LTA1992 Posted January 5, 2014 Share #26 Posted January 5, 2014 Back in 2001. The first time I rode an R142 and R143 and the last time I rode a Redbird just happened to be on the same day. My mother took me and my siblings (weekend visit with her) up to the Bronx to see our first Foster Mother and she (my mom) lived by the . I've been into trains my entire life so when the R143 pulled in, she said to me, "Look papi, it's a new train." Telling me they were on the numbered lines too. Naturally, I got excited because it looked so different from what I was used to seeing. We took it to Union Sq and caught the (R142) to 3rd Avenue-149th Street. Coming back, I told my mother that I wished I could ride the red trains one more time. She said "Alright, but if a comes and it's new, we're taking it." Right after she said that, a Redbird train pulled into the station. I can tell you that I was hella excited. I remember how cool they looked back then, the NTTs. Now, they just seem run of the mill. Here's hoping the R211 shakes things up. Did I mention that on the TOMC trip on the Grand Central Shuttle, I accomplished something I never had a chance to do? Grab the metal grab bars/ Metal Straps and I stood up most of that trip as I reminisced. Lastly, 1998. One evening after having our weekly visits with our parents, me, my siblings and my foster mother were waiting at Kingston-Throop Avenues for a train. An train blew by the station Manhattan-bound, but it wasn't the usual type of train I'd see (R44). It had a black face and bright lights on the side. When it exited the station, I asked my foster mother (at the time) what it was and she said she didn't know. Just under a decade later, I find out it was the R131 aka R110B. The first thing I said was "That's what train that was!". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsunflyguy Posted January 5, 2014 Share #27 Posted January 5, 2014 Catching an R110 on the . Standing in the open cab door of an R44 on the flats. Holding the door handle at the RFW of an R32 on the pretending it was the brake handle. Back when trains really flew getting an R32 coming into Nostrand ave at 45 and accelerating. Watching Hoyt, the NYCTM and WTC towers in action. Any run through the tubes at the RFW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollOver Posted January 5, 2014 Share #28 Posted January 5, 2014 My favorite memory was when I finally got off the school bus and started railfanning regularly in the subway system. My favorite memory was also when I first rode the R32s and R42s, my favorite cars in the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjbr40 Posted January 6, 2014 Share #29 Posted January 6, 2014 When the was running along the West End line with R40 and slant. tons of rfw. Also a guy who was a moron for sitting in between my legs as a kid while side fanning on r32. I also enjoy riding the r46 on the with blue stripe. I also like seeing the breezing thru along sixth Ave. Also like rail fanning while the had to make detour to go thiu Chrystie street and backtrack along the to Montague street tunnel on weekends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeLow Posted January 6, 2014 Share #30 Posted January 6, 2014 One of many memories was around 40 sum years ago when the 10 car had to ride on the Bklyn bound (purple) tracks past Bway-Laf then go up along the 8 car (Black) (Aqua Blue) to Essex St, park on the middle track (Track J3 was still around back then), then reverse back the way it came, entering Bway-Laf on the uptown then resume its regular route after W4th. I got a real kick out of the expression on people's faces standing on the platform at Essex. Conductor never opened the doors. I was manning the window at the front of the first car. The T/O aired out, walked down the length of the train and charged up. Of course the last car was out of the station and in the dark tunnel. The reroute lasted only an hour or two. Can't recall the reason. Wonder why Control didn't kick em back at 2nd Ave instead of going along BJ1 up to Delancey? *shrug* Boy, what a thrill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamaica Line Posted January 6, 2014 Share #31 Posted January 6, 2014 A ride on an R40M on the E express some years back. Had to of been before they added more timers on the QBE. T/O had that thing flying. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quill Depot Posted January 6, 2014 Share #32 Posted January 6, 2014 First ride from 125th to 86th on the Lex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreechyFlange Posted January 7, 2014 Share #33 Posted January 7, 2014 All jokes aside though it's not necessarily a "subway" memory, but years ago when I was in middle school I had my uniform on which consisted of dark navy blue pants, a baby blue polo, and black hoots my uncle let me put on his vest told me I looked like a rookie C/R. After that he brought down a crap load of his books and train manuals, I'll never forget that day. He's a retired motorman BTW and the last line he worked was the I really need to visit him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainmaster5 Posted January 7, 2014 Share #34 Posted January 7, 2014 Most of my good memories involve the BMT lines. The Franklin Ave to Coney Island runs on sunny Sunday afternoons back in the '50's. Today's Franklin shuttle is all that's left. Boarding a BMT Fulton train at Hinsdale St with my mom and brother and riding it to Rockaway Avenue for the transfer downstairs. Riding the between Broadway- Myrtle and Central Ave just to cross the switches at that location looking out the RFW. Waiting at Chambers St on the uptown side watching the overhead sign light up saying "Via Manhattan Bridge" instead of the usual " Via Williamsburg Bridge", meaning the Banker's Special was arriving and I'd get the rare chance to ride a train utilizing the southern tracks on the bridge. This was before the 6th Avenue Chrystie connection was made and BMT Broadway trains used the northern bridge tracks. Riding the NX, TT, MJ, Culver shuttle, and the Jamaica line (to 168th St) always at the RFW. Wish I had a movie camera back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeLow Posted January 7, 2014 Share #35 Posted January 7, 2014 Waiting at Chambers St on the uptown side watching the overhead sign light up saying "Via Manhattan Bridge" instead of the usual " Via Williamsburg Bridge", meaning the Banker's Special was arriving and I'd get the rare chance to ride a train utilizing the southern tracks on the bridge. This was before the 6th Avenue Chrystie connection was made and BMT Broadway trains used the northern bridge tracks. Riding the NX, TT, MJ, Culver shuttle, and the Jamaica line (to 168th St) always at the RFW. Wish I had a movie camera back then. I began railing about 6 months before the Chrystie St Connection went into effect but I spent most of my time on the IND. The (Aqua Blue) to Mott Ave and the Aquaduct Special ( on the front with on the window roll signs leaving from the 42nd St LL) rolling non stop through Brooklyn had me by the neck. I never got a chance to catch that or ride that BMT train across the southern Manny B tracks via the Loop at Chambers. I might've caught the RR once going by tunnel. Chambers was such an unusual station! Trains would come in from one end and disappear out the other never to be seen again. The middle tracks always confused me. How did those trains get there? Where did they go once they left? To the mind of an 11 year old this was fascinating magic! I was never able to catch the NX before it was cut or ride any train as express on the Sea Beach. The MJ was old and noisy and swayed too much. I used it to get the at Jay St after I came home from school to do my homework then rushed right out with 3 dimes burning a hole in my pocket; 2 for the fare and a dime to buy some Chicklets from the vending machine! Thanks for bringing back these hidden memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted January 8, 2014 Share #36 Posted January 8, 2014 Riding an R-9 on the J and going to 168th street Jamaica Ave. RIding a Slant R-40 on the A train back in the early mid 1980s Pacific Street to 36th street with no timers 59th street to 36th street with no timers and no B train crossing in front of you.Man those R-32s were fast. Brighton Express with R-40Ms going 55MPH and bouncing up and down on the stick rail. The FAAAAAAAAST R-46 with P wire express from Union Tpke to Parsons Blvd. It felt like we were doing nearly 60MPH going past Sutphin Blvd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreechyFlange Posted January 8, 2014 Share #37 Posted January 8, 2014 Riding an R-9 on the J and going to 168th street Jamaica Ave. RIding a Slant R-40 on the A train back in the early mid 1980s Pacific Street to 36th street with no timers 59th street to 36th street with no timers and no B train crossing in front of you.Man those R-32s were fast. Brighton Express with R-40Ms going 55MPH and bouncing up and down on the stick rail. The FAAAAAAAAST R-46 with P wire express from Union Tpke to Parsons Blvd. It felt like we were doing nearly 60MPH going past Sutphin Blvd What's a P wire? I wish I could've experienced those rides when the SMEE's were king, now they're not even a shadow of their former selves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Union Tpke Posted January 8, 2014 Share #38 Posted January 8, 2014 Most of my good memories involve the BMT lines. The Franklin Ave to Coney Island runs on sunny Sunday afternoons back in the '50's. Today's Franklin shuttle is all that's left. Boarding a BMT Fulton train at Hinsdale St with my mom and brother and riding it to Rockaway Avenue for the transfer downstairs. Riding the between Broadway- Myrtle and Central Ave just to cross the switches at that location looking out the RFW. Waiting at Chambers St on the uptown side watching the overhead sign light up saying "Via Manhattan Bridge" instead of the usual " Via Williamsburg Bridge", meaning the Banker's Special was arriving and I'd get the rare chance to ride a train utilizing the southern tracks on the bridge. This was before the 6th Avenue Chrystie connection was made and BMT Broadway trains used the northern bridge tracks. Riding the NX, TT, MJ, Culver shuttle, and the Jamaica line (to 168th St) always at the RFW. Wish I had a movie camera back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trainmaster5 Posted January 9, 2014 Share #39 Posted January 9, 2014 That's my sign !!! I'll bet that there were many railfans who wondered what sign I was speaking about. FWIW there were a few other locations with signs like this one. IIRC Pacific St n/b had a similar setup. I know that 8th Avenue on the had a sign that read Canarsie or Lefferts depending on the destination. I never saw that one in operation but the sign was still there in the late '80's early '90's era. I happened to catch a ride with a T/O I had broken in on the IRT one night at 8th Avenue and I saw the sign was still there before the rehab.I've always wondered if that type of signage was limited to the BMT lines because I can't recall seeing electronic signs on the IRT or IND except for those at Atlantic Ave on the IRT express tracks. Those were used by the dispatchers there to denote "next train" or distinguish Brooklyn-bound or Manhattan-bound. Nice catch, Union Tpke. I use that site to check out old stations and switches that interest me like Sands St/ Park Row on the BMT or the Franklin Ave connection with the Brighton line and the Fulton St el. I had a motor instructor from school car 30 years ago and he and I used to look for pictures or structural remnants of lines that were demolished or never completed in the system. Things like the IND Second system at Utica Ave on the . When he found out that I had a provisional job as a RR Porter (today's Cleaner TA) back in the late '60's, when he started at Transit, we used to compare notes on our finds. The clincher was when I told him that I'd had a bus/subway pass since 1960 and that I had been to every station in the system . Between him and the last Trainmaster in the system, as well as a man who became a Supt of schoolcar I was rabbi'ed up for my whole career. Between a T/M and a "lowly" porter we had (have) the keys to the system, even behind the closed doors. I've been up the stairs at 18th St on the under Union Square Park and on the platform at the old Myrtle Avenue station n/b as well as the old tower location at 142nd St Lenox Junction that most T/Os and TSS' don't even see, even though it's in plain sight. The T/M showed me that one. Next time you're on a n/b or leaving 135th St look closely at the wall where the n/b Lenox and s/b WP tracks meet. That triangular corner with the slits in the walls was the tower. Funny thing is I never considered myself a "railfanner" or buff. I thought of myself as an "explorer" because I also checked out the neighborhoods above ground, too. A bus/subway pass in a school kid's hands was like a treasure map to me. Enjoy yourselves folks and explore while these things are still around. Sorry for the long post. Carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtehpanda Posted January 9, 2014 Share #40 Posted January 9, 2014 That's my sign !!! I'll bet that there were many railfans who wondered what sign I was speaking about. FWIW there were a few other locations with signs like this one. IIRC Pacific St n/b had a similar setup. I know that 8th Avenue on the had a sign that read Canarsie or Lefferts depending on the destination. I never saw that one in operation but the sign was still there in the late '80's early '90's era. I happened to catch a ride with a T/O I had broken in on the IRT one night at 8th Avenue and I saw the sign was still there before the rehab.I've always wondered if that type of signage was limited to the BMT lines because I can't recall seeing electronic signs on the IRT or IND except for those at Atlantic Ave on the IRT express tracks. Those were used by the dispatchers there to denote "next train" or distinguish Brooklyn-bound or Manhattan-bound. Nice catch, Union Tpke. I use that site to check out old stations and switches that interest me like Sands St/ Park Row on the BMT or the Franklin Ave connection with the Brighton line and the Fulton St el. I had a motor instructor from school car 30 years ago and he and I used to look for pictures or structural remnants of lines that were demolished or never completed in the system. Things like the IND Second system at Utica Ave on the . When he found out that I had a provisional job as a RR Porter (today's Cleaner TA) back in the late '60's, when he started at Transit, we used to compare notes on our finds. The clincher was when I told him that I'd had a bus/subway pass since 1960 and that I had been to every station in the system . Between him and the last Trainmaster in the system, as well as a man who became a Supt of schoolcar I was rabbi'ed up for my whole career. Between a T/M and a "lowly" porter we had (have) the keys to the system, even behind the closed doors. I've been up the stairs at 18th St on the under Union Square Park and on the platform at the old Myrtle Avenue station n/b as well as the old tower location at 142nd St Lenox Junction that most T/Os and TSS' don't even see, even though it's in plain sight. The T/M showed me that one. Next time you're on a n/b or leaving 135th St look closely at the wall where the n/b Lenox and s/b WP tracks meet. That triangular corner with the slits in the walls was the tower. Funny thing is I never considered myself a "railfanner" or buff. I thought of myself as an "explorer" because I also checked out the neighborhoods above ground, too. A bus/subway pass in a school kid's hands was like a treasure map to me. Enjoy yourselves folks and explore while these things are still around. Sorry for the long post. Carry on. I remember seeing a sign like the ones you're describing at the Times Square platform a few years back, still working. It could light up the words "express", "local", and "next train", but when I went there just the other day the signs were replaced by the newer ones that they'll be using for CBTC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Train Master Posted January 9, 2014 Share #41 Posted January 9, 2014 What's a P wire? The original R-46 console http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?62416 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsunflyguy Posted January 9, 2014 Share #42 Posted January 9, 2014 The could use the Identra system to control the boards, how did the BMT signs determine what the next train would be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4th Ave Local Posted January 9, 2014 Share #43 Posted January 9, 2014 Riding the RJ, T, TT trains in the late '60s early '70s on 4th ave in bklyn. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Union Tpke Posted January 9, 2014 Share #44 Posted January 9, 2014 That's my sign !!! I'll bet that there were many railfans who wondered what sign I was speaking about. FWIW there were a few other locations with signs like this one. IIRC Pacific St n/b had a similar setup. I know that 8th Avenue on the had a sign that read Canarsie or Lefferts depending on the destination. I never saw that one in operation but the sign was still there in the late '80's early '90's era. I happened to catch a ride with a T/O I had broken in on the IRT one night at 8th Avenue and I saw the sign was still there before the rehab.I've always wondered if that type of signage was limited to the BMT lines because I can't recall seeing electronic signs on the IRT or IND except for those at Atlantic Ave on the IRT express tracks. Those were used by the dispatchers there to denote "next train" or distinguish Brooklyn-bound or Manhattan-bound. Nice catch, Union Tpke. I use that site to check out old stations and switches that interest me like Sands St/ Park Row on the BMT or the Franklin Ave connection with the Brighton line and the Fulton St el. I had a motor instructor from school car 30 years ago and he and I used to look for pictures or structural remnants of lines that were demolished or never completed in the system. Things like the IND Second system at Utica Ave on the . When he found out that I had a provisional job as a RR Porter (today's Cleaner TA) back in the late '60's, when he started at Transit, we used to compare notes on our finds. The clincher was when I told him that I'd had a bus/subway pass since 1960 and that I had been to every station in the system . Between him and the last Trainmaster in the system, as well as a man who became a Supt of schoolcar I was rabbi'ed up for my whole career. Between a T/M and a "lowly" porter we had (have) the keys to the system, even behind the closed doors. I've been up the stairs at 18th St on the under Union Square Park and on the platform at the old Myrtle Avenue station n/b as well as the old tower location at 142nd St Lenox Junction that most T/Os and TSS' don't even see, even though it's in plain sight. The T/M showed me that one. Next time you're on a n/b or leaving 135th St look closely at the wall where the n/b Lenox and s/b WP tracks meet. That triangular corner with the slits in the walls was the tower. Funny thing is I never considered myself a "railfanner" or buff. I thought of myself as an "explorer" because I also checked out the neighborhoods above ground, too. A bus/subway pass in a school kid's hands was like a treasure map to me. Enjoy yourselves folks and explore while these things are still around. Sorry for the long post. Carry on. Thanks, I remembered seeing that picture, and then when I read your post I new what you meant instantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R62A 1991 Posted January 10, 2014 Share #45 Posted January 10, 2014 9-car R62As on the in the '90s with RFWs on both ends. Loved the run through Brooklyn as a kid, especially along Livonia without the timers at Rockaway and Junius. Then I remember the first time I took it up the express in Manhattan. We blasted through 42nd to 72nd. Was worth the long wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Union Tpke Posted January 10, 2014 Share #46 Posted January 10, 2014 9-car R62As on the in the '90s with RFWs on both ends. Loved the run through Brooklyn as a kid, especially along Livonia without the timers at Rockaway and Junius. Then I remember the first time I took it up the express in Manhattan. We blasted through 42nd to 72nd. Was worth the long wait. Why were they 9 cars? Did they stop at the 10 car marker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsunflyguy Posted January 10, 2014 Share #47 Posted January 10, 2014 I can't speak to why, but having ridden between 04-08 the line there was a specific '9' car marker at least on the Livonia IRT line (it was just a '6' turned upside down). Some stations even retain the '5' car marker, presumably from the days when 10 car trains would be cut in half to serve New Lots and Flatbush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacemak3r Posted January 10, 2014 Share #48 Posted January 10, 2014 I'm certain there are still a few '9' car markers around the lines. Correct me if I'm mistaken but I think Atlantic Avenue on the Manhattan bound side still has a '9' marker there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric B Posted January 11, 2014 Share #49 Posted January 11, 2014 They were 9 cars because most tracks in Lenox yard could only hold 9. They somehow shifted things around to allow it to become 10 cars; I imagine by storing more of them at Livonia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PATCOman Posted January 11, 2014 Share #50 Posted January 11, 2014 There is a 7 car marker at Nassau Avenue northbound on the G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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