SUBWAY - Random Thoughts Topic

[Lawrence St]

Can someone please tell me why the switches from the local to the express at 34th Street and not at 57th Street?

[GreatOne2k]

Just now, Lawrence St said:

Can someone please tell me why the switches from the local to the express at 34th Street and not at 57th Street?

To serve 49th Street station

[Lawrence St]

6 minutes ago, GreatOne2k said:

To serve 49th Street station

The and can't handle 49th St alone?

[GreatOne2k]

 

13 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

The and can't handle 49th St alone?

49th Street is a very busy station and it helps that both the and  stops there, at least MTA thinks so.

Edited February 2, 2019 by GreatOne2k

[Italianstallion]

On 2/1/2019 at 6:58 AM, LaGuardia Link N Tra said:

Neither did I to be honest. This is the first time I’m hearing about it.

I suspect the MTA is exaggerating this threat. This used to be more of a problem when the Grand Central Parkway was barred to trucks and all semis had to exit the bridge and use Astoria Blvd. to access the BQE. But all trucks are now allowed on the GCP until the BQE, so many fewer trucks use Astoria Blvd. Still, there are local trucks that could have this problem, I guess.

[Lance]

14 hours ago, GreatOne2k said:

49th Street is a very busy station and it helps that both the and  stops there, at least MTA thinks so.

To add on, as one of the closest stations to Times Square outside of the eponymous station, 49 Street ranked at 38th in terms of annual usage in 2017.

[LGA Link N Train]

@Lawrence St @GreatOne2k 

While thinks that the serving 49th Street is beneficial, there is a better solution in my opinion. That is to have the  and both serve 96th Street at an even split of 30 TPH ( 15 15) . Boost service to Astoria. Which could be   8-10 TPH  16-22 TPH. This way, you're getting rid of a nasty merge and you're increasing service on Broadway. The only downside is that Astoria loses their one seat Express, which shouldn't be a big deal

Edited February 2, 2019 by LaGuardia Link N Tra

[Union Tpke]

23 hours ago, GreatOne2k said:

 

49th Street is a very busy station and it helps that both the and  stops there, at least MTA thinks so.

This was studied in the early 2000s, and the MTA found that a lot of the ridership for 49th Street came from Astoria.

[shiznit1987]

On 1/30/2019 at 4:15 PM, LaGuardia Link N Tra said:

This is for anyone who is interested. I’m not an Astoria resident myself, but I have been using the line for a long time if I say so myself. (I used to commute to Astoria Blvd Station myself every Sunday back in 2016 and 2017). I’m glad that they’re making these upgrades!

Real missed opportunity not putting in switches to allow trains to terminate at Astoria Blvd. It's like the MTA is trying to not improve the functionality of the underlying system. 

 

 

 

 

[Union Tpke]

1 hour ago, shiznit1987 said:

Real missed opportunity not putting in switches to allow trains to terminate at Astoria Blvd. It's like the MTA is trying to not improve the functionality of the underlying system. 

 

 

 

 

They have been evaluating their options there.

[Lawrence St]

11 hours ago, shiznit1987 said:

Real missed opportunity not putting in switches to allow trains to terminate at Astoria Blvd. It's like the MTA is trying to not improve the functionality of the underlying system. 

 

 

 

 

Why not at 30th Avenue so that customers still have access to stations south of 30th Avenue?

[shiznit1987]

35 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Why not at 30th Avenue so that customers still have access to stations south of 30th Avenue?

Astoria Blvd is already perfectly set up as a turnaround point. For one, it means everyone except Ditmars gets full service, including 30th Ave. Ditmars is the huge capacity limiter on the line, it barley is able to turn what stops there now, nevermind any service increase. 

[Lance]

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 2:03 PM, MHV9218 said:

That one at Bway Lafayette's been hidden then for ages. Those hanging signs are a lot more common in old Standard than you'd think. Feels like listing them is dooming them, but there are definitely a few dozen at various stations, particularly at the fronts and backs of platforms. Fewer and fewer, but the 8th Ave line in particular has them everywhere. I have a minor list somewhere.

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 5:05 PM, Union Tpke said:

Same. I fear listing some of my favorite signs for this reason.

Stations that haven't received major renovations since the '80s still retain those Standard font signs. As long as they aren't in the way of a new wiring installation or something, those old signs usually stick around. Of course, there are instances where they are left alone even during a rehabilitation project. The northern part of the East 180 Street station with the freestanding signs comes to mind for this one.

 

[MHV9218]

3 minutes ago, Lance said:

Stations that haven't received major renovations since the '80s still retain those Standard font signs. As long as they aren't in the way of a new wiring installation or something, those old signs usually stick around. Of course, there are instances where they are left alone even during a rehabilitation project. The northern part of the East 180 Street station with the freestanding signs comes to mind for this one.

For the most part, but there've been some less obvious replacements in recent years. 2nd Ave lost almost all of its overhead Standard signs, Parsons just lost its Standard pillar signs, same with 135th, 145th a couple years before, Rector on the R and a bunch of elevated F train stations lost their wall-mounted Standard signs, Cypress Ave lost its pillar signs (those were a hand-cut Helvetica-Standard hybrid), etc. And then you've got your redundant replacements of Helvetica signs, like at 14th St. (7th Ave.) and West 4th. 

[Around the Horn]

I saw this in a Facebook group and I thought it was cool

"R142 Designers Masamichi Udagawa & Sigi Moeslinger (Antenna Design) With the 1st production 142A model at Kawasaki."

I've always loved the design of the front of the R142A (its what first got me interested in the design of subway cars), so its cool to see that there was some sort of photoshoot with the designers and the finished product.

[Around the Horn]

1 hour ago, MHV9218 said:

For the most part, but there've been some less obvious replacements in recent years. 2nd Ave lost almost all of its overhead Standard signs, Parsons just lost its Standard pillar signs, same with 135th, 145th a couple years before, Rector on the R and a bunch of elevated F train stations lost their wall-mounted Standard signs, Cypress Ave lost its pillar signs (those were a hand-cut Helvetica-Standard hybrid), etc. And then you've got your redundant replacements of Helvetica signs, like at 14th St. (7th Ave.) and West 4th. 

Is it just me or are the new replacement signs matte? I notice they don't have that same sheen as the older ones.

[NoHacksJustKhaks]

10 minutes ago, Around the Horn said:

I saw this in a Facebook group and I thought it was cool I've always loved the design of the front of the R142A (its what first got me interested in the design of subway cars), so its cool to see that there was some sort of photoshoot with the designers and the finished product.

1

I got into subway car design from the R142/R142A as well! Nice to see the train when it was brand new for sure.

[Around the Horn]

16 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

I got into subway car design from the R142/R142A as well! Nice to see the train when it was brand new for sure.

There's another cool photo (in East 180th St shop for the introductory press conference I believe...) of 7211-7220 signed up for the and the train is literally spotless. That's the photo that really got me into those cars.

[Porter]

Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have a full house at the Fulton Center. It almost gives Times Square a run for its money if you consider that a third of these lines are doubled up!

(thanks Tomasz Bykowski)

By the way, if anyone is in the area, could you please tell me whether the southwest portion of 3WTC (where the lobby connects to the mall concourse) has opened yet? It's damned cold!

Edited February 3, 2019 by Porter

[MHV9218]

4 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

Is it just me or are the new replacement signs matte? I notice they don't have that same sheen as the older ones.

Almost all of the replacements are metal with a gloss protection instead of porcelain enamel, which carried that sheen. It looks worse and won't last for even remotely as long, but that's the MTA for you--take down what's not broken and then replace it with something lower quality!

[Q Broadway Express]

On 2/2/2019 at 9:33 AM, Lance said:

To add on, as one of the closest stations to Times Square outside of the eponymous station, 49 Street ranked at 38th in terms of annual usage in 2017.

Also, 49th Street serves Rockerfeller Center.

[Enjineer]

12 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

There's another cool photo (in East 180th St shop for the introductory press conference I believe...) of 7211-7220 signed up for the and the train is literally spotless.

Got a link somewhere? Or something to look up that might help one find it? 

[bobtehpanda]

On 2/2/2019 at 5:17 PM, Union Tpke said:

This was studied in the early 2000s, and the MTA found that a lot of the ridership for 49th Street came from Astoria.

Then you can run all the locals to Astoria and call it a day. I can't imagine the demand for 49th from 96th is crazy.

[RR503]

3 hours ago, bobtehpanda said:

Then you can run all the locals to Astoria and call it a day. I can't imagine the demand for 49th from 96th is crazy.

...nor is 49th currently served directly from 96.

[Lawrence St]

When the was running to Astoria, did it stop at 49th St or no?