I still have no premier subways...everything I have is railking. I'm still trying decide on this set and I'm trying to sway myself into buying one. Any upside to one over the other. One set more rare than the other? Lets hear your comments?

thanks

rat

I bought the silver door version because it ran on, and has signage and station stops, for the Brighton Beach Q train.

I think it's going to come down to your personal preference. Both sets are beautiful. Basically the only differences are minor roof details, blue doors vs. silver doors, R34 has separate added headlights, and the end signage...

R11:
1 BRIGHTON - BRIGHTON BEACH
1 BRIGHTON - QUEENS PLAZA VIA BRIDGE

R34:
3 WEST END - CONEY ISLAND VIA BRIDGE
3 WEST END - 57TH ST-MAN VIA BRIDGE

...all of which are prototypically correct for their respective models.

Major choices -
1. Color of doors
2. Route destinations

After running both sets this past week, I personally really like the look of the all silver R11 better. I think it just looks cooler, but I do love them both.

Check out the pics and video threads I posted for a more in-depth look to help with your decision.

R11 and R34 Pics

R11s in Action!

R34s in Action!

good answers. I think the signage will do it, since Queens Plaza was always on my route.


now on a tangent...why do you think the R40's are still around?

rat

They probably just produced way more than were ordered, and with their cost and the current economy people may just haven't gotten a chance to get them yet. The roof vent "issue" may have scared some people off - or annoyed others to no end, right SIRT? It's ashame, but the sets are still beautiful, and I would never give mine up. I have two 6 car sets. I plan to modify one of them into an "A" with no monster end gates.

I bought the R34s because its the more current version, I prefer the blue doors and the fact that it was the pre-cursor for the B train, a route I became pretty familiar with back in my night-owling days...

Still waiting for my 6 car R11 from Jims Train Shop.. It seems Im guna have to break down and get a 6 car R34 set as well. lol.. Love my Southern BMT routes! But my Brighton Line comes first, ALWAYS! lol

My thinking is that the QUEENS PLAZA signage on the R11 referred to the El station on the Flushing/Astoria Els rather than the subway station on the E and F lines. This was the original terminal for the BMT subway cars before the joint operation with the IRT was ended.

quote:

Originally posted by NYSubway18:

...After running both sets this past week, I personally really like the look of the all silver R11 better. I think it just looks cooler, but I do love them both.

I'm with you, Chris. I have both sets but prefer the sleek look of the all-silver cars. The blue doors look too much like the R32's. And like Barry, the Brighton-Queens Plaza route means more to me than the R34's signage. When it comes down to choosing one, it's all subjective and a matter of personal preference.

Elliot

quote:

Originally posted by NYSubway18:
with no monster end gates.

so you are going to remove the gates? were there such prototypes?

Yes. That's how they were originally delivered, before the safety suits started messing with them. Check out the progression of the R40 about halfway down this page...
http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r40.html

As delivered - Clean...


The first bars added...


Just end gates added...


From here, they were quickly turned into the monsters we all know today.

unfortunately, the ugly additions were necessary to protect the stupid, the insane, and the innatentive from falling between the cars. just think of how bad it would be today, with all the Ipod listening, Ceackberry texting nimrods running around platforms these days...

I like them much better without the junk in front.

Chris, I'm sure the R40's designer, Raymond Lowey agreed with you.

Just a bit of trivia... Did you know that the designer of the R40 slants also designed these:





 


Elliot

very cool ,but whats the first pic....a lunch box?

Looks like a soda dispensing machine for a diner or something

quote:

Originally posted by CCrider:
very cool ,but whats the first pic....a lunch box?

Yeah, right! I forgot that you younger guys wouldn't remember a classic soda fountain Coke dispenser... or even the Studebaker. It was a great car but like the Edsel was cool before it's time.

Elliot

Lowery is also credited with telling the Pennsy to weld, rather than rivet, the GG-1. And was involved in numerous other industrial design projects. In The Aviator, Hughes fires him from designing the interior of the TWA Continentals because one of his competitors knows a design detail that could only have come from somebody on the inside.

Lockheed Consolidation, not Continental. Mea culpa.

Too early. Constellation. And that's my final answer.