Jump to content

To the members under 18: How did you become a fan of NYC subway trains & buses?


Shortline Bus

Recommended Posts


easy, just went to a subway station and then looked at a train for 5 min and bam i love trains lol

 

Well got into trains when i was 3 starting with thomas the engine, then mid 90s more into the buses, i loved the M10 seeing i lived next to when i use to live in manhattan, then NYC Subway partly (7) Line mainly for the redbirds , then 2005 fully (2)(5). And im not a foamer, cuz i love computer and tech to, so i wont have to be soooooo obsess with trains/buses

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya, i know i'm not one o the younger members but........

 

For me it started with shining time station & mr rodgers' trolly. There was no forum or any real internet back then, so here i am 20 years later.

 

- A

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is from my New Person thread:

 

I have always had a deep fascination with trains. I use to get a load of train-sets when I was younger and I absolutely loved playing with them. To my demise, however, I was not able to ride on any of them until last week.

 

And it's true. My love for the train had simply exploded after first riding the subway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im 16,and love trains for 13 years now. It all started with Thomas The Tank Engine at the age of 3,I collected all the die-cast thomas trains and movies,I have every single one. As a few years past,I always used to ride the subway with my grandma,mostly the West End (:P (now its the (D) in the good ole neighborhood Bensonhurst. I remember riding on a R32 (B) and changing the rollsigns with the good ole knob,this was in the middle to late 90's. My grandma took me to the Transit Museum often to. As I got older and older until I was old enough to go out on my own,I took random train rides on the West End (W) (now its the (D),Sea Beach (N) with the R32's and R40's. Now im even older so I go what we call Railfanning now as I used to call it Random Train Ride all over the place. So thats what got me into trains,all thanks to Thomas and my Grandma!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I would take the train after school from Woodhaven Blvd all the way to Jay St in Brooklyn to go see my dad when he would punch out of work, when the (MTA) still had their collection offices at 370 Jay St rather than in Maspeth like they do today. I guess it just grew from there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im 16,and love trains for 13 years now. It all started with Thomas The Tank Engine at the age of 3,I collected all the die-cast thomas trains and movies,I have every single one. As a few years past,I always used to ride the subway with my grandma,mostly the West End (:) (now its the (D) in the good ole neighborhood Bensonhurst. I remember riding on a R32 (B) and changing the rollsigns with the good ole knob,this was in the middle to late 90's. My grandma took me to the Transit Museum often to. As I got older and older until I was old enough to go out on my own,I took random train rides on the West End (W) (now its the (D),Sea Beach (N) with the R32's and R40's. Now im even older so I go what we call Railfanning now as I used to call it Random Train Ride all over the place. So thats what got me into trains,all thanks to Thomas and my Grandma!

 

Wow i did not know Thomas the tank engine was such a popular show.:eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At first I was only interested in buses since my dad works out of Jackie Gleason since I was born. I used to play around in the depot, and everything. :) (Pool was definitely something I learned how to play. Do they still use RTS buses anyways?) I used to travel to C.I. with my family every now, and then, I rode on the (Q) which had R68s running on them. When my mom showed me pictures of me on the train, it just bought back memories.

 

At 4, we moved to Queens, and anytime we took the train, we were either traveling to Manhattan, (A)(C)(E) C.I., (:((Q) or to my grandmother's house. (2)(3)(4)(5) Just observing those R32s, Redbirds, and Hippos, I became interested in trains. I remember when R142s first were delivered, and started retiring the Redbirds on the (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). At the same time, 62s went to the (7), and the (3) always had them. Having noted these changes, the subway became interesting.

 

Skipping a whole part of the story, a couple of years ago, in order to go to my father's house, it was either take the LIRR into Brooklyn, or take the (J). If we took the (J), we can get off at Alabama to take the B12, or take the (A)(C) at Bway Junction to transfer for the Franklin Av (S) in which we would take to Botanic Gardens. Time to time, my dad would take me to the Transit Museum in which of course I drooled at the RTS bus model, and the subway station downstairs. In 2005, he took me to the Bus Rodeo down at Floyd Bennett Field.

 

Ever since then, my interest in transit has been consistent. It's more consistent than it was back then since I'm also interested in photography. They go hand in hand together pretty well.

 

Well, that's my story. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was like 4 years old possibly younger (havin a hard time thinkin back past age 4) when I got into trains. I remember living in Far Rockaway and even in class all I'd do is watch the (A) trains go back and forth. I got a kick out of riding in the front car and looking out the front window (still do). When I found out that actual people operated these trains I grew up dreaming of being able to do it myself LOL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hm, I started with the buses in Hong Kong actually. Those were really, really awesome. Then I moved to New York, and I found the buses here crappy and all look the same so I kinda lost interest in transit for a year.

Then one day in '03 or '04, I found a student metro and started to use it to ride one station to go home and eventually, I became interested in trains. Yeah. And this interest is ever-growing, especially after I found this forum. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice thread R-7. Lmao, never knew there was a Thomas the Engine cult on these boards...

 

When I was around 5 to around 9 I used to go to my friend's house in Jamaica occasionally. I took the (F) and the Q1 or Q43 to get there, hence my growing up with R46s. I remember seeing R46 (E)s occasionally while I was younger, and my 5-year-old brain for some reason thought R32 (E) trains reminded me of "evil witches"....lmfao...

 

In 7th grade I had to start taking the subway to school, so that's when I discovered railfanning on the R40s on the (N) and (W) trains, as well as the (7). I only got into buses recently, since I thought they were easier to photograph and much easier to busfan (I live in an ok place for railfanning, but an excellent place for busfanning).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad would actually take me railfanning when I was young. He would take me around the streets on weekends showing me the neighbourhood. And I was familiarised through this. Then we would go under the ground and he would read a newspaper while I would look out the train window (side windows)... and slowly it built into me.

Since then the subway became an integral part of me. I came to be known as train kid, transportation boy or transit man during my primary school years. During class trips, most of the people would either dilly dally or sleep. However I was the only focused on the subway. So yeah, that's my story with the subway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hm, I started with the buses in Hong Kong actually. Those were really, really awesome. Then I moved to New York, and I found the buses here crappy and all look the same so I kinda lost interest in transit for a year.

Then one day in '03 or '04, I found a student metro and started to use it to ride one station to go home and eventually, I became interested in trains. Yeah. And this interest is ever-growing, especially after I found this forum. :)

 

I love the buses back home, especially since they are double deckers and you see the street life from above.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My interest started in buses, even though I am not a fan of buses now.

 

In 1st or 2nd grade, I used to make comparison charts of the 3 different categories of school buses at my school.

 

Then I got interested in roads a few years later. I always stared at highway exit signs on field trips.

 

Then I got interested in hybrid cars. When I saw the hybrid buses in Flushing, my interest in buses came back.

 

Then, on some website I found a reference to nycsubway.org. From there I found the link to the MSTS website. Then I became interested in Amtrak.

 

I then decided to go back to nycsubway.org. From there, I discovered BVE and then I discovered b-v-e.info.

 

Then I discovered BVEStation which led to RR.NET, Rider Diaries, and finally NYCTF.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I turned 18 3 days ago, my mom gave me a subway map at 3, and I apparently gave incredible thought to reading it and trying to understand "what that red line was and where it went." Then, with my first memorable ride on the R62A (3) train, it never ended. I always wanted to be at the front to look out. Flash-forward about 5-6 years, and I wanted to know the history of the subway and stuff.

 

Oh, and I always used to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and have their toy trains as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (PSP (PlayStation Portable); 2.00))

 

well i first started with buses i grew up in westchester when i was 3 my dad was a beeline operator and on his days off me and him would drive the old fishbowls and rts beeline had around he would put me in his lap and tell me to steer the bus. just then fell in love with buses. when the years passed beelines fleet change the fishbowls and rts were gone then when i finished high school and did some college i work for MTA but after a few years i changed to be a bus operator for beeline like my dad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's so nice to hear everyone's story about how they got into trains!

 

I was bitten by the bug one Christmas when my Dad bought me a small Lionel model train set. I thought it was the coolest thing. My Dad, who is quite a railfan himself, and I would go to the Croton Harmon Open House every year, and he would take me on Steam Excursions and up to Danbury quite often. When I grew up a bit, I didn't go on as many trips and my interest kind of waned. When I started going to College in the City, I would take Metro-North down, and I always loved the ride on the Hudson line. When I started taking the cheaper Bee Line Bus-to-(1) route, I discovered the abandoned station at 91st St., which I had never known about. It piqued my curiosity to such a degree that I committed myself to knowing as much about the system and about railroading right then and there on the (1) train that just happened to stop because of "train traffic ahead of us" lol Needless to say, my Dad is thrilled. :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well my father is somewhat of a subway fan (he knows the history of the subway) and he has this book "Under The Sidewalks of New York" By Brian J. Chudy, and I read it sometimes when I was about 6 or 7 years old [born in 1993]. At that time, the only trains I've been on was the (7), (Q), and (F). If I were ever to go to the city with my parents, I'd take the (F), which ran R46's and R32's. And in the book I read, I remembered it showed pictures of R46's and R32's and then I knew which one was which. I considered the R32's the "old trains" an R46's from the 90's (that what thought). Taking the subway to the city was a treat and I always enjoyed it. Then on many occasions, my family went to Met Games, thats how I was introduced to the (7) line. I saw the Red train (redbirds) and I thought they were cool because they were red. As we rode along the Flushing and I looked out the window, I saw R62A's. But the funny thing is, I thought they were the red cars with silver plating on the outside. Then this lead me to believe that the R32's were redbirds with silver plating on the outside (lol). I remember on the way home from one of the trips, I entered the R68/A <Q> and about half the lights were off. So inside, It looked sort of futuristic because of the stainless steel walls, black floor the lighting. Later when I was around 11, I had to go to a Dr.s appt in the city. I took the Q train, and I remembered from the book they were R68's. This was all the beginning. In 7th grade (12 years old) I started taking the train home from school everyday. I'd take the (F) from Kings Highway to Avenue I. In fact my old school is that huge building you see right next to the F train between Kings Highway and Avenue U. This really started my like for trains. In my school on the 5th floor and above, you could see the entire culver line, I loved to look out the window and have an ariel view of the trains. That year I also started to take the (F) and (Q) around Brooklyn to my friends' houses. The more I took the subway, the more I was interested. Fast forward to 9th grade (which was just last year). My knowledge of the subway, the same as before. The high school I go to now is in Manhattan. Everyday now, I have a serious commute, Newkirk Avenue to 59th Street Columbus Circle via the (:). I see the (B) of R40's (I didn't know they were R40's then) roll in. I thought, Hmm, this train is around the same age as the R32, only slanted, and it looks kinda similar. It's a fun ride. But, at the time I didn't like them because I thought they were old and rusty. On my commute home, I was told to take the (:( from Columbus Circle to 50th Street and transfer to the (F) to take me to Avenue I. I did that the first day. Then I thought to myself, I might as well take the (:) to West 4th or Broadway Lafayette because the (B) is faster. And I did. Then in school (we use laptops in my school) I started to look at subway maps online to find better routes home. Since Columbus Circle has 5 trains that stop there ((A)(B)(C)(D)(1)), i thought there must be a better way. The new route I took was the (A) to Jay St. Boro Hall then transfer to the (F) and take it to Avenue I. So for the first two weeks of school I had two options, the (A), or the (B).I then started to take the (B) to Newkirk, then transfer to the (Q) and take that to Avenue J. I no longer was doing the (B) to (F) route. It stayed like this until around November. I was browsing Youtube videos on my account DanTheMan702, which is now suspended :mad: (my name isn't actually Dan, but my nickname was) and looking at videos of Brooklyn. The first subway video I saw was "R68 D Train at 79th Street" (this video is gone now), which led me to see more subway videos and got me into the subway. I started making comments like "The B train in Brooklyn kicks ass" and "This station is in Midwood! I live there! Midwood is awesome as well as Brooklyn!". In fact, you can still see those comments on some of FlushingExpress' or thesubwaynut's videos. As I saw more videos of the NYC subway, I became more interested, and wanted to eventually explore the entire nyc subway system. In these videos, I saw a NTT for the first time, the R142, I didn't know the (MTA) had NTT's. Anway, looking at these videos made me learn about all the train models, and know which one was which. Although, my knowledge was still quite limited about the subway. At this point in time I wanted to experience riding a NTT. Its November 2007. I took the (1) from 59th Street to 42nd Street and transferred to the (2). I was excited to finally ride a NTT. I enjoyed the ride. Took it to Atlantic Avenue, then transferred to the (Q). [OMG THIS IS GOING TO BE SO LONG, IVE BEEN TYPING FOR AN HOUR ALREADY] Fast foward to Winter break 2007. around December 2x, 2007, I decided I had to ride an R160 before 2007 ended. This is my first official 'fan trip'. I took the (F) to Coney Island and then transferred to the (N) and took that to 34th street Herald Square. This was my first time on the Sea Beach line. I then took the (F) back home. The ride on the R160 was great. As the year progresses I learn more about the history of the subway, and its current situation. I know the map by heart and the history, and such by May 2008. Since then, my knowledge has increased by experience of riding the subway. I started taking Fan trips this [school] year during Winter vacation 2008. And I am happy to report I have actually finished subway exploration! Just this week, Thursday February 19th, 2009, I have been on every line and every station in the NYC subway system! I finished it off by taking the (R) from 59th street to 95th street! I've been everywhere now! Well, thats my story for the subway. I'll save the bus story (which is much shorter) for another day!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.