Railroad Forums 

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

Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain

 #34939  by Pete
 
Is there a good web site detailing the system of nomenclature/map representation of the NYC subway? Specifically I'm trying to find out when the current convention of letters and numbers began. I'm not all that interested in which lines followed which routes when or what their particular letters were, just the naming conventions themselves.

 #35006  by 7 Train
 
The best (and most comprehensive) site on the NYC Subway is www.nycsubway.org.

As for the current system of letters and numbers, the lettering for the IND lines dates back to the opening from 1932, the BMT letters from the introduction of the R27/30 cars in 1960, IRT circa 1948.

The route colors have change over the years, the current ones date from the 70s.

 #41680  by GP38
 
Vlissegen, is that your website?
If it is, VERY nice! When I have more time, I will have to read that.

 #41886  by speedbird
 
7 Train wrote:The route colors have change over the years, the current ones date from the 70s.
The current color scheme went into effect in 1979, with lines sharing a common Manhattan trunk also sharing color.

For example, today the 4, 5 and 6 are green, then they were magenta, gray and yellow.

Sometime in the mid-80s the double-letters were eliminated; farewell to such gems at the LL, QB, SS and CC.

 #41933  by Skip-Stop
 
GP38 wrote:Vlissegen, is that your website?
If it is, VERY nice! When I have more time, I will have to read that.
Oh, I couldn't take for credit for that! It's a link I found on Joe Kormann's website. A man by the name of Eric B. wrote it; give him the credit, Chris. :wink:

 #42079  by 7 Train
 
Eric B's page mentions the 9 was first used on December 12, 1988 to designate 1 Skip-Stop Service. Other sources list the date of first 9 service as August 26, 1989.

 #42094  by GP38
 
December 12th, 1988 is when J/Z skip-stop started. The 1/9 skip stop service started the next year, in Aug 1989, as the other sources state.

 #42604  by efin98
 
I am surprised nycsubway.org hasn't linked that listing yet, that is even more thourough and easier to understand than the one listed on nycsubway.org.

 #42887  by Robert Paniagua
 
I also remember the K train from many years ago, although that was eliminated also in December 12, 1988 when I was 12 going on 13. The K train went from 145Th St till the Ground Zero Area, all in Manhattan at the time. As far as I know, the K line never left Manhattan that I knew of in the very end of its era 1n 1987-88.

Also, I remember the JFK Express route from 57th Street & 6th Avenue till Howard Beack/JFK Airpourt. That route folded in 15 April 1990 and replaced with the A line.

Does anyone else here remember riding the JFK Express?