Reading about it ..in an air conditioned room


23rd st..from FNY

Interesting article...though it does have a mistake (I think). It claims that the Nostrand Ave A and C station is the only one where the local and express are on different levels. I believe on the upper east side express stations, that the 4,5 expresses and the 6 train are on different levels......

As far as riding trains in the heat of summer, I remember riding subways back in the 70's when a lot of trains were still not equipped for A/C and because of lack of maintenance the ones that did have it often didn't work.I remember getting stuck for 45 minutes in a stifling tunnel in 90 degree weather on the D line....not pleasant, to say the least.

Now if you really want to see misery, try the London underground when it gets hit with a heat wave..no a/c, and deep, poorly ventillated tunnels....

quote:

The person who dies with the best toys

is dead!

pretty cool,my brother lives up the block from this one.

In addition to the No strand Ave A,C and the Lexington Ave lines, other stations that have 2 levels are, &th Ave of the IND (E,D,B, 5th Ave, E and V, and if you want to count elevated, Gainsborough Plaza, 7,N and W, and West 8th Street in Brooklyn, Q, and F. Maybe also include the Boro Hall station in Brooklyn on the 2,3,4,5 lines? And of course abandon stations or no longer in service Bergen St on the G and F , lower level of the City Hall station on the R and W, 9th Ave on eh West End D and consider the Gun Hill RD station on the 2 and 5?


Steve

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bigkid:

As far as riding trains in the heat of summer, I remember riding subways back in the 70's when a lot of trains were still not equipped for A/C and because of lack of maintenance the ones that did have it often didn't work.I remember getting stuck for 45 minutes in a stifling tunnel in 90 degree weather on the D line....not pleasant, to say the least.

Riding the "D" train in the 70's in the cold of winter was also an experience because heated cars were also hard to find...the of course any heat in the car would dissappear every time the doors opened at a station stop. Brrrrrr!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by MRCRRTECH:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by bigkid:

As far as riding trains in the heat of summer, I remember riding subways back in the 70's when a lot of trains were still not equipped for A/C and because of lack of maintenance the ones that did have it often didn't work.I remember getting stuck for 45 minutes in a stifling tunnel in 90 degree weather on the D line....not pleasant, to say the least.

Riding the "D" train in the 70's in the cold of winter was also an experience because heated cars were also hard to find...the of course any heat in the car would dissappear every time the doors opened at a station stop. Brrrrrr!!!!

Yeah, especially on the elevated portions of lines. I remember riding the D train out to Coney Island in the middle of winter on the outdoor portions, or the 5 train in the bronx, and when the doors opened *grrr*. Then, of course, back then you had the trains in summer that had their heat kick on, or in winter whose heat control must have been shorted, because it must have been 95 degrees in the car.

Not to mention the track fires, derailments, motors burning out, doors that didn't quite open or shut right, subway maps covered by graffitti, they were the good ole days *not*. A friend of mine and I 'did the system' in the fall of 1979 and it was an, um, enlightening experience (for the record, we were nowhere near record time, I think we ended up close to 30 hours).....on the other hand, to two 16 year olds, it was kind of interesting, especially being kids who were growing up in the boring burbs

Air conditioning??? ....on subways???

Back in the 50s, the only places we knew that had A/C were the movies, usually the Paradise or the Luxor.

Jim

Thats right Jim....If the Movie had Air Conditioning , there was a Blue banner hanging from the Marquee that it was Ice Cold inside the air conditioned theatre.

I can remember that the 14th street station on the Lexington Ave Line didn't cool down from the summer heat until October.

The Pullman Standard cars on the LIRR in the mid 1950's just at the end of steam were the only cars with Air conditioning and there were not too many of those in service. Open Windows for the rest of us.

The Gate cars on the Myrtle Ave El had convertible sides so they were open air in the Summer time.

yes, i remember early very frigid winter mornings at the Kings Highway "D" station on East 16th street...The sun just coming up through those bleak winter clouds...the fresh fallen snow crunching under your feet as you made your way to the front of the platform

Reminds me of stories from the late 50's or so.....post WWII, lot more places had a/c, and people were clamoring for the subways to have a/c, but the TA said it was impossible, etc. They then, according to Stan Fischler, built a prototype car that failed and they said "I told you so".......(turned out the a/c units were too small, and also badly mounted to they couldn't be repaired)..that was the party line I hear until someone pointed out the PATH had started running A/C trains, and they were working fine.

to answer this thead..........ridin a juicy caboose in a air conditioned bedroom.

Definitely not thinking about trains

quote:

Originally posted by CCrider:
to answer this thead..........ridin a juicy caboose in a air conditioned bedroom.

i'm not sure my wife would approve of a caboose, juicy or otherwise in the bedroom..it won't match the decor...lol

Thinking about the hot summer, imagine what it must have been like:

A)riding on the els when they had steam locomotives, or even regular railroads, with no real ventillation other then an open window, and with the engine pouring out soot and sparks.
B)Riding the original London Undergroud, when it still used steam locomotives
C)Riding the Underground of today, with deep bore tunnels and no a/c
D)Riding the old Delaware, Lackawanna and Western MU cars (what is now New Jersey Transits Morristown and Gladstone branches)in summer, with dirty floors, wicker seats and only an open window for a breeze (that I know only too well, they ran those until 1984, when they finally converted to modern electrified trains with *gasp* a/c. I really felt for the women commuting, given the nature of women's clothing and makeup, how the heck they could keep themselves from melting in the heat (long before the era where women wear what looks like beach-wear to the office