MTA's A Train To The Rockaways

[Tadman]

Do they ever run charters? Once a year the Illinois Rwy Museum charters a train and we ride all over the system, including non-revenue trackage, yards, and areas I wouldn't normally ride due to neighborhood concerns.

I missed this year's trip, which isn't a bad thing. They went "on the ground". In this case, they were 40' up on the L, and the train was evacuated. Ooops...

[Kamen Rider]

we have our retired fleet run by the transit museum. These days it's usualy ether the Rockaways or Coney Island if they're doing the B divison. I wouldn't nessialry call it a "charter" becuase the museum is an arm of the MTA. They've started to run them to be more railfan freindly, instead of just out, lunch and back.

[SlowFreight]

Don't get scared away from riding in this territory. I've gone into Bed Stuy regularly for business in the past year and never had any trouble (Bedford Ave, Nostrand Ave, etc.), and I've been around quite a bit of the Rockaways, including the Shuttle. Hipsters have discovered the Rockaways, and even though it's rough I wouldn't call it unsafe. Gotten off at Beach/44 in the past, and taken the family down to the best fish taco stand in all of New York near Beach/105.

New York of 2012 is not New York of 1998. Seen lots of hoods where I wouldn't want to live, but never any that I was scared to be seen in.

[lilbluefoxie]

I had to look this one up, I'm a Chicago resident so I know next to nothing about NYCTA. It appears the Rockaway lines are a inverted-T shape. It also appears to front a beach on the Atlantic Ocean, with lots of highrise towers on the beach. Are these considered "the projects" or a housing project of some other sort? Around here we had a lot of projects but they were torn down in the last ten years, projects are actually a bit of a rarity in town these days (some still exist near CTA's lower-63rd yard).

Yeah, there were several public housing projects built following World War II in that area, but some recent efforts have been attempting to "revitalize" that area, but not much has gotten off the ground.

...Also, if I were ever to find myself in NYC, could I ride this line out to the beach or is that a bad idea for a guy like me that doesn't find himself in rough areas very often?

From what I've been told, the (A) train goes through some rough areas in Brooklyn itself (like the East New York area), but the lower-number streets aren't too bad. I'd advise against venturing up to the Beach 100somethings unless you have to as that's kinda rough (so keep off the Rockaway Park shuttle)

Now don't get me wrong, there isn't repeated slayings or robberies on an half-hourly basis going on on these trains, they just traverse some rough areas. If you get on a train, mind your own bid'nis, and not have anything that screams "I'm a tourist! Come mug me!" on, then you should be able to return home with most of your limbs.

The Rockaway Park side of the Rockaways is the safer portion. Beach 116th Street has lots of shops and places to eat and its generally well kept. Those lower number Beach Streets are where problems occur because the projects and stuff are on that side of the peninsula.