7 goes Robo


I remember the good ol days..the 7 could take 45 minutes or 2 hours from end to end.

rat

The new system will have indicators to tell you how soon the next train is expected in the station.

But one of my little time-wasters while waiting for a train has always been leaning out over the edge of the platform to see when the headlights appear. It just won't be the same!

quote:

Originally posted by West Side Joe:
The new system will have indicators to tell you how soon the next train is expected in the station.

But one of my little time-wasters while waiting for a train has always been leaning out over the edge of the platform to see when the headlights appear. It just won't be the same!

Joe,

I enjoy reading the posts in this segment of the Forum and yours as well. I am a fair bit on the # 7 line on Fridays. I enjoy riding that line because of its cultural mosaic and varied scenery. I have spoken to many a stranger on this line, just out of nowhere, someone will say something to me (sometimes in Spanish which I do not speak) and we would chat.I have shared apples and snacks with people, given my seat to pregnant mothers. It has always been a fascinating experience and continues to be. I recall one such experience last year when a couple of colleagues had heard that a bunch of buddhist monks were going to show up in a temple in Queens, to chant. We were all stressed out and decided that it would be a good thing to calm down and go and listen to the chants. We had to ride all the way to the end of the line and catch a bus after. So at the end of the line, there was an announcement that there was police activity outside the station. We got out and looking around, indeed, there were fire trucks and police cars everywhere, and what we saw were the burnt facade of a two storey building. At the top you could still see the sign "Nail Salon" and the bottom sign said "Psychic Reading". My friend Joe, from Brooklyn, said loud and clear: "Did the Psychic not see this coming?" It was sad to see people's livelihood come to a brutal end, but that is Joe,he does not hold back at times and we could not help but share his sense of humor. I think we were all burnt out from work and had to laugh a little.

Also there is one part of the line where you can see graffiti on the buildings I can't recall where).

Next time I see someone leaning over the edge of the platform like an arched bridge, I will know that it is you


Here is a pic when the line was under construction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...LineConstruction.jpg

The MTA does a tour that I've really wanted to try which is an eating tour of the 7. You ride the 7 line and get off and try the many different types of foods along the line. One of these times I definitely am going to make it.

quote:

Originally posted by NYSubway18:
The MTA does a tour that I've really wanted to try which is an eating tour of the 7. You ride the 7 line and get off and try the many different types of foods along the line. One of these times I definitely am going to make it.

Chris, now you are talking, count me in. Prairie

You might want to take your wife to have an Italian ice. There is nothing as rewarding after some volunteer work to have something nice to eat along the # 7 line, and all those shops to sneak in and out of ... in search of a bargain...

http://queens.about.com/od/eat...r/lemon_ice_king.htm

The Lemon Ice King of Corona

- 52-02 108th Street (at the corner of Corona Avenue and 52nd/Strong Avenue), Corona, NY.

By Subway - Take the 7 subway to 111th Street and walk south 1/2 mile.
By Car - Take the LIE to the 108th Street Exit and go north eight blocks.
When made best, the fruit ices have real peel and leaves and fruit chunks for the greatest flavor.

I can't visualize 1/2 mile walk, to the Lemon Ice King,,,from 111th. Seems alot longer than that.

#7 shows up in the beginning of Spiderman Movie and Death Wish ..coincidentally both on queens boulevard.

rat

When I retire I would like to return to all the subway lines of my youth, maybe one a week, and ride them again to see how things have changed. I think I would get out at the more notable stations (168th and 181st on the number one, for instance) to see how they look today. And I would stand at the doors as soon as the train emerged from the tunnel to look at the changed landscape. Too bad I can't stand at the front any more.

I might even try what my father liked to do, that is, ride to the end of one line, get out and walk to the end of the next closest line, and come back.

quote:

When I retire I would like to return to all the subway lines of my youth, maybe one a week, and ride them again to see how things have changed

What a great idea! I started thinking about that for myself and realized all the lines that are gone from the system:
1. Third Avenue El from South Ferry and Park Row north to Botanical Gardens and Gun Hill Road
2. Polo Grounds Shuttle
3. Bowling Green to South Ferry Shuttle
4. Lexington Ave to Bronx Zoo spur

And In Brooklyn:
1. Myrtle ave El to Jay Street
2. Lexington Ave El Jay Street to Eastern Parkway
3. Fulton Street El Rockaway Avenue to Lefferts Blvd through the BMT complex at Broadway Junction.
4. The 14th street -Fulton El Express to Lefferts Blvd.
5. Jamaica El to 168th street
6. The Culver Line via tunnel to Coney Island.
7. The Brighton express Saturdays and Sundays Summer Franklin ave through Brighton Beach and Coney Island up the Sea Beach over the Manhattan Bridge South Trackway to Chamber Street.
8. Changing from BMT Standards, D Types or R-1-R-9s ( running on the 4th Ave Local) at Queensboro Plaza North Platforms for BMT Q cars to either Astoria or Flushing.

And on Staten Island,
1. the line to South Beach
2. North Shore Line to Arlington
You could get to these with the ferries from South Ferry in Manhattan or 69th street in Brooklyn

It was a regular thing with my dad to take a subway trip on a Saturday. Sometimes we would even venture to New Jersey for a run on the Erie, Lackawanna, West Shore or CNJ to Asbury Park. There was also the Long Island Ping Pongs on the runs to Rockaway park and Far Rockaway and the New Haven to Stamford.

Um, pardon the ignorance but...Long Island Ping Pongs?

The Long Island Railroad had a fleet of MP-54 cars used to provide in the electrified areas . There were two styles , one with a clerestory roof and another with a round roof. There were also non-powered versions of these cars in service as well. Each style had the PRR style porthole windows in the cars ends. They were referred to as "Ping Pongs" since they bounced arround when running between larger and heavier cars in trains.

In the post war period, these cars were joined by the double deckers and in the 1950s and 80's by Pullman Standard MP-72's .The MP54's remained in service until the early 1970's operating along side of the M1's.

On the Rockaway line over Jamaica Bay, the present route of the A Train, there was a service that operated in a round robin style running from Flatbush Ave to Rockaway Beach via Woodhaven Junction and Ozone Park. The train would return via Far Rockaway and Jamaica. Trains would also run the reverse pattern as well and the same service operated from Penn Station . At Ozone Park trains from/to both Flatbush Ave and Penn Staion would arrive using the same platform. Patrons could change trains at Ozone park if their destination was other than the terminal points of the train that they were on originally.

So in addition to " Change at Jamaica" there was also a lesser known " Change at Ozone Park " in those days.