BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Remember when there were TWO #7 trains running in the City??

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26377

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

(In 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection opened, and the former BMT lines were now assigned IND-style letter codes, replacing the numbers used since the debut of the TRIPLEX in 1925; this effectively, also took away the separate identities of the BMT and the IND)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

If it AIN'T broke, DON'T fix it.......'nuff said.......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrystie_Street_Connection *

This is a VERY interesting article; no "smooth transition" into the "new and improved" Chrystie St. connection, for sure.........

(even some MOTORMEN were confused!!)

I've also read that some folks found themselves out in Coney Island ( when they'd been heading for the Bronx!) and on the Grand Concourse, when they were trying to get to Kew Gardens!

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In glorious black-and-white, here's another "old time" fan trip, this one aboard the hulking "TRIPLEX"........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26389

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The R-12/14's were my favorite IRT cars (along with the R-15's) back in the early/mid-1980's, and I rode them pretty dang regularly on the IRT (7th Avenue expresses)

As with other vintage SMEE rolling stock, I simply HATED that "Ronan" scheme....yeeecchhhh(!!)

And......that paint looked even WORSE, under tons of undecipherable "urban artwork" (aka "graffiti")

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6215

httP;;//www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6216

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Remembering the "14's"........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?114358

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2772

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show/2793

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2758

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?12277

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Interesting note on the IRT R-12's/14's.

Once these cars were transferred from the #7 to the IRT "mainlines" (1963/1964), their conductor's controls (located between the cars) were cut out; this meant that these cars were not to be positioned where a conductor would be stationed.

Recall, also, that the R-15's (ACF, 1950) were the first IRT cars to have the conductor's operation station within the car itself.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Remembering my other all-time IRT "SMEE" favorite, the "R-15" of 1950 (LOVED those porthole windows!!)

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?41836

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75805

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2857

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?12339

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75799

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Due to my inner (and ever-vigilant!) "Urban Indian Jones", I've long been fascinated by old signage, sealed-off entrances, and the like, throughout the vast New York subway system.

Note this ancient (and long-closed) newsstand at the BMT's decrepit "BOWERY" station; one cannot help but wonder what (and, possibly, who?) was left inside when the newsstand was sealed off, decades ago!

Just imagine the colorful array of comic books, magazines, and newspapers (not to mention candy, cigars, and cigarettes) that were once sold here, so many years ago.......(!!)

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/boweryj/boweryj9.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

As I've just mentioned, long-sealed off entrances/exits have truly intrigued me, when exploring subway stations (do these dark, long-closed passageways, perhaps, lead to some sort of a "Fourth Dimension Time Warp", reminiscent of "The Twilight Zone"?

Once I found out this was the "home station" of the legendary transit enthusiast/hockey maven (also, my favorite transit author!) Stan Fischler, I used to take the "GG"/"G" to this stop fairly often, just to "prowl around", and imagine what this 1930's-era station was like in Mr. Fischler's day, with trains of prewar IND cars growling and humming along, and incandescent bulbs glowing in great numbers overhead........

http://www.subwaynut.com/ind/myrtle_willoughbyg/myrtle_willoughbyg12.jpg

http://www.subwaynut.com/ind/myrtle_willoughbyg/myrtle_willoughbyg13.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"CHAMBER(S) OF HORROR"........

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

Perhaps no other subway station has intrigued Your's Truly more than the cavernous, decaying, echoing Chambers St. BMT station.

When I worked on Wall Street, too many times to count over the years, I would hop on a "J" or an "M" at Broad St., and, in a flash, I'd be up at Chambers St, using my afternoon break time.

Though it was (indeed) like visiting an abandoned mausoleum (and as depressing, not to mention haunting!), the station drew me back again and again, like a magnet.

I remember just walking the platforms, amid all that decaying, once-splendid grandeur, and, in my mind's eye, imagining what the station was like back in the days when it was indeed the "heart" of the BMT; I could easily imagine the heavy rush-hour crowds and the mobs of happy day-trippers heading out to Coney Island.

I could indeed hear the growl and whine of the beefy STANDARDS and hulking TRIPLEX units as they arrived and departed, the shouts of conductors and platform men, the heavy clunking of batteries of turnstiles.....yes, I could still imagine it all!

HOW the MTA allowed this magnificent station to decay as much as it has over the past several decades is totally beyond me.

Just when you thought the station could not decay further, on your next visit, you'd see it, indeed HAD decayed further.

Just imagine what this glorious and lofty station had been like in its heyday, especially in the days before the Nassau St. Loop was completed!

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In speaking of the Chambers St. (BMT) station (or rather, the decaying shell of it), one of the biggest mistakes the "Tee-Yay" did when the Christie St. connection opened in 1967, was to sever the connections to tracks ("J1"/"J3"), which are used for off-hour train lay-ups.

Pre-Chrystie, these tracks connected to the Manhattan Bridge.

Severing these tracks, clearly did not bode well for operational flexibility.

Before the Connection opened in 1967, the north side bridge tracks went to Canal Street and Broadway; south side tracks went to Chambers Street.

Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Just my 2 1/2 cents worth.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Dank, dark, depressing, derelict.......

This pretty much describes this view of the long-closed tower at Chambers St. (again, WHAT or WHO might have been left inside when it was shuttered, decades ago?)

One cannot help but wonder if the old interlocking machine is still rusting away inside, or, was it removed after the tower closed?

Sobering scenes like this are both greatly depressing and most intriguing....."King Tut's Tomb", Chambers St. version, anyone?

Just think of how busy towermen were, back in the day, when this lofty station was still the bustling hub of the BRT/BMT..........

http://www.subwaynut.com/ct/chambers_jz/chambers_jz59.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here are several pages of interesting (albeit depressing) photos of the Chambers St. Station.

It indeed had to be something to see, back in the day.......

http://www.subwaynut.com/ct/chambers_jz/index.php

*Ancient IRT sign at Chambers St., clearly having seen much better days:

* http://www.subwaynut.com/ct/chambers_jz/chambers_jz10.jpg

(courtesy: subwaynut)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a gallery of more "cheerful" subway photos......

These photos depict both old and new trains (at Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway), but also, the interesting gates, used by the "B42" buses to enter the station area (these photos were taken when the legendary RTS was still running the show!)

There are also photos of a prewar IND train on the premises!

http://www.subwaynut.com/bmt/canarsiel/index.php

(courtesy: subwaynut.com)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's several nostalgic views at Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway, sure to twang the chords of nostalgia.......

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75651 *

*(this classic 1954 photo shows a train of "Multis" approaching, with "Bluebirds" off to the right)

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?137097

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6613

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5601

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24023

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)