BusTalk

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildrtiver:

VERY interesting.....I found this really "intriguing"!

When I worked at the NYSE (11 Wall St.) the BMT's Broad St. station was right outside the door; I used to take short "excursions"on the BMT during my lunch breaks and "shorts" (I started doing this when the ol' R-16's were still in use!)

I well recall hearing the old "starter bells" ringing when an "uptown" train was about to pull out; back then, there was still a tower at the south end of the "southbound" platform (I last remember riding R-42's out of this station, back in 2002)

In the mornings, after I had clocked in 2 hours prior to starting work), I often took the "CC"/"C" (R-10s/R-30s/Brightliners) to Hoyt Schemerhorn, and watch the towerman work the big levers of the old IND interlocker (LOVED seeing the model board displaying positions of the trains in the vicinity!)

Loved looking at the dark, abandoned platform where the old Court St. shuttle (and Aqueduct Specials) used to pull in and out........indeed, a distinct "Twilight Zone" atmosphere, for sure!

I often rode up to Chambers Street on the "J"or the "M"; that echoing, decrepit, long-neglected station never ceased to intrigue me; I used to love to imagine what the station was like in its heyday (as a terminal) with the growls and snarls of "Standards" and "Triplexes" filling the air, amid the clanging of starter bells and the conductors bawling out "WATCH YER STEP! LET 'EM OF FOIST!"

I used to look at the old boarded-up tower, and loved picturing how busy the towermen had to be, back in the 1920's and very early 30's, with so many trains arriving and departing (who knows what (or WHO?) was left in that tower after it was abandoned and sealed??)

I've read that the reason that the station's ceilings are so high is that, early on, another set of tracks were to rise up and connect with the El trackage over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Of course, steel equipment would have been too heavy for the span.......

"NYO"

["WATCH YOUR STEP"]

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Agreed; I don't think the 44's or the 46's would have been on the old Jamaica El; the 68's (aka "Hippos) were still more than a decade in the future at the time the El closed.

I was never a fan of the 44's or the 46's; no railfan windows, of course, and I was never comfortable with the end doors being locked (I know many shared my opinion; in New York, especially these days, locked doors between cars could easily lead to a disaster).......

"NYO"

["PULLMAN"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

More interesting (and obscure!) subway trivia.......

The old City Hall station (IRT) which closed in 1945, was quite unique in that, despite its sharp loop, gap fillers were never installed.

Also, it was the only subway station that (oddly enough) never had turnstiles installed; old-fashioned "chopper boxes" remained in use until the end.

I've also read that, at rush hours, only a certain amount of people would be allowed onto the platform; when the crowd on the platform became too heavy, the stairway down to platform would be closed off, and no one would be allowed down to the platform until the crowds thinned to a safe number.

Interestingly, the station was closed at night, and was used as an entrance only.

At the time that the City Hall station closed (1945) the BMT El trains had already been gone from the Brooklyn Bridge a year; the streetcars over the bridge, however, would survive until 1950............

"NYO"

["CITY HALL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an interesting page on the old City Hall station and loop........

www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/cityirt.html

["INTERBOROUGH LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Excellent, "in depth" page (w/track plans, diagrams. blueprints, and photos) detailing the BMT's cavernous, decaying Chambers Street station and its abandoned plethora of platforms and stairways......

www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/chambers.html

["CHAMBERS ST."]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This 1960's-era photo at Chambers St. shows a train of blue-doored "Brightliners" at the platform; note the electric train indicator on the right.....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?21966

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["BUDD"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just prior to their 1965 retirement, we see a train of 1925 "Triplex" units at Chambers Street, working a fan trip.

The "traditionally"-attired motorman also adds to the nostalgia of this long-ago scene (these old trains were not only AMERICAN BUILT, but also, they were BRUTES!!!!)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26382

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["E.R.A"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a colorful and charming 1900's postcard featuring a "cutaway" view of the IRT's Brooklyn Bridge station (artistic license, for sure, with the subway cars!)

Note, also, the BMT's Park Row terminal.............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?32437

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["BROOKLYN BRIDGE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Rockaway Parkway station, 1972.

Fishbowls.......as well as "classic era" subway cars.......have long since vanished from this area........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154787

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155220 *(note the prewar IND cars in the background)

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["6 TO BAY 38 ST"]

[traildriver]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

My first ride on a "Triplex" was about 1962, on the Astoria line; I still recall Mom and I at the RFW, and thrilling to the steep climb up out of the 60th St. tunnel....man, those old motors GROWLED!!!!

Mom and I also rode out to Coney Island on day trips (Mom never forgot the excitement of riding the El out of Park Row with her family, back in the 20's and early 30's; she used to climb through an open window (at Park Row and Stillwell Avenue, to save seats for her family! She also LOVED the convertible cars!)

When we were going out to Coney, I still fondly remember those tough, noisy, fearsome Standards; to this day, I still call Standards "Coney Island trains"!

After Steeplechase Park closed, we went out to Coney (mainly for the subway ride and the Aquarium; I was still far, far too young to go up on the fabled, towering "Parachute Jump", which still intrigues me to this day!

I still remember the first time Mom and I rode aboard a Standard on the 14th St. line; at the 105th St. grade crossing, I remember Mom saying "This reminds me of Staten Island!" (SIRT)

To this day, I cannot more than glimpse at photos of the classic BMT cars (or ANY classic transit equipment) being scrapped....just too heart-wrenching.

The old IND "Arnines" I will forever associate with the "AA", on our trips up to the old Hayden Planeterium and Museum of Natural History.......ahhh, the good ol' days, growing up in a far-off universe, a thousand light-years distant......

"NYO"

["AA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Standard" retirements (by line)........

SEA BEACH-1965

4th AVENUE LCL-1962

WEST END-1965

BRIGHTON-1965

CANARSIE-1969

(Recall, also, that 1969 was a very sad year for "Noo Yawk" transit buffs. In that year, the last "Standards" ran on the Canarsie line, while the last prewar IRT cars were retired from Bronx 3rd Avenue El service.

Too, that October, the fabled Myrtle Avenue El was closed; the closing of this line also brought down the curtain on wooden rolling stock carrying passengers in revenue service)

"NYO"

["BRIDGE-JAY"]