Fleet Swap Discussion Thread

[Union Tpke]

6 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

That ship sailed as soon as the government failed to pass recurring stimulus checks or hazard pay for essential workers. The financial reality for many people (including railfans that I know personally) is that they have to be out there working and earning money so might as well do some fanning while they're at it.

I would imagine that criticism of the government for putting us in this position was the point, especially when it takes minimal effort to go on social media and see what measures other countries (especially South Korea) are doing to encourage quarantining, especially early on in the pandemic to crush the virus. Meanwhile at least a third of our country thinks its all hoax and if the government here to were to propose the same effective measures, it would be derided as socialism.

Concerning the first point, if you have no other choice but to make a living, I get it. But for those people here who have the luxury of working from home, or are young enough not to need a job, they should not be riding the train.

[Bill from Maspeth]

14 hours ago, happy283 said:

More likely to send more Jamaica R160s to pitkin then R160s from ENY to try and reduce the usage of the R32.

How can the usage of R32's be reduced while at the same time you propose ".....then R160's from ENY..."?

[happy283]

1 hour ago, Bill from Maspeth said:

How can the usage of R32's be reduced while at the same time you propose ".....then R160's from ENY..."?

You misunderstood. I said there are more likely to send more Jamaica R160s to Pitkin/207 instead of ENY R160s to Pitkin/207.

[Bill from Maspeth]

1 hour ago, happy283 said:

You misunderstood. I said there are more likely to send more Jamaica R160s to Pitkin/207 instead of ENY R160s to Pitkin/207.

I got you...….sorry...……..brain fart.

[trainfan22]

If anybody cares, as of a few hours ago that one set of R32s was still at Canarsie Yard along with the two sets of R179s that have been there for a while now.

[happy283]

Whats going on with the R160s on the ? Alot of the sets originally transferred to Pitkin have since been sent back to Jamaica. Have they been replaced with other R160s?

[irongirl6128]

On 6/28/2020 at 8:31 PM, trainfan22 said:

The city is pretty much back to normal, many stores are reopen, restaurants have outdoor dining, beaches are officially reopening in a couple of days. Even then, CI beach was busy the two times I went there this season.

 

I agree with you that they shouldn't crowd the first car, the RFW is roped off  but I have a feeling buffs will crowd the first car anyway. Also I assume multiple sets will be in service at the same time so that should help a bit.

I wouldn't say we are back to normal but it is slowly getting there. 

 

Foamers will be like "tHe R32s aRe HeRe tO sTaY" "yAy fOr tHe R32s!" 

[RailBus63]

There is no reason for railfans to be rushing to the J/Z in the middle of a pandemic if the R32's come back - you've had since 2013 to get in all your RFW rides and take pictures and video of the 32's on these lines.  Respect the transit workers who are trying to do their jobs and stay healthy. Hopefully we can come out of this sooner rather than later and you can get your last R32 ride in during a proper farewell run.

[Trainmaster5]

1 hour ago, RailBus63 said:

There is no reason for railfans to be rushing to the J/Z in the middle of a pandemic if the R32's come back - you've had since 2013 to get in all your RFW rides and take pictures and video of the 32's on these lines.  Respect the transit workers who are trying to do their jobs and stay healthy. Hopefully we can come out of this sooner rather than later and you can get your last R32 ride in during a proper farewell run.

Perfectly put. It's too bad that the selfish and stupid folks will ignore you. Carry on. 

[trainfan22]

4 hours ago, irongirl6128 said:

 

 

Foamers will be like "tHe R32s aRe HeRe tO sTaY" "yAy fOr tHe R32s!" 

LOL

1 hour ago, RailBus63 said:

There is no reason for railfans to be rushing to the J/Z in the middle of a pandemic if the R32's come back - you've had since 2013 to get in all your RFW rides and take pictures and video of the 32's on these lines.  Respect the transit workers who are trying to do their jobs and stay healthy. Hopefully we can come out of this sooner rather than later and you can get your last R32 ride in during a proper farewell run.

There's also videos on YouTube fliming the line from end to end in both directions from the RFW.

[Jemorie]

2 hours ago, RailBus63 said:

There is no reason for railfans to be rushing to the J/Z in the middle of a pandemic if the R32's come back - you've had since 2013 to get in all your RFW rides and take pictures and video of the 32's on these lines.  Respect the transit workers who are trying to do their jobs and stay healthy. Hopefully we can come out of this sooner rather than later and you can get your last R32 ride in during a proper farewell run.

You should have seen the madness that occurred when the R42s temporarily went back into service back in January when all R179s were pulled from the rails, particularly during the very first day.

They even stayed at the last car at Broad Street as the train proceeded into the relay so that they could hog the RFW with their cameras recording. Acting like they never ever once did recorded an RFW from end to end in both directions on the  before or some shit. Like seriously and it’s been 10 years since the mainline R44s were last retired too...

[Calvin]

There are 10 8-car trains at ENY, R32 class cars. Prepped for tomorrow. However, there will be security on the front of each train. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Calvin

[trainfan22]

Well damn, MOST of the trains in ENY yard is R32s with some NTT's sprinkled in. It's looks like it's 2004 again with all those SMEE cars in the yard.

Edited June 30, 2020 by trainfan22

[MysteriousBtrain]

17 minutes ago, Calvin said:

There are 10 8-car trains at ENY, R32 class cars. Prepped for tomorrow. However, there will be security on the front of each train. 

RIP to everyone that was gonna hop the rope/chain just to get a RFW they had plenty of time to catch.

[R32 3838]

59 minutes ago, Calvin said:

There are 10 8-car trains at ENY, R32 class cars. Prepped for tomorrow. However, there will be security on the front of each train. 

I heard nothing about security, the only thing I heard is the union reps will ride the trains to see if anything goes wrong.

[MHV9218]

 

1 hour ago, Calvin said:

There are 10 8-car trains at ENY, R32 class cars. Prepped for tomorrow. However, there will be security on the front of each train. 

23 minutes ago, R32 3838 said:

I heard nothing about security, the only thing I heard is the union reps will ride the trains to see if anything goes wrong.

Yeah, security would complete defeat the point – the point is to have 0 humans around the cab door, whether it's a railfan or a guy in a uniform, doesn't matter. Personally, I find this whole thing a little overblown. There is next to no risk for a T/O with the door shut at the front of the train, even if you had a railfan with his face pressed to the glass the whole ride. It's a steel door in between, and probably a window open in the cab. It doesn't spread through steel. The point of concern is the C/R section, which is where a C/R actually has to breathe in the air with people around. But that's not somewhere that railfans have ever set up shop anyway. Also, there simply isn't an infinite number of crazy railfans riding around – it might seem that way on the nostalgia runs, but I'd be surprised to see more than a dozen, maybe two dozen fans show up in a given day of 32 service, which spread among six-seven trains over many hours...you do the math.

Edited June 30, 2020 by MHV9218

[danielhg121]

1 hour ago, MHV9218 said:

Yeah, security would complete defeat the point – the point is to have 0 humans around the cab door, whether it's a railfan or a guy in a uniform, doesn't matter. Personally, I find this whole thing a little overblown. There is next to no risk for a T/O with the door shut at the front of the train, even if you had a railfan with his face pressed to the glass the whole ride. It's a steel door in between, and probably a window open in the cab. It doesn't spread through steel. The point of concern is the C/R section, which is where a C/R actually has to breathe in the air with people around. But that's not somewhere that railfans have ever set up shop anyway. Also, there simply isn't an infinite number of crazy railfans riding around – it might seem that way on the nostalgia runs, but I'd be surprised to see more than a dozen, maybe two dozen fans show up in a given day of 32 service, which spread among six-seven trains over many hours...you do the math.

To be fair, the steel door doesn't make the cab airtight and most of the cab doors have a gaping hole that make the door seem flimsy. Security would be completely nonsensical but roping it off is better and safer in general. 

[Trainmaster5]

I'm hoping that no one believes that any cab door is airtight. C'mon I thought you guys were smarter than that. 

[1train2255railfan]

Have they decided to rope off every car at the ends of the married pairs (since they can shift position anytime) or just the part in the middle based off of the consists' current configuration? If the latter is true, they should leave them in this format to protect the conductors (not shuffling the cars). 

[1train2255railfan]

4 minutes ago, Trainmaster5 said:

I'm hoping that no one believes that any cab door is airtight. C'mon I thought you guys were smarter than that. 

When you are at an RFW, you can definitely feel wind coming through the open nooks while the train is in motion. Definitely not airtight. 

[AlgorithmOfTruth]

2 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

 

Yeah, security would complete defeat the point – the point is to have 0 humans around the cab door, whether it's a railfan or a guy in a uniform, doesn't matter. Personally, I find this whole thing a little overblown. There is next to no risk for a T/O with the door shut at the front of the train, even if you had a railfan with his face pressed to the glass the whole ride. It's a steel door in between, and probably a window open in the cab. It doesn't spread through steel. The point of concern is the C/R section, which is where a C/R actually has to breathe in the air with people around. But that's not somewhere that railfans have ever set up shop anyway. Also, there simply isn't an infinite number of crazy railfans riding around – it might seem that way on the nostalgia runs, but I'd be surprised to see more than a dozen, maybe two dozen fans show up in a given day of 32 service, which spread among six-seven trains over many hours...you do the math.

Don't forget that the operating cabs in the 32s get hot in the summer heat. That leads many train operators to work with their cab doors open. The whole idea dies in said scenario. To say that the T/O is in next to no risk is wishful thinking. We are talking about microscopic molecules that can easily pass through the smallest of spaces. You cannot eliminate the risk entirely unless the lead motor and conductor cars are isolated from passengers completely with their ends locked to prevent passengers from entering those restricted areas.

Edited July 1, 2020 by AlgorithmOfTruth

[Lex]

17 minutes ago, Trainmaster5 said:

I'm hoping that no one believes that any cab door is airtight. C'mon I thought you guys were smarter than that. 

Considering the fact that the doors would need to open and close without scraping everything, I wouldn't expect it to be airtight.

Plug doors (like the ones on planes) would actually be useless, as they rely on significant pressure differences to remain sealed.

[happy283]

17 minutes ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

Don't forget that the operating cabs in the 32s get hot in the summer heat. That leads many train operators to work with their cab doors open. The whole idea dies in said scenario. To say that the T/O is in next to no risk is wishful thinking. We are talking about microscopic molecules that can easily pass through the smallest of spaces. You cannot eliminate the risk entirely unless the lead motor and conductor cars are isolated from passengers completely with their ends locked to prevent passengers from entering those restricted areas.

I dont think any cab door is going to be open given the cirumstances. And the cab doors on full length cabs arent airtight either making the risk not significantly different from other car classes. They also need something like the curtain like on the buses because anyone can hop over a rope whether it be for the RFW or the seats in the closed area.

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

1 hour ago, happy283 said:

I dont think any cab door is going to be open given the cirumstances. And the cab doors on full length cabs arent airtight either making the risk not significantly different from other car classes. They also need something like the curtain like on the buses because anyone can hop over a rope whether it be for the RFW or the seats in the closed area.

At least on full width cabs, the conductors don't have to switch between cabs every few stations like on the 32's where there's a greater risk of inhaling breath from passengers standing or sitting on both ends of the subway car which is not ideal. Some people here are just looking at the chains from the train operator's perspective instead of looking at it from a conductor's perspective. Although, the chain is kind of an half assed solution for both.

Also, some train operators like to open the cab door on the older SMEE's just to let in the air conditioning or just for more space.

[VIP]

On 6/30/2020 at 5:12 AM, happy283 said:

Whats going on with the R160s on the ? Alot of the sets originally transferred to Pitkin have since been sent back to Jamaica. Have they been replaced with other R160s?

In short, the sets get rotated between yards. Pitkin doesn’t carry R160 parts IIRC, So those R160’s get sent back to Jamaica in exchange for a recently inspected unit. Another “Cuomo” refurbished set  9567-9563 is on the . Also 9667-9663 is on the   Along with 9163-9167/9183-9187 as a coupled set.