BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Does it ever end??

Earlier this afternoon, a man (now in critical condition) was shot in the head aboard an "A" train at the Hoyt-Schemerhorn station (news video showed passengers crouching and hunkering down inside an R-46)

Earlier, both the "A" and the "C" were suspended; they are now both running (with delays) but bypassing H-S, as are trains of the "G".

And the insanity continues.........

Delays now on virtually all of the numbered and lettered lines.

Too many times to count, back in the day, Your's Truly would ride a "CC"/"C" from 42nd Street to H-S, to gaze across the tracks and watch the busy towerman working the levers of the classic "Eye-En-Dee" interlocking machine, and watch the trains coming and going.

Great entertainment while it all lasted.

NEVER a thought of possibly becoming a statistic.

Sad, sad, sad.......so much for the National Guard and State Police in the subways....... (I thank heaven I no longer have to come into the city and use mass transit)

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A SURE-FIRE way to end subway crime FOREVER.......

Abandon service ALTOGETHER, and use former stations and tunnels as underground mushroom farms and/or wine cellars.

Either that, or simply brick up all station entrances and totally seal off the subways from "civilization"

Sell all of the current "rolling iPad" train fleet, either to another city, or simply dump 'em somewhere off the coast, and use them as artificial reefs (aka "Fish Condos")

While we're at it, totally also away with ALL bus service within the boroughs.

Sell off the slithering "Slinkies" and the oversized milk cartons.

Only in this manner would transit crime be TOTALLY abolished.

When the presence of the National Guard and State Police in the subways does NOTHING to stop the insane violence on the subways, I think it's time to admit we are fighting a losing battle, and simply do away with mass transit PERIOD.

Please excuse the "fantasy raging" of this former straphanger, but I am both greatly angered and also terrified to see how bad the situation with the subways is today......with no end in sight.......not even the faintest glimmer of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

These days, you are literally taking your life in your hands, as soon as you enter a subway station.......heaven help us all........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Follow up:

Just heard that the MTA will be installing cameras in all subway cars, including the oldest.

If this is so, this might mean that the veteran R-46s, R-62s, and R-68 "Hippos" will be around for at least for the forseeable futurre..........

"NYO"

["PULLMAN-STANDARD"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Interesting...........

The earliest postwar rapid transit cars to run in "Bah-ston" (built by St. Louis) were painted in two shades of gray with a slender orange stripe.

Now, recall that the R10/12/14s, as delivered, sported a similar paint scheme...........

"NYO"

["1 TIMES SQUARE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Eye-Are-Tee" SMEE oddities, etc.........

It was the trains of the ol' "Eye-Are-Tee" that brought forth the immortal "Noo Yawk-ese" moniker of "straphanger".

EVERY "Eye-Are-Tee" car was equipped with the obligatory standee straps UNTIL..............

The first three classes of postwar "Eye-Are-Tee" cars (R-12/14/15) were the FIRST (and ONLY) postwar IRT cars NOT to have standee straps, using instead overhead bars.

However, in later years, these cars had small grab handles attached to these bars.

The last IRT cars to have straps were the R-36.

Interestingly, over on the "Bee-Em-Tee", some series of "Standards" (aka "Brooklyn Battleships") were equipped with straps, while other series did not.

The "D"-types and the "Multis" also did not have straps.

On the "Eye-En-Dee", all of the original "Arnine" cars were equipped with straps.

The postwar R-11s, interestingly, did not have straps when new; however, when they were rebuilt as R-34s in the 1960s, they were furnished with straps........

"NYO"

["7 TIMES SQUARE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Stock footage on Eyewitness News earlier during a report depicted a side view of an R-62 displaying roller curtains, signed for the "6".........

"NYO"

["6 LEXINGTON AVENUE LOCAL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Heard this on 1010 WINS.........

Earlier today, due to a police investigation at Grand Central, there was extremely limited Lexington Avenue "Eye-Are-Tee" service (4/5/6); #5 trains had been running on the #2 (7th Avenue)

As might be expected, these delays also affected 7th Avenue "Eye-Are-Tee" service, and there was also delays on several of the lettered (BMT/IND) lines.

Ahhh, just another day on "Em-Tee-Yay" rails............

"NYO"

["1 SOUTH FERRY"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Agreed.

I still wonder why it took from 1941 (when the Dyre Avenue shuttle opened on the ex-NYW&B row up in "da Bronx") until 1957 to tie the line into the "Eye-Are-Tee's" White Plains Road line.

Had the Dyre Avenue line been connected to the IRT "mainline" right from the get-go, straphangers in that area would have enjoyed a one-seat ride into Brooklyn, without having to transfer to the subway at E.180th Street.

Better late than never, I guess..............

"NYO"

["SHUTTLE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

While on the subject of the long-forgotten "WESTCHESTER"...........

www.nywbry.com

["RIDE THE WESTCHESTER"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

........recall, also, that the old "Westchester" bit the dust decades before massive subsidies were available to bail out ailing transit operations.

What might have transpired had the railway been able to (against staggering odds) survive, at least long enough for some express service to be re-instated north of "da Bronx".

Could rapid transit (using subway-type trains) have operated into lower Westchester?

In a reprint of Rodger Arcara's outstanding "WESTCHESTER'S FORGOTTEN RAILROAD" there is a drawing of what new NYW&B MU's would have looked like (built by BUDD); these would have been modern two-unit articulateds (using catenary) and furnished with porthole windows, like the original 1912 electrics.

These units had some similarities to the BMT's sleek articulated "Zephyr" of 1934.

Charming as they were, the use of refurbished wooden El cars on the Dyre Avenue line were indeed quite a comedown from the big, roomy, speedy steel NYW&B MUs.

But, at least, the city-operated rapid transit service DID bring back electric rail to that area of "da Bronx"...........

"NYO"

["EXPRESS-WHITE PLAINS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"NORWOOD" (1970)

One quick scene where the legendary Glenn Campell is seen emerging from an "Eye-Are-Tee" station somewhere in Manhattan.

The classic "INTERBOROUGH" sign above the stairwell reads:

"INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT CO."

DOWNTOWN TO SOUTH FERRY-WALL STREET-& BROOKLYN

The square illuminated globes at the entrance sport the classic 1960s "TA" insignia.

Also, quick glimpse of the original 8th Avenue facade of the old "Port-of-Authority"; when Glenn's CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS Eagle is heading for the Lincoln Tunnel, what should be right behind but a "Joisey" suburban Fishbowl!

(I just received my DVD copy today!)

In this scene, we also see a "Bison" laying over in one of the PABT's bus lots.

Ahhh, those were indeed the days!

"NYO"

["INTERBOROUGH"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's the aforementioned "Eye-Are-Tee" entrance seen in "NORWOOD" (1970)

Note the Empire State Building in the right background.........

https://pics.imcdb.org/26849/backgr4.8.jpg

["TA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

From the same movie.........

Here we see the EAGLE aboard which Glenn is heading out of town on, just out of the PABT; the suburban Fishbowl can just be glimpsed in back.

Note the "Bison" on the left.............

https://pics.imcdb.org/26849/backgr6.7.jpg

["CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]