11-05-06 VIDEOS: Let's Ride NYC Subway Episode 9 - J Train Eastbound

Well I had so many videos from that R42 trip that I ended up splitting them up into two Let's Ride episodes, one westbound, which I posted earlier, and one eastbound, which I will showcase now. The Westbound trip had the superior shots, not only because it wasn't backlit, but also because I could collect an entire set in the tunnels as well as the Willy B and the M Train meet at Mrytle. However I don't want to just discard these eastbound videos into the ashcan so here they are.

This trip is actually a composite of two trips. The first from Marcy Ave to Jamaica Center and the second from Broad Street to Essex. Due to the back lighting I initially though videoing most of the eastbound trip would be a good idea until I realized how incredibly boring the local runs were. So boring in fact that I probably won't even embed all of the videos in the platlist. However I am sure all those many rabid fans of the line will enjoy it nevertheless.

So, if you would like to view the entire platlist check it out right here. Just hit play and you'll see all the videos in order.



So the story of these videos actually begin at the end of the trip where Rich and I were waiting at Broad Street for the next train back to Essex so that we could transfer to an orange M to get up to Midtown for lunch. We were surprised when our trusty old R42 trainset pulled into the station. After going a stop or two I decided to start getting some tunnel videos in the opposite direction and so we begin with Fulton St to Chambers St.



A Chambers we cross over two tracks to reach the Willy B line from what used to loop around and head over the Manny B. Note the doubleslip switch. Then we break through what used to be a wall at Canal Street onto the rationalized alignment that converted a 4-track line into a two-track one.



Here we are going from Canal to Bowery. Unfortunately I could not complete the set of videos all the way to Essex because the train operator decided that because we were railfanning in both directions that we had to be some sort of terrorist threat and opened the door to inform us that "taking pictures was illegal since 9/11". I told her to call the police and walked back to be prepared to exit the train at Essex. The bitch actually tried to hold the doors closed waiting for the police, but after a few minutes she gave up and we walked down to the F platform instead of waiting around for the M.



Cutting back to a point earlier in the day, here we have my train of R42's approaching Broadway Junction from Chauncey St showing the west end of the junction complex.



As was featured in the photo essay here is the trip from Broadway Junction to Alabama Ave where we can see the R160 that should have been running in our slot descending the ramp into the yard in place of our set of R42s.





To show you what I mean about boring here is the quick hop from Alabama Ave to VanSiclen with a westbound R160 departing the latter.



Here we are running from Crescent St to Cypress Hills where the center track is restored temporarily for a pocket track type crossover interlocking. Rounding the curve at Cypress Hills we encounter another westbound R160 set with wheels squealing all around. Also note the home signal changing from Stop and Proceed to Approach Medium.



There evidence of a tie replacement programme as our train heads from Woodhaven to 104th St, flying over the LIRR Atlantic Branch in the process.



We encounter another short turnback pocket track between 104th St and 121st St.



Here we see that crossover replacement project in video form as our train departs 121st Street then dives back underground just feet from the LIRR main line.



Well its time to close out this R42 Round Trip back at the Jamaica Center. Again note the distance between the crossover and the platform which limits the TPH the terminal can handle. Also note how the train crosses over on an Approach Slow signal for some reason.