quote:

Originally posted by railfare on the Real Trains forum:
"My love and fascination of subways probably started at age 15 when I "operated" a train of R9's from Broadway/Lafayette to West 4th! I distinctly remember how much pressure was needed on the controller to keep it from popping up and triggering the "dead man's" feature. Yes, the motorman was in the cab as well and his hand was firmly on the brake handle, but I had the the genuine thrill of accelerating the train! It was exhilarating and an experience I'll never forget.

It was a different time and place back then, and I'm sure this could not happen today."

My above post on the Real Trains forum yesterday got me wondering just how all of the OGR Subway guys here originally got hooked on subways, traction and trolleys. So don't be shy. Let it all hang out...

Elliot

I always loved the subways Started when I used to visit my Aunt that lived on Stillwell Ave The back window was Stillwell terminal I was glued to the bak window. When I was about 10 I made my first solo subway ride to go to where else MAdison Hardware on 23 street I made friends with Carl and made that trip about twice a week. While in high school I used to cut classes and just ride the subways I travelled every mile of every line in the subway in the early 70's

For me it was tagging along with my father as he drove (OK...is drove the right word?) the J line through Brooklyn and Queens. I never got to do more than just look through the cab door; but looking out of the front window was still a lot of fun. I could stand there for hours as we traveled through the dark tunnels then up onto the el structure. Watching him stop the train in the middle of nowhere to let maintenance workers was always cool too.

Before I could talk, my parents told me that I had to stay under the Brighton EL. My grandmother lives in Brighton Beach, so as a toddler, my mother would stand under the el, so i can watch the then- D Train go by... When I was 1 1/2, my mother told me, that a friend of hers were throwing a birthday party for there 2 year old daughter. Where was the party? Somewhere along McDonald Av.. You know what that meant; Yup , on a cold rainy day in March '86, my mother had to stand outside under the Culver El so I cant watch the F Train go by...I had a fit if we went inside..
My uncle was a Token clerk for some 20 years, so by the time I was 4, him and I would ride most of the Southern BMT. He lived in Queens, and every other weekend, my aunt and uncle would come to Brighton, to my grandmothers, and I would come over from Staten Island. My uncle and I would disappear for at least 4 hours. From Brighton Beach, Coney Island D Train to Stillwell. Manhattan-Bound B via West End to 25 Av. Get off for lunch at McDonalds on 86 St/23 Av. Walk to Bay Pkwy, Manhattan-Bound B to 62 St or 36 St for a Coney Island-Bound N Back to Stillwell; D back to Brighton Beach.

From then on, subways, have been in my blood. So basically, my whole life... lol..

Zach

OH! I'm sorry, you meant the real ones. Well it's the el's in Brooklyn and all those trips in NY riding in Manhattan.

All I can say is that as a kid from the ghetto, the train was the ONLY way to get around. I cant say the subway was an addiction as much as it was a part of the family, like a favorite uncle that would take you places and let you see things you wouldnt see at home. I think what really clinched things was in 1977 when my grandmother took me on a trip. we got off the train at Hoyt/Schemerhorn and crossed over to one of the outer tracks. There sat a set of BMT Standards, and I found out that I was going on a Nostalgia Ride. First stop was what would become the Transit Museum, which for a 6 year old was quite a mind blower. Then the train took us out to Rockaway. I still remember getting pistachio Ice cream on the boardwalk before we boarded the train again. When I was old enough, I would ride the train every chance I got. I can even be sound asleep on the 6 and know when we were about to enter my home stop, just by the changes in the sounds in the tunnel. Many a Saturday night I trudged home from a night of debauchery to wait for the good ol #6. I even remember the sounds the old cars made ( the pitch on the MTH sets is a bit off) In 2007, I took my grandmother and mom on a ride on the R1's. As of today I have both the Stabdards and the R1 sets, and they are my favorites simply because of the connection to my grandmother. I have an R26 because the 6 is my train, and even though I live in queens now, every time I see that white 6 in that green circle or diamond, I get that curious mix of pride, pleasure, and wistfulness one gets when they see a reminder of home.

when living in Chicago hearing the sounds of the cta EL trains stop at nite at Irving park station. Knowing the next day my grandmother would take me for a long ride downtown. Of course I'll try to get the rail fan seat and watch the motorman in action. If we had time we would change trains a couple of times so that i'd ride both the old and new cars. Sunday's where a plus as we took the swift for a ride! To this day I enjoy the system and that is why I model a very, very small part of the cta and north shore. As a young man stationed in Berlin with the U.S. Army I was given the chance to be a guest motorman with the BVG on the U- Bahn line. That was a real blast going thru station stops
with our own subway train and the look on the people waiting for there subway train. After that we where there special guest at the BVG club. (the beer was great too). I do look forward to New York and checking out there much talked about system and motorman for a hour at a east coast train museum. Bruce

Sorry for the long post but thinking about this has unleashed a flood of memories.

My earliest memory of the subway is riding the IRT West Side line in the old brown cars (Hi-V's?) in the late 50's. As a little boy I often wore shorts and the straw-like ticking on the seat cushions would poke my thighs. The big overhead fans would be clicking as they turned, and there was a huge (to a little boy) brake wheel in the end vestibule that I enjoyed playing with. My mom wouldn't stand in the vestibule because she said it smelled bad from people taking leaks in there when they couldn't hold it any more.

But what I liked the most about the cars was the sound they made. First as the cars began to roll they would make a very low buzz that gradually wound up to a screaming whine as they rolled out of the station. Then the motorman would cut the throttle and the train would coast toward the next station, the rail joints making the cars bounce along the track. The windows would be open on hot days and the dirty air from the tunnel would blow through them. The air compressors would cut in and tick and hum as the train rolled along. Every once in a while the air pressure would reach its limit and the system would dump the excess with a loud PSSSSCCCHHHHHAAAAWWWWWWW sound. When the motorman cut the traction motors in again the lights in the car would dim.

When the train arrived at the next station and came to a halt, the big one-leaf doors would slide open with another characteristic rolling sort of sound. And then if the train was held in the station for a while, there would be silence from the train except for the fans ticking overhead and the occasional air compressor starting up then shutting off. And of course, no station announcements. The stations didn't seem as hot back then as they do now because then there weren't any air conditioners on the cars dumping loads of hot air into the stations, and the motion of the trains helped to move the air in and out through the ventilation grates in the tunnels and stations.

I was hooked on subways the same way I was hooked on:
-the wide sidewalks of my neighborhood and the big park-like median down the middle of Broadway (which in fact disguised a passive ventilation system for the subway tunnel),
-Riverside Drive Park on one side of my neighborhood and Central Park on the other side,
-the fireworks every Tuesday night on the Hudson River in the summer,
-the mobile amusement rides that came down our street in the summer,
-the short stubby coal trucks that would unload into the basements of houses with the coal making a deafening clatter on the metal chutes,
-the Mr Softee truck,
-visiting Joe the Butcher in the Garden Supermarket on Broadway across from the Nemo Theater and buying illegal tickets from him for the "Irish Sweepstakes",
-the junk man coming down Broadway still using a horse drawn wagon with a string of cow bells across the wagon tinkling,
-taking the bus from the vacant lot across from the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (before the Port Authority Bus Terminal was built) to Palisades Amusement Park in the green wilds of New Jersey,
-and all the other things about New York in the late 50's and early 60's that made it a wonderful place for a kid to grow up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: West Side Joe,

I've been a subway/"L" guy my entire life (62 yrs) I grew up on the "nort" side of Chicago and lived there until I married when we moved to Arlington Heights. As a kid my mom would take us downtown via the Montrose trolley bus (remember those?)the Ravenswood L (brown line?) transfer at Belmont to the Howard line (red line). I went to HS for 2 years in the north loop and rode the Ravenswood and Howard lines each school day, getting off at Chicago and State. I went to college at UIC and rode the Milwaukee bus to Logan Square Terminal (blue line) that dropped me off right on campus. That was before it was extended as a subway and surface line out the Kennedy and eventually to O'Hare. My senior yesar I got a car and chose to fight Kennedy rush hour traffic and searching for a parking place.

I have great memories of the old "L" cars. The hanging straps, the conductors peering out the windows to close the doors and announce stops. Seeing the North Shore trains on the Howard line elevated and Loop "L" was always a treat. I never rode the CNW commuter line until we moved to Arlington Hts. I worked in Park Ridge and would take the Blue line from Cumberland or River Road whenver I could if I had to go into the city. As a family we would often take our kids downtown by driving to River Road leave the car there and hop on the Blue line. Their suburban friends could never figure out why they didn't take the car all the way into the city.

So I guess it's natural that now I have two MTH CTA sets; an uncataloged employee set I found on e-bay and purchased from an employee, and the new green and cream set. Sorry to see that MTH dropped its licensing agreement with the CTA. I was hoping they'd issue one of the older style units.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: lioneljim,

It's interesting how similar all our stories are. Not just the subways, but beloved parents and grandparents associated with them. For me, New York in the '40s and '50s was a wonderland for a kid. Not just Radio City and the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan, but transferring from the F train at 74th Street in Queens to the Triboro Q19B bus home to Jackson Heights. Between the subway and the bus, I still remember those wonderful smells in the Horn and Hardart store at the Victor Moore Arcade where we picked up our macaroni and rice pudding to be consumed later. And the best parts were the subway rides in between looking out the front door.

My addiction became really hard core in the '50s and '60s riding the rapid transit to high school in Cleveland. Still have the greatest affection for those beautiful blue and silver trains.

got a few more..Coming back from visiting moms friend in parkchester, staring at the trains laid up on the express track... riding outdoors at night, watching the blus flash from an electrical arc light up the buildings alongside the el... smelling the diesel exhaust of the work train as it sat on the center track at #rd ave/138 street... discovering an abandoned station hidden in the tunnel gloom as you rolled past... racing cars on the Williamsburg and manhattan bridges... hiding from the conductor to see the City Hall Station... Riging between the cars on the Lex express... noticing the difference in motor sounds from the old cars and the refurbished redbirds... the flicker of the lights as you rolled over a switch... the trhill of skipping a stop on the local... Great childhood memories.

Well, for me it started real early - my mom's water actually broke on the 1 train! Apparantly I was ready to ride the train for myself! Then starting from the time I was 2 weeks old until I started kindergarten at 5, I rode the subway to work with my mom everyday. This was the mid 70s so I guess it was a pretty nasty time in the subways, but I still loved it. Been hooked ever since. Every toy train I ever got was a subway to me. I even made a subway out of milk cartons covered in construction paper connected with pipe cleaners. Not quite kadee couplers, but they worked. Closest I ever came to a real subway model was an N scale Japanese subway... until that wonderful day back in '99 when I discovered MTH. The rest is history.

where do i start?born in the bronx,but raised in brooknam lol.i rode subs since being a baby,the a and j lines,i remember i was about 5 or 6 my mother and i would wait for the train on the platform and wow another top to bottom masterpiece.we both would stare in amazement and wondered who?and how?and every time we took the sub,and i would always wonder and wait to see another work of art on the side of the sub.later in life i found the answers.i often took the train to school at age 12 by myself.the train was a nice place to meet many conquests.or just get me home from a nightclub at 4am.like PELHAM said,its a part of life to new yorkers.surfing the top of the a -line going to far rocaway,or riding the last car on the outside holding the door.it was thrilling but dum.or you have those moments when you ride the sub and across from you is a delicious girl,but you dont know if she feels you,untill you get off and look back at her and she smiles,then you say to yourself,dam,i knew i shouldve asked her for her phone and address.

To much to start, but since those subway rides to shea on those blue worlds fair r-36's and Slants, Slants, slants and those old r-10 A train rides too! And the Path K- car although my parents always called the Path trains the tubes. My grandfather worked out of hoboken for erie lackawanna, but all i wanted to do was ride the path, and that used to make him mad

Those K-cars were the GREATEST because in the late '50s, they were the only air-conditioned subway cars in the country.

Since i was a kid i always had something for subways i would love riding them and i would live one block from the west end line Now the d back then the b then a couple a yrs ago i found out about model railroading but a year late my parents bought another house and i had lots off space there then i bought my first subway set which was a r 17 yankee set from mth i wish i had the opportunity but im only 15 yrs old in high school

I think the coolest was waiting on the elevated #7 platform after a Mets game and feeling the whole structure sway left and right from some train coming to a stop somewhere in the distance.

I guess I was about ten or eleven when my parents decided that I could be allowed to run free on my own and roam loose in The Apple. Shortly thereafter my buddy and I spent many a Saturday riding at the window in the front car on each and every line in the city from end to end. Cheap entertainment it was. We just about freaked when we got to the grade crossing near the end of the Canarsie line, it had it all: gates, flashers, bell. Egad.

I figure that most subway enthusiasts are already aware of the BVE trainsim, but those who are not should google it immediately!

Pete

I received a hand-me-down trainset from an older cousin when i was about 4 years old, [Lionels of course], and loved playing with them. Then as a kid growing up in the south end of Brooklyn, the only way to get around was by car, bus or subway. These were the only "Real Trains" i ever saw growing up...not too many steam or diesel trains high balling past the 'hood. So the subway trains were the only trains i saw growing up that i could relate to.
Funny even though there were alot of trains on the "El", we still called them subway trains.
Later on, taking the subway to meet my father on the west side of Manhattan where he worked, i remember walking up West 28th street torwards the water, i heard this loud noise coming from above, looked up and saw "Real Trains" working overhead on the NYC Highline. The big black, dirty, loco had this huge "P.C." emblem on it's sides, and that's how i then got hooked on that great railroad known as the "Penn Central", later to fall into Conrail.

For me the interest in model and real subways came fairly recently when I discovered this subway forum and the wealth of information here. Thanks to Chris (NYSubway18) for his comparisons on the different subway models also helped my interest get started. I just thought it looked cool and was an interesting change of pace from what I was into before, which was some postwar and also modern conventional trains.

While I ride the DC metro (past 9 years on the red line), I was not interested in the MTH subways. I purchased an MTH PCC and with the station stops I took an interest in the R-27. After watching it at York, (and assured that it would not be another Acela in the repair dept) I purchased it. I have since expanded my electric traction by purchasing the MTH Electroliner (because of its greater than O31 requirements) it shares a line with an SF E6, Rdg F3 and Orient Express. As soon as I build a siding on my O54 elevated "L" "L", it will go on my R-27 loop.

I rode 3rd ave el and all the other subways in 50s, 60s. That was enough to hook me.

Growing up in New York City (Washington Heights) it was the only way my parents & myself were able to travel. The IND "A" train & the IRT # 1 were our main modes of transport. Having to go to school At McBurney School on 63rd street, I rode the subway 5 days a week to school along with my trusty "Subway Pass".

One of my favorite memories was back in 1959. Murray Kaufman from 1010 WINS was doing a stunt for some charity. He had to live & broadcast his show from The Hot Dog concession Stand at the 59 Street station of the IRT until someone showed up with a special silver subway token that was put into circulation with the regular gold tokens of The MTA. As I recall he stayed about 3 days down in the Subway until he threaten to quit WINS.

I could go on & on with memories & various sights that I witnessed. My Dad was in the IRT # 1 train at 181 street station back when they had the Great Northeast Blackout. He made his way through the tunnel & climbed the stairs to the street which I believe was something like 12 flights of stairs.

I think of these memories as I run my Redbirds & R-17's around amongst my regular trains

One of my 1st memories is remembering being carried on my grandfather's shoulder down Middletown Rd in the Bronx to the corner of Middletown Rd and Westechester Ave to see the #6 El trains go by...I guess I got hooked then.

Until I went to high school I had only travelled the 6, #4(to Yankee Stadium) and the #7(to Shea). High School (Cardinal Spellman) introduced me to the #5, Dyre Avenue. I always wondered why the Dyre Avenue line was so different, including the grand station building at 180th St. Years passed and I discovered the history of the New York Westchester and Boston commuter railroad that went under in the late 30's. The Dyre Ave line came from its line into the Bronx.

quote:

One of my favorite memories was back in 1959. Murray Kaufman from 1010 WINS

Wow Theres a blast from the past Murray the K and his swingin swarray

quote:

Originally posted by bluelinec4:

quote:

One of my favorite memories was back in 1959. Murray Kaufman from 1010 WINS

Wow Theres a blast from the past Murray the K and his swingin swarray

I know we're dating ourselves here, but I went to every show at the Brooklyn Fox with all of the other submarine race watchers!

Elliot

I only went to one Murray The K show at the Brooklyn Fox, but it was my very first concert without adult supervision (got there via sooty black R1 GG train from Carroll St. to Hoyt & Schermerhorn). I recall there were a handful of great acts, but what stood out for me at the time was The Lovin' Spoonful. Soon after that, we had our own little band going in Joe A's basement on Hoyt where it meets Carroll. And, I was travelling all over the city by subway, from Coney Island all the way up to Yankee Stadium, and almost always in the lead car (especially for that rise out of the Carroll Street station up to Smith & 9th. Man, I thought, it just doesn't get any better than this. Who knew...? for the memories.

quote:

What got you HOOKED on Subways?


answer "after joy riding the NYCTA subway trains, you'll be hooked forever".

Go to New York (city, state, county) the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Is.*

New York, New York is the official post office designation of Manhattan Borough

Find the stairs that lead up(down)to the elevated(underground)station platform

Notify your boss, wife, mother or whoever you report to that you're delayed

Tools are not required, unless you are the Motorman controlling the train.

Reply

*ride the free Staten Island ferry and SIRT south of St. George



www.njhirailers.com

I don't model transit. But when I was 17, I took Amtrak to Chicago. I could not believe the amount of transit there. Remember, I was in living in Houston at the time. I knew there had to be a better way to get around than to put down another yard of concrete!