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IRT/IND Times Square | 1986 Video


mark1447

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WWWWOOOOOOWWWWWWW! Took me back to my kiddie days. The (K) 8th Avenue Local and the R32s with the blue doors. The IRT before Redbird GOH except for that (2) train. I miss the old days and the sounds are what I miss the most. Thanks for sharing!
omg thank god we came so far from that, i was like 4 back than and i remember the subways was scary to me look at that graffiti all over the dam place and no lighting in the subway i am so happy too have what we have today clean as hell
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I couldn't agree more with you on that. The R62/As maybe similair in terms of braking and propulsion, but the R17-36 cars on the (1) and (3) had a lot of variety back then. I think most of the R17/21/22s were still in service during 1986 since there were issues with the R62As, which pushed the retirement date of the R17/21/22s a little further ahead. Even into 1987 there were more then 450 of these cars left in service, but that would change dramatically during that year. Now if this video was shot back in 1983 then everyone watching that video would have the pleasure of seeing R14 and R15 cars still in service on both the (1) and (3) on top of the R17-36 cars. I wonder why after the delivery of all the R62/As cars the (3) went from WH to GE cars?

 

Today its hard to imagine the (1) had anything else besides R62As since it had them since the late 80s.

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OHHHH, that video took me back! So good seeing those old trains again, but I can't believe they had those 1930s-style 42nd ST signs up, or that everybody underneath Port Authority saw this tourist with a camcorder and nobody bothered him. Amazing.

 

That was a completely different time and place. It would be another 15 years before 9/11 would start the paranoia among some you see today.

 

It did amaze me to see many of the older signs still in place at that point, as well as much of the grit that the subway was known for through the late 1980's-early 90's. One thing I wished they had done was film in the underpass at 42/8 where the now-gone lower level was.

 

As far as the R15s: I began riding the subways in New York regularly in 1980 and don't remember EVER riding on one of those (I thought they left the system by 1979 as I can't even remember ever seeing one up close). I do remember riding in the R12s/14s and 17s (and their BMT counterparts, the R16s).

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R12s were retired by 1981. The R14s and R15s were retired by December 10, 1984 with the R62s that were being delivered.

 

Why would the R12's have been retired in 1981. There were no new car deliveries to for IRT service til the R62's came in 1984. Were there excess cars in the fleet? These cars last operated on the #1 train. I recall taking the #1 to school from 1978-1982. It was probably the worst line in the system at that time for car quality.

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THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS :-). Its the first real pre 1990's subway video I've seen thats not part of a movie or something. I loved the way the R-46's looked with the blue stripes...and the R-32's with the blue doors..

 

I too think the R44's and R46's looked much better with the blue stripe - much more distinctive and very clean looking. By the mid-80's I believe the R46's were graffiti free. I can remember some sort of a lemon finish wash for them around that time that really made them shine. Interiors were sparkling as well. Blue stripes were placed above the exterior numbers for E trains cleaned that way with orange stripes for the F trains. I believe the F was exclusively R46 then and the E may have been as well. Other cars still looked like crap until the GOH's kicked in beginning in 1986 for redbirds.

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I too think the R44's and R46's looked much better with the blue stripe - much more distinctive and very clean looking. By the mid-80's I believe the R46's were graffiti free. I can remember some sort of a lemon finish wash for them around that time that really made them shine. Interiors were sparkling as well. Blue stripes were placed above the exterior numbers for E trains cleaned that way with orange stripes for the F trains. I believe the F was exclusively R46 then and the E may have been as well. Other cars still looked like crap until the GOH's kicked in beginning in 1986 for redbirds.

 

from what ive heard and observed from photos, the 70(E) and 70(F) were mostly R44s and R46s, they had Jamaica's R10s and some R46s on the 70(GG) and the 70(N) had the R32s. The 70(RR) appeared to have R32s and R30s.

 

Back then there was more variety it seems, where routes could have 3-4 differnt car types.

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Back then there was more variety it seems, where routes could have 3-4 differnt car types.

 

I agree, I LOVED the variety of rolling stock that was around back then...too bad I wasn't alive to see it lol.

 

Everything in ten years will be R-142/R-160/R-179/R-188 and eventually R-211. ...the only remainders will be the R-62's (which will probably be moved back to the Lexington Ave Lines once the R-188's get here) and the R-68's which probably are going to remain where they are now.

 

From what I've heard the R-188 will be identical to the R-142's...same goes for the R-179's and R-211's in comparison to the R-160's/143's.I understand the more similar cars are the cheaper it will be to maintain them and the system as a whole, but The thought of everything being simply stainless steel, with designs that are IDENTICAL and with destinations signs that are all in red (as opposed to their proper route colors) is depressing.

 

I was so happy to see the new M-8's with the Red Stripes...I was beginning to think paint schemes on transit/commuter rail equipment was going to be a thing of the past.

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