Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the past and present operations of the NYC Subway, PATH, and Staten Island Railway (SIRT).

Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain

 #1103677  by Adirondacker
 
jamesinclair wrote:You know what helps more than a moody cop? replacing "tracks 3 and 4" with a sign that says "outbound"
Outbound to where?
If I'm on the platform is the train going outbound to the World Trade Center or is it going outbound to Newark?
 #1103733  by Terry Kennedy
 
25Hz wrote:As far as rings, possibly pavonia/newport, the walkway walls from entry concourse to track steps is all bolted together looking, but i could be remembering it wrong. :)
I was talking about the powerhouse cooling water inlet / outlet tunnels into the Hudson. They're the same style as most of the rings in the system (there are some funky oval pseudo-rings between Pavonia and the caisson), but much smaller in diameter.
Edit: EXP extension was to the west, not to the east (the river is right there!).
Here's a picture explaining it:

Image
 #1112677  by Head-end View
 
Back on the signing issue. I never really noticed the lack of signage 'cause I normally ride the system end-to-end. But this week I was in Journal Square station for the first time in many years, and though I knew which platform to use, I was surprised at the lack of signing at each stairwell.

Simple solution: the PA should install NYC Subway style overhead signs at all tracks on all platforms. And at each stairwell. They must figure it's mostly everyday riders on the system and not tourists. It's not as if the Port Authority can't afford signs. But then I guess the P.A. is not a particularly customer friendly operation given the design of the PA-5's, and lack of trash cans in their stations.
 #1113905  by ericr
 
umtrr-author wrote:I wonder how many people get confused by the letter "E" engraved in the columns at Pavonia/Newport...

...then again, I wonder how many people even notice that!
With the amount of paint over them, I doubt anyone who isn't looking notices. Even if they do notice, they probably don't care.
 #1114022  by Head-end View
 
Well alright, what does the "E" stand for? I always knew that station as "Pavonia" going back over 40 years.
 #1114026  by lirr42
 
Head-end View wrote:Well alright, what does the "E" stand for? I always knew that station as "Pavonia" going back over 40 years.
E for Erie
 #1114029  by Head-end View
 
I don't get it. The "Erie" RR station was at Hoboken Terminal and that railroad never owned PATH, so why display an "E" at Pavonia?
 #1114033  by lirr42
 
I think Pavonia Terminal was the Erie RR terminal on the Hudson. The Erie Lackawana/DL&W went to Hoboken, and I guess they use E to symbolize the stations former tenant.
 #1114411  by oknazevad
 
Head-end View wrote:I don't get it. The "Erie" RR station was at Hoboken Terminal and that railroad never owned PATH, so why display an "E" at Pavonia?
Hoboken was the Lackawanna before the merger. Erie had its own terminal on what's not the Newport Mall site. They only started moving into Hoboken around the mid 50s, in a lead up to the merger.
Head-end View wrote:But then I guess the P.A. is not a particularly customer friendly operation given the design of the PA-5's, and lack of trash cans in their stations.
There's no trash cans because there's not supposed to be any food or drink on the PATH. Or did you not realize its against the rules? (As for the former, you also realize the vast, vast majority of riders don't give a rat's behind about a front view, and that there's really not much to see in most of the tunnels, right? Don't project your opinions on others; it's unbecoming and a little whiny.)
 #1114616  by umtrr-author
 
lirr42 wrote:I think Pavonia Terminal was the Erie RR terminal on the Hudson. The Erie Lackawana/DL&W went to Hoboken, and I guess they use E to symbolize the stations former tenant.
That's right... the PATH (or more properly, the H&M) was in service while the Erie had its own Jersey City Terminal. Many years later, after the abandoment and razing of the Erie's terminal in favor of the Lackawanna's in Hoboken, but well before the redevelopment of the land, the area above the Pavonia Station was almost eerily quiet (pun not intended). Pavonia Station itself was closed during certain hours and, if I recall correctly, all weekend as well.

It was quite the walk from the station back along Pavonia Avenue to "civilization" at Henderson Street and westward from there. I took that walk a few times with my dad in search of freight cars on the former Erie passenger train tracks.
 #1115026  by ExCon90
 
It was quite a hike under ground from the H&M station to the Erie station, which was right on the waterfront. I think I remember that in later years a moving walkway was installed to make it easier, and I have an idea that the Erie posted track numbers in the passageway under the west end of the platforms so that passengers wouldn't have to walk all the way to the station building to learn their track number and then retrace their steps on the surface to board the train.
 #1115215  by Terry Kennedy
 
ExCon90 wrote:It was quite a hike under ground from the H&M station to the Erie station, which was right on the waterfront. I think I remember that in later years a moving walkway was installed to make it easier, and I have an idea that the Erie posted track numbers in the passageway under the west end of the platforms so that passengers wouldn't have to walk all the way to the station building to learn their track number and then retrace their steps on the surface to board the train.
Yes, the H&M "Speedwalk" was the first commercial installation of a moving walkway in the US. It was completed in 1954, as part of a last-gasp effort by the H&M to attract more riders to the system and avoid bankruptcy. It didn't help enough, and in November of that year, the H&M filed for bankruptcy.