BULLETIN - MARCH, 2012 Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol
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The ERA BULLETIN - MARCH, 2012 Bulletin Electric Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated Vol. 55, No. 3 March, 2012 The Bulletin THIRD AVENUE’S POOR FINANCIAL CONDITION LED Published by the Electric TO ITS CAR BUILDING PROGRAM 75 YEARS AGO Railroaders’ Association, Incorporated, PO Box (Continued from February, 2012 issue) 3323, New York, New York 10163-3323. In the previous issue, we explained how the also developed a dynamic brake, which was company began its rebuilding program in installed on the Yonkers cars operating on For general inquiries, 1934. At that time, Third Avenue began the extremely hilly terrain. Retardation faded as contact us at bulletin@ rebuilding of 100 single-truck steel converti- car speed decreased. It also served as an erausa.org or by phone bles by lengthening them, installing bolsters, emergency brake, which could slow down the at (212) 986-4482 (voice and converting them to double-truck cars. car if the air brakes failed. Because auto- mail available). ERA’s These cars weighed approximately 39,000 matic acceleration was too expensive, the website is www.erausa.org. pounds and seated 54 passengers. These company installed a series-parallel controller rebuilds weighed approximately 4,000 where the rate of acceleration was at the dis- Editorial Staff: pounds less than the older wood and steel cretion of the Motorman. Editor-in-Chief: cars, which weighed approximately 43,000 Cars were illuminated by twenty 30-volt Bernard Linder News Editor: pounds and seated 48 passengers. Weight bare bulbs in series. If one bulb burned out, it Randy Glucksman was reduced by using aluminum alloy tubing short-circuited internally and the others were Contributing Editor: instead of painted steel pipe and black enam- slightly brighter. On older cars with five 130- Jeffrey Erlitz eled steel pipe in most of the rebuilt cars. volt bulbs in series, all bulbs were dark when The window sash in all new and rebuilt cars one burned out. Production Manager: David Ross was made of extruded aluminum alloy. The The 300-series cars weighed 38,100 Hunter rubber glazing arrangement provided pounds, nearly 1,000 pounds lighter than the rounded corners and permitted reglazing rebuilt 100-series cars. without removing the sash. CAR ASSIGNMENT Third Avenue built cars 101 and 301-400 in New and rebuilt cars were placed in service ©2012 Electric its own shops. It was able to reduce cost and on the following Manhattan lines: Railroaders’ weight by using mild steel bodies and equip- Association, ping cars with aluminum alloy stanchions, LINE FIRST CAR ALL CARS Incorporated grab handles, seat back handles, and sash. Broadway (83 cars) November 21, December 30, Cars were equipped with full safety car 1934 1935 straight air brake equipment. Instead of the Tenth Avenue December 23, July 1, 1937 standard spring-loaded safety car controller 1935 handle, cars were equipped with a self- Third and Amsterdam March 19, 1936 August 17, In This Issue: lapping brake valve housed in a spring- Avenue (65 cars) 1936 loaded pedal-operated mechanism. Brakes History of the Broadway-Amsterdam December 31, N/A were released by depressing the pedal and th A Train Avenue & 125 Street 1937 applied by allowing the pedal to rise, serving th (Continued) as a dead man control. Depressing the pedal 125 Street Cross- December 31, N/A town 1937 ...Page 2 also closed the entrance door. The brakes could not be released until the rear treadle (Continued on page 4) door was closed. Third Avenue’s engineers 1 NEW YORKERA DIVISION BULLETIN BULLETIN - MARCH, OCTOBER, 2012 2000 HISTORY OF THE A TRAIN by George Chiasson A TRAIN ROLLING STOCK a result some R-6s were brought back to 207th Street In a way, A and AA are the only subway routes with a from Concourse. When the Rockaway Line was opened pre-history of rolling stock, as the first 20 R-1 cars were in June, 1956, a group of R-16s was assigned to Pitkin temporarily stationed at Coney Island and trial operated and used in rush hours on A and E. These were usu- as up to two 8-car trains on BMT’s “4” Sea Beach Ex- ally directed to Lefferts Boulevard along with the R-10s, press line from July 8 through November 27, 1931. as the power available to the extension off Long Island When the test was completed, these 20 were returned Lighting Company’s grid initially proved to be some- to 207th Street, where all 300 R-1s were based when times insufficient for the needs of 4-motored SMEE IND service commenced on September 10, 1932. In cars. This situation was rectified by September, 1956, at general the R-1 and R-4 classes (beginning November which time the R-10s and R-16s were released for pos- 23, 1932) were mixed together on A through the first sible full-time use on A (all services). The R-16s then year, but when Concourse Yard was placed in operation lasted two years and were returned to the BMT lines by with the inauguration of and CC service to the Bronx September of 1958. When the R-16s were assigned to C th on July 1, 1933, the R-1s were shifted over there and Pitkin in June, 1956, the R-7As at 207 Street were thus departed . The various groups of R-6 cars were then bumped back to Jamaica in support of early E A th delivered starting in December, 1935 and used on A service to the Rockaways. In 1962 the 207 Street and along with the R-4s as they continued to arrive through Concourse fleets of R-4/6/7 cars were commonly most of 1936. The R-4s and R-6s were then joined by pooled on five routes (A/AA/BB/CC/D) and were re- R-7s brought over from Queens starting in October of united with some of the R-1s, which were transferred 1940, after the R-9s were placed in service at Jamaica back from Jamaica in June, 1964. This then remained and in advance of the Sixth Avenue Subway’s opening, the status quo for several years, as confirmed by an and so it was the first generation of R-4/6/7 equipment assignment listing dated October 1, 1966, though proto- held down all A service for most of that decade. type 1575 had been shifted to Jamaica about that time. New R-10 equipment began to arrive in September, What R-7 cars there were departed A for Queens in 1948 for assignment to A and starting even before they February, 1967, as did the remaining R-6s in time for became operational on November 20, 1948, replaced the opening of Chrystie Street on November 26. As the slant R-40 fleet arrived in Queens through 1968 a num- the R-6s and R-7s on A, which were forwarded to Con- th course and Jamaica (though R-10 prototype 1575 (an ber of its R-4 types were sent to 207 Street and most R-7A with an R-10 body) was also delivered to 207th of the original R-1s gone from A by August 31 of that Street ahead of the R-10s in 1947). The R-10s were year. Finally, the first run of a “modern” SMEE train on temporarily quartered at 207th Street, then relocated to A was recorded as a rerouted slant R-40 off E on Feb- the new shop at Pitkin Avenue on the Brooklyn-Queens ruary 13, 1969. That proved to be it though, until the air- boundary when the Euclid Avenue extension opened on conditioned R-42s were integrated into the Subdivision November 28. Indeed, the R-10s were quickly estab- “B” fleet by being spread among as many lines as pos- lished as the base fleet for the A train by mid-1949 and sible, with a small allocation starting service on A to (despite early suspension problems with their trucks) Lefferts Boulevard as of May 29. As the year 1969 went would run there full-time for almost 30 years thereafter. on these began to run in mixed consists with existing The lone R-11 experimental train was shifted from Ja- equipment, a circumstance which on A would find them maica to 207th Street in November, 1953 and as a result blended with 20-year old R-10s on occasion. One was would appear on occasionally until July, 1954. In so observed on June 20, followed by various combina- A th September, 1953 there was a major shift in R-1/9 equip- tions with 207 Street-based R-32s and Pitkin-based R- ment to remove R-4s (on which running light lenses had 10s by September. Whatever the case, the R-42s were to be changed manually) from AA, and as a result both needed elsewhere and pulled completely off A when it and A then used only R-7s brought over from Ja- summer was over, as of September 29. They came maica, which had switch-controlled running lights. back on November 15 (by this time running to both Lef- In July, 1954 the R-7s were joined by some R-7As that ferts Boulevard and Far Rockaway) and all was rela- arrived from Queens as part of the process of stocking tively tranquil, if not entirely jumbled, until a new assign- up at Concourse for the imminent extension of D ser- ment went into effect on March 9, 1970. This effectively vice to Coney Island via the BMT Culver Line. In 1955, marked the end of the overall slant R-40/R-40M/R-42 delivery of the new R-16s to East New York allowed phase-in, as well as mixed SMEE consists and R-1 to additional cars to be shifted for fleet expansion, and as R-9s (actually R-1 to R-4s) on A.