BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

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" 'Belles' on da 'Frankie'"...........

As a few sets of "68s"c currently operate on the "Frankie", I would not at all be surprised if, at some later date,this line might just be the VERY last bastion for the now veteran "Brighton Belles".

Appropriate, IMHO, as this line has long seen a number of "orphans" from the BMT see service here, over the decades...........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also:

Just "hoid" that the "Brighton Belles" being displaced from the "B" by the incoming "R-211s" will be gravitating over ti the "N", "Q", and "W".

This will be interesting.......

"NYO"

["N"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just thinking..........

Recall, for so many years, the "CC"/"C" was a bastion for older rolling stock?

I had thought (briefly) about "Brighton Belles" going over to the "C" (in keeping with the old "tradition" of the oldest cars being relegated to that line), but, as the line is now all "NTT", that eliminates that particular option.

When the "Belles" (and the R-62 "Silverboids") are all retired, it is going to feel strange indeed knowing that the entire subway system will be 100% "NTT", with nary a roller curtain in sight..........

"NYO"

["CC"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

In SubChat, it was noted that the "Brighton Belles" displaced by the "new kids on the B block" will indeed be reassigned to the N, Q and W routes, as I thought - but especially on the Q.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Seems, then, that some the now-veteran "Brighton Belles" will be running out their last miles on the "Q", "Brighton Belles" to the end.......

"NYO"

["BMT LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

.....let's hope that, when the "Belles" are official retired at some later date,, that at least some sets will be be retained as spares, held in "resoive" ,in case of the new rolling stock encountering "teething pains"" (recall several such instances, not all that long ago?)

"NYO"

["W"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a thought........

The "R-44s" were clearly designed and styled to "harmonize" with the then-new "M-1" MUs, the better to stress the "family ties" of the MTA.,

Now......let's say that the M-1s had not been built; what might the "R-44s" have looked likethen, with no"family inspiration"?

Perhaps newer versions of the "R-42"?

Interesting thought to ponder.

Case in "pernt":..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?7649

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

"NYO"

["M"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

B.T.W., it isn't just "BINO's" and our current "rolling iPad" subway fleet that, in a collision, melts like Frosty the Snowman once winter turns to summer (among other things that underscore how today's rolling stock is NOT built like the "tanks" of old). See this video about an unfortunate occurrence involving an "El-Eye-Double-Are" M-7:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvTF6gIJqI8

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The following gleaned from "SUBWAYS OF THE WORLD" (Stan Fischler, 2000).........

".......fares are remarkably inexpensive. A 31-mile run from Far Rockaway in Queens to 207th Street in Upper Manhattan would $69 by taxicab. The same fare by subway is only $1.50......."

"......New York's subway never sleeps. It is one of the few running 24 hours na day, 7 days a week........"

"......early in the year 2000 ,the TA took delivery of new, hi-tech rolling stock.'These cars are Cadillacs; the old cars are Chevvies', said Joe Hoffman, TA senior vice president in charge of subways....."(actually Your's Truly always preferred Chevys to Caddys!)

".......new cars or old, the New York Subway is the best. And, if they TA ever brought back the speed back to prewar levels, it would all be just heavenly......."

I purchased my copy back in 2002, at the "new" Borders"on Broadway, just off Wall Street, after the original was destroyed on 9/11).

Excellent collection of color photos of systems, both here and overseas....

"NYO"

["SUBWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also:

".......unlike the Victorian IRT with its 19th century kiosks and mosaics, or the BMT's melange of subways, elevateds, and trolley cars, the new IND represented the very acme of modern subway engineering..........."

".....the biggest concerns for many straphangers is the building of the Second Avenue Subway,. that will relieve long-standing congestion on the East Side IRT lines. In late 1999,the MTA passed a massive spending plan for city transit improvements. the $10.1 billion earmarked for improvements, would go twards 2,000 new subway cars and buses, the rehabilitation of 64 subway stations, and a Second Avenue subway......"

".....the upgraded subway system even got the usually-dour Governor Pataki to smile. 'These new trains will set the tone for the new century, where we will have a transit system more user-friendly than ever'......"

"NYO"

["BoT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On Eyewitness News at 5, reporter NJ Burkett, while reporting on the city preparing for the brutally cold weekend on tap, showed scenes at an MTA garage, showing buses undergoing testing to make sure heating systems ar,e working properly, and engines are performing as they should.

Footage also include show some subway scenes; the MTA is working to assure safe operations, and tracks (rails) are being inspected for cracking (this has been a serious issue out in "Shik-aga". as of late)

Mr. Burkett will also do a follow-up report at 6PM........

'NYO"

["MTA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further........

Quick "blurb"on 1010 WINS this morming, about the MTA inspecting subway rails for possible cracks caused by the extreme cold, and the continued testing of bus heating system...........

"NYO"

["MTA"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

It does seem the quality of the rails being rolled and laid today are not nearly as good as those when companies such as Bethlehem Steel or U.S. Steel were turning them out at a good clip. I mentioned that in 2010 or so I saw, at 57th Street-6th Avenue station, a rail first installed in 1966 (if based on the year it was rolled).