Tag: trains

Welcome to New York, Get Out of the Way

subwayblogger11 Comments

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back after a lovely Thanksgiving weekend.  SUBWAYblogger’s back in business, sorry for the lack of posts.

Without further adieu, we believe it is time for our annual public service announcement for tourists visiting our fair city for the holidays.  Here goes:

Get Out of the Way.  Thank you.

To harsh?  I think it is short and too the point.

First, you must wait for passengers to get off the train before you try to get on with all your shopping bags.  Yes, you will see other people doing it, but those are experienced New Yorkers that know when they can jump on a train early.  Do not attempt it yourself.

Stopping at the top or bottom of an escalator is not ok.  Take at least 10 steps off the escalator before you try to turn around and look for your friends/family.  Stopping at the top to put your mittens on will guarantee that you get mowed down.

Yes, he’s touching you.  Those other people on the train are going to be in your personal space and probably touching you.  Get over it.  Or take a cab instead.

Ask for directions ahead of time.  Waiting until the last minute to jump out of your seat and run for the door is not cool.  Pay attention to the stops, and don’t be afraid to ask someone.

If your 20 blocks or less away from your destination, just walk.  I know…exercise is not what you are used to.  Trust me, it’s not that far.  No need to pay the $2.00 for a ride and crowd the trains even more.

Last but not least, keep moving or get out of the way.  There’s very little area in the city (approximately 13 square feet) where it is ok to just stop and stand still.  So always keep moving.

Good luck.

Sandhogs and the Second Avenue Line

subwayblogger2 Comments

Sandhogs show on History Channel

There’s this new TV show on the History Channel called Sandhogs.  No, we’re not being paid to write this, so everyone relax.

This is a whole reality show is about a crew of guys that dig massive tunnels for a living.  Makes it sound easy, but it’s not.  They are digging a huge water tunnel to for the Croton Filtration plant in the Bronx.

Anyway, the show reminded me of what it must be like to dig the Second Avenue Subway line.  I’d imaging the diameter of the tube is much bigger because it’s go to fit trains, but it must be kind of the same.

The city is supposed to bring in a TBM to dig the tunnel.  Honestly, I have no idea if there’s even one here yet.  I haven’t heard anything about the TBM’s in at least a year.  In light of all the construction delays, I guess it doesn’t really matter.

An interesting show for guys that liked to play with toy trucks and diggers when they were kids.

Well, that’s comforting

subwayblogger1 Comment

Just when you finally managed to stop pondering all of the things that could go wrong when riding the NYC Subway, it turns out that the computer system that controls the trains crashed for a few minutes yesterday.

It was only “down” for a few moments.  However, when it came back online, the system was unable to find many of the trains in the system.

The system that crashed only controls the numbered lines.  While the system went down and recovered, many trains were forced remain in stations or mid-tunnels while dispatchers manually radioed individual trains to determine their location.  Yikes.

Perhaps some of the MTA employees that read SUBWAYblogger could enlighten us on why the computer can’t locate trains after a reboot.  I assume the trains have to pass some sort of sensor on the track.  So if the trains weren’t moving, they hadn’t passed over a sensor since the reboot.

BREAKING: Station at 53rd Street & 7th Ave Evacuated

subwayblogger3 Comments
MTA Website Showing Delays
MTA Website Showing Delays

Apparently there is a strange odor at the 53rd and 7th station that has caused it to be evacuated.

B, D, and E trains are bypassing the station at this time, and last we heard, passengers are not being allowed to enter the station.  However, the MTA says the V train is running with residual delays.  So I guess it’s at least partially open?

The strange odor is allegedly coming from a faulty elevator motor.  Of course, that is no shock.

NYCT Reports Most Subway Cars Well Air Conditioned

subwayblogger8 Comments

According to the MTA, most subway cars are well air conditioned.

Well, ok then.  Thanks for letting me know…I guess?

A hot mess. (sardinetea via flickr)
A hot mess. (sardinetea via flickr)

Wait, wait.  Did they just guess at that?  Of course not.  They commissioned a full scale study.  Transit officials inspected 2,666 train cars throughout the system.  Of them, 73 cars failed.

It appears that the pass/fail mark was 78 degrees.  Personally, I think that is a little toasty, but manageable.  That’s certainly better than some trains over 88 degrees!

The E train had the worst score, which is not a surprise at all because they are the oldest trains.

So I’m left wondering why a study was needed.  I mean, sure it probably gives you an official looking number when you’re done, but it doesn’t really fix anything.

The MTA should be studying what would improve the a) reporting and b) repairing of overheating cars.

I guess you can just see which cars have no AC because they are usually empty!  However, I doubt if riders report overheated train cars.  Air conditioning, along with other general repair needs should be easily reportable, but they aren’t.  I mean you could call 411 I guess, but who has time for that?

Bon Jovi Subway Changes

subwayblogger2 Comments

Bon Jovi Subway Sign

You know you are a rockstar when your concerts cause the New York City subway to reroute in advance.

Apparently, there won’t be any C trains running along the Upper West Side.  Concert entrances are at 72nd Street.  Your ticket says which side (Central Park West or 5th Ave) you have to enter.

You can only enter the concert on the side on your ticket.

Photo orangejuicy.  Story Gothamist.

Idea: Standing Room only Subway Cars

subwayblogger10 Comments

Let’s kick this one around in our collective minds:  Standing room only subway cars.

What if we made every other car in a train standing room only?  We could get rid of all the seats in the train car, and perhaps add a few more grab rails and holding points.

Think of all the extra people you could fit on the train!  The elderly, handicapped, pregnant, fat, or just plain tired/lazy could go into the cars with seats.  Everyone else could find more breathing room on the seatless cars.

Ok, how would you know which is which from the platform?  Maybe the markings on the outside of the trains could be a certain color.  And always make the first car a seated or seatless car (just pick on and make it standard).

My other idea would be to make the seats all “flipable.”  Have you ever noticed the flip-up seats on the ends of trains like the 2 train or 4, 5, 6 train?  It’s usually just on the end of the train.  There’s a double wide seat that automatically flips upright to allow space for a wheelchair.

What’s nice is the fact that many people don’t bother to flip it down during rush hour.  What if all the individual seats on the train automatically flipped upright?  That would free some space.

Just drives me nuts when I see 350 pound people sitting, taking up 3 seats wide, and the standing room for 6  people.

Is it the beginning of the end?

subwayblogger1 Comment

I’m about one or two more back to back track fires away from taking cover in a bunker somewhere.  Seriously.  Things over the past couple weeks are just getting crazy.

It all started with summer showing up light a white hot freight train.  For weeks, we enjoyed beautiful mid 70’s each day.  Then, overnight it was 96 degrees outside…or 104 if you follow that “Real Feel” bullshit.

**Side note.  What the hell is a “Real Feel” temperature or heat index?  I know what it really means, but lets just make it easy.  Just tell me how damn hot it feels outside and leave it at that.  If it’s 86 outside but feels like 94, I want to know about the 94.  Screw the 86…who cares.  My ass is sweating.

Anyway, the heat showed up, and I started to brace for the subway heat as we’ve discussed at length in the past.  Interestingly, it was virtually the same day it hit as last year.  Also, we’ve discussed that it takes about a day or two for the heat to make it’s way underground.  Then it’s an oven.

So yeah, of course I was expecting the heat eventually, but not all this other crap.

Let’s start with the track fires.  It’s so damn hot that shit just randomly catches on fire on the PATH train tracks almost every week.  Switches, lights, and boxes in the subway blow up or short out.  How hot is it?  Hot enough to bring mass transit to it’s knees.

If there’s ever been an argument for better maintenance of the subway system (including upgrades), this is it.   Gas is hitting $5.00 a gallon all around us, more and more people are taking the trains, and we’re running a system from 1932.  Just wait and see how f-ed up it gets when the rain comes…

Then, there was last night.  I’m sitting in my apartment, and it’s perfectly quiet outside.  All of a sudden it sounds like rocks are being thrown at my windows.  I look outside, and it looks like a tornado is coming up the block.  I watches as a whole tree across the street became uprooted.

Then on the other side of the street, scaffolding started ripping off my neighbor’s building.  You know the scaffolding they put over the sidewalks?  Most usually have blue plywood walls put up around the first story of the scaffold.  Well, this wind started peeling off the 4×8 sheets of plywood like post-it notes.  They flew up the street doing cartwheels over the cars on the block. Read More »

My New Favorite Spot to Ride

subwayblogger13 Comments

So I have a new favorite spot to ride the train, but it is a tough spot to get.

I like to stand right on the very end of the train by the door that leads from one train car to another. I find that you can get lean on the door a little and the door to the little conductor cab. You know?

It’s a nice area because rarely (if ever) is there any passenger traffic to contend with. You can lean there in relative peace and quite without having to constantly shuffle while people get in and out.

Of course, I rarely bother getting a seat because when I do I get the hairy eyeball from the old ladies. So I always stand unless the train is very empty. So good standing space is hard to come by.

Unfortunately, this spot is often taken, and it can be hard to reach on a crowded train. Also, this is not a spot to stand if you only have a few stops to go. You don’t want to be that a-hole that has to climb over everyone to get off the train. So it is best for longer rides.

You should also be a little careful if you choose to try it. Sharp turns and jolts in the track are magnified on the ends. The ends of the trains have the most left to right movement for the riders, so you could get slammed into the wall you are leaning on if you aren’t careful.

What’s your favorite ride spot on the train?