by the side of the controller box, and the brake system was updated to the NYAB NewTran SMEE braking system. As far as the blue stripe goes, it was prone to getting hit by graffiti during the worst years of the corporate era, so they removed it completely during the General Overhaul Program.

[Calvin]

5 hours ago, Tonyboy515 said:

I headed to Midtown on the  on Wednesday and nearly all of the trains I saw on the  and even  on Broadway (I saw ~12 total trains) were R160 (and of course, none on the )... I still don't understand what happened to sharing R160s with the  like there was before circa December 2020 (with the  sharing a pool) because living along the Brighton line, I see none at all (except for maybe one during the AM rush, but even that technically didn't come from a real  due to rush-hour put-ins, if that makes sense), just almost entirely R46s with a few R68/As sprinkled in.

Besides that AM rush tripper that's a R160 from the  . Sometimes, during the weekdays: PM, you can still see a  using a R160 Manhattan bound to 96 St, (between Canal St and the Second Av line) only to run via the  line from the Coney Island terminal via 4 Avenue. 

The TA on the Astoria line tries to keep all the R160s running on the  (maybe 1 for lay-up during the weekend) so that the R46s aren't used a lot. 

 

Going to the using the leftover R160s, the TA finds it best to keep the remaining R160s that are currently Alstom propulsion running on the Astoria line as mentioned, rollsign changes, or an being a   and multiple terminals during the weekday. Also, the  has a lot of route patterns on the line: example: Local in Brooklyn, Express in Manhattan, Broadway Express etc. Versus the  being all R46, having its own Second Av line: the route has from A to B (just 1 last stop each). All that takes is a code displaying "96 St/2 Av" and "Coney Island".  

Edited April 5, 2021 by Calvin

[VIP]

19 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Because Astoria residents kept complaining that the R46's were displaying the wrong route information between the and so they try to keep all the 160's on the .

They don’t try, they do it. The R160’s out of Coney Island yard are a mainstay on the  Astoria residents have nothing to do with the R160’s being back on the line. It’s for maintenance reasons such as mileage and barn servicing. They knew the R160’s were going to be heavily utilized due to failures of the R46 equipment. To keep track of mileage, and various other wear and tear they felt it was best to keep them on one of their longest line which is the  ; sign changes during the week with the  running played a role in assigning the R160’s to the  and it’s easier for Ditmars dispatchers to send out trains to keep service intervals on or close to schedule.

[VIP]

15 hours ago, Calvin said:

Besides that AM rush tripper that's a R160 from the  . Sometimes, during the weekdays: PM, you can still see a  using a R160 Manhattan bound to 96 St, (between Canal St and the Second Av line) only to run via the  line from the Coney Island terminal via 4 Avenue. 

The TA on the Astoria line tries to keep all the R160s running on the  (maybe 1 for lay-up during the weekend) so that the R46s aren't used a lot. 

 

Going to the using the leftover R160s, the TA finds it best to keep the remaining R160s that are currently Alstom propulsion running on the Astoria line as mentioned, rollsign changes, or an being a   and multiple terminals during the weekday. Also, the  has a lot of route patterns on the line: example: Local in Brooklyn, Express in Manhattan, Broadway Express etc. Versus the  being all R46, having its own Second Av line: the route has from A to B (just 1 last stop each). All that takes is a code displaying "96 St/2 Av" and "Coney Island".  

They need to start using the spare R160’s from the  that’s stored in Avenue X yard for a few trips or weekends on the  

[NewFlyer 230]

2 hours ago, VIP said:

They need to start using the spare R160’s from the  that’s stored in Avenue X yard for a few trips or weekends on the  

Being someone who uses the  I don’t think it’s much of an issue as of right now that service isn’t restored back to normal. The  does also provide Queens Blvd/6th Ave service for anyone who doesn’t mind spending a few extra minutes on the local. Subway ridership still continues to lag way behind bus ridership and will probably remain like that until all students return back to school which is rumored to happen in the fall time. So until then I suppose it doesn’t hurt to have some of Jamaica’s R160’s help out at CI Yard. 
 

[Lawrence St]

What is Avenue X yard???

[VIP]

14 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

What is Avenue X yard???

The section of Coney Island yard Thats closest to Avenue X. 

[Lawrence St]

37 minutes ago, VIP said:

The section of Coney Island yard Thats closest to Avenue X. 

So Coney Island yard...

[R10 2952]

On 4/3/2021 at 5:03 PM, Lawrence St said:

It was low before yes, but it has grown considerably that a platform / car extension shouldn't be to hard to do. 

Perhaps returning the franklin shuttle to 10 cars and booting the off Brighton and having the be the sole express could fix the loading and interlining problems that line has. Sure, Brighton Local riders lose direct access to Manhattan but at least the loads will balance themselves out on the .

Or, they could tie in Franklin Shuttle to Crosstown, have the run from Coney Island to 21st St, then connecting it with the at 63rd St to Whitehall St.

The original plan for the Crosstown Line way back was to have it tie in with the Franklin Ave Line in the south and the Astoria Line in the north.  Would've honestly made more sense than the current routing, if you ask me.  But it was proposed as an el instead of a tunnel, and at a time when Mayor Hylan was trying to tighten the screws against the BMT, so that's why we're stuck with the  we have today.

[darkstar8983]

9 hours ago, VIP said:

They need to start using the spare R160’s from the  that’s stored in Avenue X yard for a few trips or weekends on the  

I've been suggesting this forever, but now that the  is coming back online in May, it is nothing but a pipe dream (maybe 9923-9942 will be transferred soon, because for MONTHS, those cars have been running only with each other, as if they are just WAITING to be transferred). And HAD they released the spare R160s from Avenue X Yard (about 15 trains or so), they just would have ran those on the  too. In fact, it happened some time near Christmas Eve, when about 80 R160s had to be loaned to the  because the R46s were just dropping like flies. And a bunch of R68As had to run too. I think that day, only about 8 R46s were in service on the /  and everything else was 8 R68s and 17 R160s. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by darkstar8983

[darkstar8983]

On 4/4/2021 at 8:59 AM, CenSin said:

Riding it this weekend, it seems most of the are NTTs once again. I’ve seen a few R46s, but I’ve boarded trains at random times and it’s been a consecutive string of NTTs.

How many R160s would you have said ran on the  (if it was more than nine, then there was a loan from Jamaica / Avenue X Yards). And to answer the consecutive strings comment, it must have been luck of the draw, because typically, the 160s are pretty spread out to make sure there isn't much of the consecutive string of NTT trains, which then makes it impossible to keep them running after service dwindles down, forcing the R46s to keep running overnight and the R160s getting pulled overnight. 

[trainfan22]

I remember hearing that on lines that use multiple car classes, they *try* to keep each car class in bunches so in the event that one broke down, it would be easier to hook up the two trains due to having the same couplers or something like that.

 

 

I read this YEARS ago on another forum, so I might have gotten a detail or two wrong. But I do remember reading something like that.

[Jacob]

7 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

So Coney Island yard...

I t ' s n o t t e c h n i c a l l y a w h o l e c o n e y I s l a n d y a r d 

 

It's just a storage yard for the  and other work trains that sits there in that yard.

[Jacob]

On 4/4/2021 at 8:59 AM, CenSin said:

Riding it this weekend, it seems most of the are NTTs once again. I’ve seen a few R46s, but I’ve boarded trains at random times and it’s been a consecutive string of NTTs.

 trains pretty much dominates the R160s on CIY especially  trains on weekdays.

 

[Calvin]

Speaking of multiple car classes, I wonder how the  line was back when it was mainly R32s, R42s, R143s and R160s. I remember the  being 1/2 R32s and R160s at that time. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by Calvin

[Around the Horn]

9 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

So Coney Island yard...

It's considered separate from the rest of the facility

[Jacob]

8 hours ago, Calvin said:

Speaking of multiple car classes, I wonder how the  line was back when it was mainly R32s, R42s, R143s and R160s. I remember the  being 1/2 R32s and R160s at that time. 

I like the  and  running with 2 SMEE's and 2 NTTs, Back then riding a R160  was a awesome experience for me. 

[Lex]

Are Fuji door motors supposed to make some sort of creaking/squealing sound? If not (and I really don't expect them to), 8833 needs to be checked.

[MeeP15-9112]

Some of the Alston 160s have a door motor squeaking sound as well - dunno if its related. Its something I’ve occasionally heard in the last 4-ish years

[TrainRider Railfan]

On 4/3/2021 at 6:50 PM, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

Ridership on the Franklin Av Shuttle is low compared to the rest of the system. And I believe one of the two platforms at the old Franklin Av stop were already disused, before it was renovated. The MTA did consider sacking the line entirely since it was considered decrepit, and incredibly costly to renovate. Many problems persisted too, it had huge amounts of fare-beating at the time which was part of why Dean Street closed.

The MTA’s main goal with fixing the line was to cut the waste (including removing unused platforms or extra track) that were not needed, and to remove that awful paper transfer that allowed farebeating between Franklin Av and the Fulton line. I can only guess that all else was noise to the agency.

And they tore down some of the last Fulton El remnants and built a new bridge over Fulton? I’m not saying to keep unnecessary tracks and platforms but tearing things down but they intentionally destroyed history when it really wasn’t necessary.

[Deucey]

38 minutes ago, TrainRider Railfan said:

And they tore down some of the last Fulton El remnants and built a new bridge over Fulton? I’m not saying to keep unnecessary tracks and platforms but tearing things down but they intentionally destroyed history when it really wasn’t necessary.

It wasn’t structurally necessary to keep track stable - like other disused el trackways, so why keep it and have to maintain it?

[trainfan22]

Today an R179 ran on one of the Rock Park specials, first time I seen that since the R160s left the

[Maxwell179]

At 9th St waiting for a  train , heard about 3 or 4 Siemens R160’s on the  line and caught a R160B on the