In mid-2024 the Staten Island Railroad re-signaling project was well under way and I figured it would be worthwhile taking a ride down to Totenville to see what photos I could get. The answer to that latter question was "not many" ( mirror ), but a good time was still had by all.
Starting things off on the Staten Island Ferry I managed to score the MV John F. Kennedy and its famed open air promenade. This vessel would remain in service until 2021 before being purchased by SNL cast members Pete Davidson and Colin Jost in 2022 for use as a floating entertainment facility.
Of course the Andrew J. Barberi was running because it always is.
Because the MTA had yet to crack down on the practice, my friend and I did the hack where we walked to the Tompkinsville station to avoid the faregates at Saint George. Of course the primary reason was to get pictures of the signaling changes along that segment of the line. In 2004 the AIR's R44 fleet was also just kinda old and not disastrously old. Here is an outbound train seen from above south of the St. George tunnel.
Built by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the SIR used mostly B&O color position light dwarf signals with a single "high" mast heading into the St. George terminal. Most of the line used single direction automatic block system rules with interlockings only around the St. George and Tottenville terminals. The new signaling, seen below with the blue plastic covers, would convert the line to bi-directional operation with cab signals and wayside signals only at interlockings. However the B&O CPL "style" of signal would be retained, even if the MTA had to purchase PRR style hardware to implement it.
It seems that quite a few people were aware of the fare hack, which is why the MTA ultimately installed faregates at Tompkinsville.
Here is an example of an automatic block B&O CPL dwarf signal installed on the line during the last re-signaling in the 1950's. Because B&O CPL dwarfs use the same signal aspects as the "high" signals, there was little risk of confusion using dwarfs where a high signal might normally be employed. A replacement CPL dwarf on a stick mount can be seen in the foreground.