A Train Anniversary - 9/10

[Otto Vondrak]

See: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleri ... rsary.html

-otto-

[TheKornGuy]

I was on it! Quite the ride. Started out at 42nd St at 10AM. Went straight to Brooklyn and pulled into the transit museum for an hour. Then we embarked on our Journey to Lefferts Blvd. It was origionally scheduled to go to the Rockaways, but track work prevented that.
From Lefferts, we traveled back into manhattan for our ride into Coney Island. From there, it got pretty hectic. Towers wouldn't give us the switches we needed and some dispatchers didn't even know who we were (it sounded like). About a mile before Coney Island, we sat for about 25 minutes. Then it was decided that we would get to the station via the Coney Island Yards. Definatly not what they had planned, but it was a treat
The motormen were more than excelent (especially Derrick) and the trip was amazing, despite the set backs.

[pennsy]

Hi,

I remember those cars as well, but I first rode them when they were the E train. By the time I used the A train, they were the ones with the flourescent lights and small fans on each pole.

These were the first cars to make it into the Rockaways when the IND took over the LIRR tracks. And, it was in these cars I met my wife.

[chuchubob]

I rode the anniversary train from 207th Street to Chambers Street and back on Monday. It ran as an A train in regular service. Some passengers had to be convinced to board, not believing that it was an A train in revenue service, making all A stops between Canal and 207th, including (for example) 42nd Street.

[pennsy]

Yo Chuch,

How was the run from 59th st to 125th st ? As I remember it the A train runs express, non stop, between those two stations and the motorman really opens her up. Don't know what the top speed is, probably well over 50 mph, but it will show up a bad train or car really fast.

[TheKornGuy]

pennsy,
dont know about church, but when I rode it on saturday they were flying. Between East Broadway and High Street was I think the fastest I have even been through that section of track.

[chuchubob]

We were flying on Monday, too. The R1-9's can go faster than the current fleet because they were out of service before the speed restrictions were applied to the cars.

[Tom Curtin]

How was the run from 59th St to 125th st ? As I remember it the A train runs express, non stop, between those two stations and the motorman really opens her up. Don't know what the top speed is, probably well over 50 mph, but it will show up a bad train or car really fast.

"Well over 50" is almost certainly an exaggeration, although I agree it feels like that! Reason I say it's an exaggeration is that not very long ago, the NY Times published in response to a reader question a statement from the TA that their top speed is 48 mph. That's right -- not 45, not 50, 48!

God, it was nice to see that photo in the Times of the original equipment running. I rode them countless times as a college student in the 60s --- not on the A but rather the D, which enjoys the same long fast express run from 125th to 59th. Do they still "haul it" on that stretch? (We live on the UWS but not near either 125th or 59th, and it is much more convenient for us to take the IRT B'way line than the 8th Ave.)

[chuchubob]

"Well over 50" is almost certainly an exaggeration, although I agree it feels like that! Reason I say it's an exaggeration is that not very long ago, the NY Times published in response to a reader question a statement from the TA that their top speed is 48 mph. That's right -- not 45, not 50, 48!

This is true, and the subway cars have been modified to limit their speed to 48 mph. This was done after the R1/9's were retired, though, so they remain unmodified and most certainly could have been doing "well over 50".

Bob