NYC Transit Operates Vintage Subway Trains For Father's Day Weekend Specials

Brooklyn, NY, June 16, 2018 -
NYC Transit operated vintage BMT AB Standards and other museum equipment as Father's Day Specials that coincided with the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. The vintage trains are the 100+year old 'Brooklyn Union cars; 'Train of Many Steels'; BMT D-types and BMT 'B-type' Standards on round-trips to the Kings Highway station and back to the Brighton Beach elevated station on the BMT 'Q' Brighton line in Brooklyn from 10 am to 4 pm both days.
Some of the parade participants boarded the old cars and posed for my camera on Saturday morning.

At 4:30 pm on Saturday, all the vintage equipment was lined up next to the Ocean Parkway station for a group photo-op of the historic rolling stock.

WMATA SmarTrip® Contactless Farecard Contract Awarded

Washington, DC, July 29, 2014 – The Washington Metro is officially moving away from paper fare cards and fully into electronic fare payment systems. An $8 million deal with Cubic to convert, upgrade and retrofit WMATA’s fare devices to work with contactless fare card usage called SmarTrip® within 2 years.

The work includes changing 500 turnstiles and vending machines

Cubic Transportation Systems initially installed WMATA’s paper magnetic farecard system when the system opened during the nation’s bicentennial in 1976.

This is the latest in a series of improvements on the Washington Metro which includes the opening of the Dulles Airport Silver Line earlier this week.

Photo caption: Suica contactless fare cards in use on the Tokyu-Setegaya line in Tokyo, Japan.

MTA Continues The Fight Against Sandy’s Destruction – This Time It’s the Greenpoint Tube

Queens/Brooklyn, NY, July 25, 2014 – As part of the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, parts of New York’s subway system was closed to rail traffic to speed repairs so trains could run again. Beginning Friday, July 25^th, a second tunnel, the Greenpoint Tunnel of the IND’s ‘G’ line, will be taken out of service to apply major fixes to damaged tunnel walls. For five weeks, riders using the Court Square, 21^St-Van Alst, Greenpoint Avenue and Nassau Avenue stations will need bus connections to go between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue. 125,000 riders use the G train daily and 30,000 of them are directly affected by the station outages.

This work is not suited to weekend closures and requires full 24/7 access to get the work completed effectively. The MTA’s Fix and Fortify Sandy Recovery Work is the protocol to combat the destruction for the tube that connects Long Island City, Queens with the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn until September 2.

The tunnel was ruined when 3 million gallons of salt water flooded the tunnel at the height of the storm. Tracks and equipment were totally submerged, and the tunnel’s pump controls, electrical, communications, fan control and signal equipment all incurred serious damage.  Power cables immersed in salt water corroded from the inside, while corrosion on rails and fasteners increased the potential for delay-causing failures. The controls for ventilation, lighting and communication systems were all destroyed and have yet to be restored to their level of pre-Sandy reliability.

NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco said in a prepared statement, “Our goal is to complete this work as quickly and efficiently as possible while exposing our customers to as little inconvenience as we possibly can by using the more lightly-traveled summer weeks to make repairs. To that end, we are providing an extraordinary amount of information to help our customers navigate around this vital work.”

Commuters are being offered a $4 ferry service ride from the India Street Pier in Greenpoint to Manhattan as a supplement to the bus substitution. 

Photo caption: NYCT's IND 'G' Crosstown local line in Queens with R-68 type equipment. Court Sq/21St-Van Alst/Greenpoint Ave. will be closed for 5 weeks to repair the damage in the Greenpoint Tunnel between Brookyn and Queens caused by Superstorm Sandy.

Review: Mass Transit & Trolley Modelers Convention at Rutgers University

Autumn is almost here which means it is time for the The New York City Model Transit Association annual model train show. The next day-long  rendition of this event is held at 9:30 am on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at:
Rutgers Student Center (next door to the previous gym location)
126 College Ave
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

During my previous visits to this show, different models of transit-type transportation were exhibited including subway cars that no longer exist such as BMT 'Bluebirds' on an operating layout. Vendors had all kinds of collectible items for sale ranging from photographs to books to videos to rail equipment (trolley cars, interurbans, subways, buses and their associated detail parts) in various scales mostly in O, HO and N gauges. The show isn't limited to models but vintage full-sized buses that can be described as a fleet from yesteryear will be in the parking lot.

For the serious scale modeler, model contests (scratch-built mostly) and lectures/clinics from prominent 
transit historians and modelers help give you those 'inside tips' that can make you models enterable in the aforementioned contests - heck, it will give you something to do over the winter months.

Admission is $20 (cash) with spouses and children are free. This isn't a show that generates personal wealth to the organizers but the net proceeds go to the Shore Line Trolley Museum which is still recovering from Hurricanes Irene and Sandy as that important historic venue suffered much damage in both storms.

I encourage you to come out and support this show as you can have a great time while learning about transportation history and how you can recreate it in your home.

For additional information, visit the organizer's website at:

nycmodeltransit.org/2013details.htm or by e-mail at: transitmeet@yahoo.com

NYCT Subway Service 2012 Investments Announced

New York, NY, July 19, 2012 – The draconian service cuts made 2 years ago during the apex of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) fiscal crisis may make a partial reversal while keeping the IND Queens-Brooklyn crosstown local ‘G’ train service extension in addition to some new transit operations. At that time in 2009, two subway lines and some bus services were either eliminated and others re-routed. Commuter trains were pared or combined to save money.

According to published reports, of the $90 million extra dollars stated in the MTA's most recent finance report (than were projected in the February budget), $20 million of that could go to fund the restored service. The news for straphangers isn’t all good as a 7.5% fare increase is expected to pay for it in March, 2013. The MTA’s adding and extending service on almost 40 bus, subway and commuter rail lines to better serve its customers, enhance access to mass transit, accommodate ridership growth and attract new transit customers. These investments come at a time when MTA ridership is steadily increasing across all forms of mass transit: subway ridership is at levels not seen since the 1950s; commuter train ridership is approaching all-time records and; bus service is at a premium for riders.

The G train story is of particular interest because the line was extended due to the Culver Viaduct repair work at the Smith-9th Street elevated stop over the deep-bottomed Gowanus Canal. Built in the 1930s, it was the only IND (New York City-built INDependent line) service constructed as an elevated. Due to wear and tear over the decades, the structure needed rebuilding which included a complete gutting and overhaul of that station. With the advent of the Culver Viaduct restoration work in 2009, the line was extended 5 stops to its current Church Avenue terminus with intermediate stops at Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street, Seventh Avenue, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Fort Hamilton Parkway.



EDITORS: The full-length article is available upon request to: jmcalisi@verizon.net

  

Brooklyn Nets Debut Starting Backcourt At Brooklyn Boro Hall

Friday, July 13, Brooklyn, NY - A public unveiling celebration at Brooklyn's Borough Hall Plaza was held to show to the world the NBA Brooklyn Nets new backcourt of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. This had all the pomp and circumstance of a classic pep rally, an event not normally experienced by New York City residents.

If you didn't come to the celebration labeled 'The EXPERIENCE', you'll have to see them at the Brooklyn Nets/Barclays Center on Alantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn (where Branch Rickey wanted to build the next Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s).

The list of participants in the publicity parade were Brooklyn Nets General Manager Billy King, Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Avery Johnson, Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark, Brooklyn Nets Public Address Announcer David Diamante, and the Brooklynettes, the Brooklyn Nets dance team.

As always, Brooklyn's greatest advocate Beep Marty Markowitz extolled with his usual jab at the cross-town rivals with,“I’m thrilled that here in Brooklyn—aka Kings County —we’ve got the Kings of the NBA: All-Stars Deron Williams and Joe Johnson and with Brooklyn ’s backcourt leading the way, those Manhattan Knicks don’t stand a chance!” In the past he said the Nets were going to mop the floor with the Manhattanites but that remains to be seen.

You guessed it, the Nets interactive mobile unit and ticket sales were on hand to help sell the team to the public. In the end, it's always about money and a dream. By the way, take mass transit (the NYC subway or LIRR) to the games because parking will be a problem if you drive there.

Lower Manhattan Traffic Report: Traffic Jam Due To Giant's Super Bowl Ticker Tape Parade

New York City, February 7, 2012 - A huge morning-long traffic jam occurred as a one-time event - the N.Y. Giant's Super Bowl ticker tape (an estimated 40 tons) parade up the 'Canyon Of Heroes' on Broadway in Lower Manhattan today - and what a parade it was! The victors proudly waved their 4th Lombardi Trophy in the air that made the crowd cheer! The weather was beautiful picture postcard day but was overshadowed by the extravaganza starring our Sunday afternoon heroes, who were the real stars.

You're saying, ok, this is a transportation blog - so where's the transportation angle? Alright - here goes: aside from the traffic jam, City Comptroller John Liu rode on his own private float - a 1952 Chrysler 300.

New York City's subway system service was altered as extra trains were added and train stops temporarily closed as 11 am approached - when the parade began. All divisions in Lower Manhattan were affected as fans made the subway cars that are normally packed to the gills, were jammed cheek to jowl far above normal levels. I've never seen so many school children on parent sponsored field trips - lots of hookey was played today. Subway details:
Beginning at 10 AM to prevent overcrowding conditions, trains did NOT stop at these five stations:
Wall St, 4 or 5;
City Hall, R;
Chambers St, A or C;
World Trade Center, E;
and Fulton St, 4, 5, A or C.

These five stations were the best way to get to the parade route:
1 service to South Ferry or Rector Street;
2 or 3 service to Wall St or Fulton St;
4, 5 or 6 service to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall;
J service to Chambers St;
R service to Rector St.

The MTA's commuter lines, Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road, will be adding extra trains to handle the added capacity.

Over a million fans of all ages and sizes attended the gala event that was a wonderful event that was culminated with the Giants getting the keys to New York City from Mayor Bloomberg.

Congrats to the comeback kids as they rebounded from a 7-7 regular season record to go on a winning streak that earned them the Super Bowl trophy. Coach Coughlin is worth is weight in gold as he kept the team on message and was definitely exhibiting leadership as he definitely kept communicating with his charges in a positive manner - I wouldn't mind working for a guy like that!

PATH Scores Ridership High For 2011

New York, January 26, 2012 - Either the economic conditions have improved greatly from 2008 or there has been a mass-eschewing of the automobile for commuters crossing the Hudson River. In any event,The Port Authority’s PATH rail system announced that  76.6 million commuter trips made during the year, the highest number since the agency took ridership in 2011 since they took over operation of the system in 1962.

This follows the recent announcements by the MTA that Metro-North (82 million) and Long Island Rail Road (81 million) that commuters are coming back to ride the rails to get them where they're going within the region. It is also indicative of a national trend towards mass transit.The previous record by PATH was 74.9 million riders in 2008 - a 1.7 million difference and a 3.6 percent increase when compared to 2010. 

Port Authority Chairman David Samson said in a prepared statement that, “Our multibillion-dollar commitment to transform PATH into a 21st century rail system has paid dividends. More people are taking notice of what PATH has to offer and are choosing it as their preferred mode of travel between New York and New Jersey .”

Polar Bears Attack Coney Island, In a Nice Way

Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY, January 1, 2012 - What a way to begin the year, sand, surf, bikinis, Coney Island, January 1st - January 1st!!! What's going on here!!! Shiver me timbers!!! The Polar Bear Club jumped into the Atlantic Ocean surf en masse at 1 pm creating quite a scene for about the next hour. For a while it looked like summer came 6 months early!!! At 2 pm, the show was over on that warm for New Year's Day.

Many of the Polar Bear Club members took the BMT subway to the Stillwell Avenue, Coney Island terminal for a stress-free ride there and back.

Relaxation - definitely! Now quick, my shades, oil, blanket, radio - but not today!!!! An overcoat is more like it!!!

Drop Your Pants Lately? Many Did On The Subway!

January 8, 2012 - Thousands gathered at many plazas such as Foley Square in Manhattan and headed towards the subway mid-afternoon to, you guessed it, drop their pants as part of a world-wide social networking event. This 11th edition seemingly drew more participants than in previous years for the cheeky event.

Their basic theory was to enter the subway system and undress in waves, giving a shock value to other riders. Somehow, I don't buy the shock value as many laughed at the sight of 'No Pants' on the NYC subway system. Believe it or not, there were rules for the participants:

1. No pants
2. No laughing (admittedly hard to do sometimes)
3. Enter the subway as a group, split up and remove your pants one at a time so it looks like a flower blooming

All in all, four thousand joined in the prank in the Big Apple coordinated by Improv Everywhere. If you missed it this time, check it out next year on the 1st Sunday of January.

NY MTA FASTRACKs Lexington Avenue Line Rail Upgrades

January 9, 2012 - Tonight begins an historic change in how subway right of way maintenance is done. For four consecutive weeknights beginning tonight, a veritable laundry list of 300+ tasks at fifteen Lexington Avenue (4, 5, and 6) stations and associated tunnels between Grand Central-42nd Street station in Manhattan and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn during a period of completely suspended train service between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the 6.7-mile route that encompasses 20 track miles. Passengers are encouraged to use the BMT (N, Q and R), IRT 7th Avenue 2 or 3 lines to/from nearby stations with overnight 3 service extended into Brooklyn. 'The Lex' is the busiest route in New York City and the first to get the FASTRACK treatment.

The ultimate goal is to make and complete track, signal, station repairs more safely and efficiently those hard to get to places without any train service interruptions. Stations, will receive the spot painting, power washing, platform edge repairs, wall tile replacements while the stations are closed. A closed section of a subway line, more work is accomplished at once and at less cost. When this FASTRACK project is complete, NYC Transit will perform an assessment and report to the MTA Board for review.

In a prepared statement, NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast said,"All of this is work that must be done to maintain the safe, smooth and efficient operation of a subway system that runs around the clock, seven days a week. However, by suspending service along line segments, workers can work on and near the tracks without having to interrupt that work every few minutes while a train moves through the area."
 

The Transit Authority's next FASTRACK overnight Monday thru Friday 4-night closure will be on the Seventh Avenue 1, 2 and 3 IRT lines between 34th Street and Atlantic Avenue from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

HBO charters vintage 4-car IRT train as rolling billboards for their 'Boardwalk Empire' TV show

Manhattan, September 4, 2011 - HBO chartered the 4-car IRT low-voltage train built in 1917 and 1924 as rolling billbords for their 'Boardwalk Empire' TV show scheduled to debut on September 25, 2011. On Saturdays and Sundays during this month of September, these behemoths of the past will troll the 7th Avenue IRT express line (2 and 3) between the 42nd St- Times Square and 96th Street stations.

Normally, rides on this classic equipment are done by special arrangement. The cost you ask? It's free when you've already paid your fare to enter the system. HBO hired the MTA to operate the train to promote the TV show. All you have to do is show up and ride!

My experience today is that many riders were not railfans but those looking to experience something they've never seen and sometimes sharing those experiences with their families or 'best buddies'.

The logical question is how did these cars survive almost a hundred years? The answer is through the passion and desire of railfans to save the equipment back in the 1960s as the scrapper's torch was about to hit them. Frank Turdik was a transit employee in the early 60s that loved the cars and managed to hide them with some help, evade the 'grim reaper' of the person in charge of scrapping all the 'Lo-V' cars. It's too long a story for this blog right now, but maybe I'll get to it some day.

Christmas Time In New York - Get Out There And See It!!!

New York City, December, 2010 - New York is a fascinating city year-round but Christmas time in New York has its own special charms. With childhood dreams and a willingness to fulfill them a common wish in this holiday season, the opportunty to experience those and other desires are realized more during this time of year than any other. There are an endless number of places to visit in town and I'll clue you in on a few of them.

Holiday-themed productions are the rule this time of year and Wintuk is no exception for juggling, tricks and other amazing things to watch and have fun with.

If model trains are your thing, the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botancal Garden in The Bronx is a truly incredible experience. Garden-scale (also known as G-scale) trains meader their way through New York landmarks - and some of them are just memories now. The original New York Penn Station was destroyed in the 1960s where Madison Square Garden now stands but it has been resurrected and built with recycled plant parts. Trolley cars once ruled the streets of our city but now operate there again as the photo on the right suggests. The layout has a vast assortment of real and imagined trains. Waterfalls and rivers? Plenty of them! Bridges? Lots of them! This is 'a real worthy' as we say in the local vernacular!

If you're looking for a giant Christmas tree to see, Rockefeller Center's is not the only one. In the Financial District, a 60-foot Norway Spruce sits in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Just to the south of the tree, Broad Street has been made into an historic pathway as the history of the street is chronicled on the ground.

There are many different museums in Lower Manhattan that are open for visitors during the day. Federal Hall, The Museum Of American Finance and Fraunces Tavern are just three of them. There are some buildings in the area that date back to the American Revolution. There are many parks in the area including the first public park in North America - Bowling Green Park, which is where the American Revolution began and ended. A 3-day 'Culture Pass' gives you a discounted price and even transports you to each museum in this special program.



If you're looking for a real train to ride, 1930's vintage IND subway cars operate every Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. The 'Shopper's Specials' (right) began operating November 28 from the 'F' Second Avenue station on the 6th Avenue IND line to the Queens Boulevard IND's Queens Plaza station. These are the cars of folklore - wicker seats, ceiling fans and all the smells and sounds of yore. The free rides (yes, you must pay the regular subway fare) end on December 26th.

The Italian American Museum at the corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets in Little Italy is an interesting place to learn about the immigration experience of Italians that migrated to this country. There are holiday-themed seminars and is a great snap shot of the past.



Grand Central Terminal rounds out this photo essay. Aside from the Main Concourse with its breath-taking sight, this historic structure also caters to shoppers. All kinds of goods are for sale in Vanderbilt Hall and food is available in the food courts on both levels.

What ever you do, enjoy the holiday season as here are a variety of places to go and places to see.

TWU Local 100 And ‘Doctor’ Schumer Announce a national movement, “Keep America Moving”

By Joseph M. Calisi, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved

Pennsylvania Station, NYC, June 11, 2010 – In a press conference lead by TWU Local 100 President John Samuelson operating behind a national movement, “Keep America Moving”, Senator Charles Schumer announced the finalization of the “Public Transportation Preservation Act” that would provide a $2 billion emergency aid bill for transit systems across the US to reverse urban transit service cuts and layoffs. Samuelson stated that the bill was not just money for New York’s transit system, but to help transit systems nationwide.

Senator Schumer called himself ‘Doctor Schumer’ for the event as the legislation would diagnose and solve the nation’s transportation ills. Senators Dodd (D-NJ), Menendez (D-NJ), Durbin (D-IL) Schumer (D-NY), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Brown (D-OH), Reed (D-RI) and Gillibrand (D-NY), S. 3412, would reverse the effects of the chronic under funding of mass transit systems across the country by injecting $2 billion into mass transit operating funds. The New York tri-state - the country’s largest transportation area, would receive approximately $345 million if enacted.

Keep America Moving (www.keepamericamoving.org), a national coalition of labor leaders, members of transit unions, environmentalists, and faith-based groups that seek to restore transportations jobs and services from coast-to-coast that could be lost without the funds provided in this Federal bill.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen sent the message that others would later echo giving the corollary that mass transit was New York City’s lifeblood as its "veins and arteries."

Amalgamated Transit Union International vice president Larry Hanley said that cuts and losses were, “...a national crisis." He termed this legislation is important because normally Federal money is used for capital projects and not to help avoid layoffs. He also noted that the federal government has spent more on public transit in the last year than ever before, the money was not to fund operating costs. New York, Sacramento, Chicago and Atlanta were cities looking at service cuts and/or fare hikes to close each of their own budget gaps.

Within New York City, the money would offset the $143 million the New York State Governor took from the MTA this year and that the money should last a couple of years according to Senator Schumer. The Senator also recalled his youth taking the S2 bus to Junior High School and lamented the loss of student MetroCards as, “unacceptable.” He added that mass transit was, “…the lifeblood of our city. This beautiful, crowded, pulsing city could not be this way unless we had mass transit. "We can't rely on the state very much these days."


Behind Senator Schumer's right shoulder (smiling) is TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen; on Schumer’s left is NYC Councilman and Transportation Committee Chairman James Vacca.