What was the rationale for making the R local?

[Rtrain4thAv]

Hi, I am Rtrain4thAv and I am new to this forum. I often take the R to work and school and noticed that the R is often local at the places it goes, regardless of line (Queens Blvd., Broadway or 4th Avenue). What and why was the R (Fourth Avenue Local via Tunnel) always local?

[CenSin]

Well, why not? Take a look at the track maps. It makes sense. The local tracks for the is the path of least resistance (like how water always flows down and along the cracks).

 

Also because the was probably intended to be a feeder line primarily.

[Rtrain4thAv]

Was the ever express on the 4th Avenue line? I think so, especially prior to the elimination of the Nassau Street loop.

[Kamen Rider]

4th ave local tracks feed into broadway local tracks feed into Queens blvd local tracks...

[pjbr40]

some trains lines got to do it. look at the line, local all the way from 168 or 145 street to Euclid Ave.   from metropolitan ave to 71 ave. from 242 street to South Ferry. train never have express from Canarise to 8 Ave. Some trains got to take hold of all these passenger to get them thee. 

[Brighton Express]

I have seen the Express a few times on QBL and running over the bridge, I was on one that went Local right after Prince St. But besides GOs and sudden changes in service, the R or RR has always been a Local train.

[Threxx]

Was the ever express on the 4th Avenue line? I think so, especially prior to the elimination of the Nassau Street loop.

 

The was never express on 4th Avenue... why would it? The path it takes just makes it easier for it to be a local. 

[Q43LTD]

Was the ever express on the 4th Avenue line? I think so, especially prior to the elimination of the Nassau Street loop.

It's only express overnights between 59 and 36 northbound

[N4 Via Merrick Rd]

Well I'd say they made local because the started going to Jamaica Center and the fact that they made go via 63rd street.

[RollOver]

The is basically a supplemental route, for the on Queens Blvd and the on Broadway/4th Avenue....

[checkmatechamp13]

I have seen the Express a few times on QBL and running over the bridge, I was on one that went Local right after Prince St. But besides GOs and sudden changes in service, the R or RR has always been a Local train.

 

I saw one that bypassed 8th Street when I was waiting for it, but of course that was just to make up time, not part of the regular service pattern.

 

And at one point, the ran from Pacific to 95th overnight, running express north of 36th Street. (During the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction)

[R32sdabest]

The is the slowest route in NYCT

[CenSin]

The is the slowest route in NYCT

What about the local?

[koolmazin]

The is the slowest route in NYCT

Yea it is though there are wierd times where on 4th ave the can be faster than the and it's wierd.... Like I get off the at 36 st. to take the express and once I get to Atlantic that same train I got out of is there....

[BNQtrain3912]

What about the local?

the j is only slow when it makes those too curves one at bway juntion n the one at cresent

[mtattrain]

the j is only slow when it makes those too curves one at bway juntion n the one at cresent

The ones at Broadway Jct aren't even that bad lol.

[PATCOman]

Yea it is though there are wierd times where on 4th ave the can be faster than the and it's wierd.... Like I get off the at 36 st. to take the express and once I get to Atlantic that same train I got out of is there....

The R is not too slow on that stretch.

[Rtrain4thAv]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the may have been express along 4th Avenue to Pacific Street late nights during the reconstruction of Coney Island in 2002. The was the only train serving Coney Island at the time.

[Far Rock Depot]

Lets also remember that the R wasnt always running at its current route. It use to serve Astoria which made it shorter than it currently is but since it had no direct access to a yard, they switched it with the N. But OT with the thread, some trains-as someone pointed out with the C- has to do the dirty work of scrapin the walls its entire route.

[Brighton Express]

What about the local?

 

What about the local at night? Or the ?

[Snowblock]

They should make EVERY line express! It would be so much faster!

[Roadcruiser1]

They should make EVERY line express! It would be so much faster!

 

But then you would end up with the Washington D.C. Metro.... D:

[CenSin]

What about the local at night? Or the ?

Both the and feel fast (the more because of the rattling). They run on IND trackage which features stations that are spaced farther apart and curves that don't force the train to slow to a crawl.

[Snowblock]

I got news for you - EVERY Sunday night the first n/b trip I make on the goes like this - we come into W4 and get hammered like crazy by everyone running down the ramp at the south end of the station and insisting on squeezing into the first set of doors. And quite often we have a or arriving downstairs so we got people running up the stairs too. It's the worst station stop on the entire line. So then we finally get out of there and come into the 14 St, and it's the same thing again there with that south end staircase, and by the time I'm starting to close the doors, the behind us shows up on the express track and all those a**holes who held my train trying to get on are now holding my doors AGAIN trying to get off so that they can get onto their precious express. But hey, now the can deal with the overcrowding, while my now nearly empty train scoots along to 23, 34, 42 and 50 where most of the pax want the behind me, and then we're in and out of 59CC before that ever has a chance to catch up. And even if they ARE keeping up with me, they're still gonna get blocked by the in the station while I get an unobstructed line up in and out of there. I usually see that same (and I know it's the same one because I recognize the conductor) again at 125, and then again at 145. Except my riders were able to sit between 14-145 instead of being crammed into the "express" train.

[CenSin]

I got news for you - EVERY Sunday night the first n/b trip I make on the goes like this - we come into W4 and get hammered like crazy by everyone running down the ramp at the south end of the station and insisting on squeezing into the first set of doors. And quite often we have a or arriving downstairs so we got people running up the stairs too. It's the worst station stop on the entire line. So then we finally get out of there and come into the 14 St, and it's the same thing again there with that south end staircase, and by the time I'm starting to close the doors, the behind us shows up on the express track and all those a**holes who held my train trying to get on are now holding my doors AGAIN trying to get off so that they can get onto their precious express. But hey, now the can deal with the overcrowding, while my now nearly empty train scoots along to 23, 34, 42 and 50 where most of the pax want the behind me, and then we're in and out of 59CC before that ever has a chance to catch up. And even if they ARE keeping up with me, they're still gonna get blocked by the in the station while I get an unobstructed line up in and out of there. I usually see that same (and I know it's the same one because I recognize the conductor) again at 125, and then again at 145. Except my riders were able to sit between 14-145 instead of being crammed into the "express" train.

And I thought the was horrible. On 7 Avenue, none of us are even human—just meat getting packed into a can.