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| Tuscarora Almanac for May 6 (1648148) | |||
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Tuscarora Almanac for May 6 |
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Posted by irtredbirdr33 on Wed May 6 07:42:59 2026 Tuscarora Almanac for May 6 and a Tuscarora Dispatch 1872 – from The Book of First Runs Watts Street Station on the 9th Avenue El is opened. 1952 – from The Book of Last Runs The final regularly scheduled steam powered passenger train on the Reading Railroad operated on the Newtown Branch. It was hauled by a Class G-1sa Pacific. 1960 – from The Book of Last Runs This is the last day of steam locomotive operation on the Norfolk & Western Railway. The last engine is service was Class S-1 291. Tuscarora Dispatch No 23 Green and Red R-17 A total of 17 R-17s were painted in the "Silver Fox" or "Redbird II" paint scheme. These cars were not rebuilt as were the R-26s thru R-33's but were repainted in order to match the rest of the fleet. Oddly enough some of these R-17's had been on the 42 Street Shuttle for years and even though they were panted white for a long time they were the only graffitti-free cars on the subway system. Nine of these cars were repainted first, 6614, 6616, 6618, 6619, 6620, 6623, 6624, 6626 and 6627. These were painted Fox-red and put in service on the Flushing Line in order to provide the eleventh car while the R-33WF single units were sent off for rebuilding. When the rebuilding was complete these cars were transferred to the 42 Street Shuttle and seven additional R-17s which had been running on the shuttle were also repainted; 6550, 6579, 6594, 6665, 6681, 6688 and 6699. These 16 R-17s survived all their brethren in passenger service and they outlasted the younger R-21s and R-22s as well. They ran on the shuttle until the latter part of 1987 and where then transferred to the #5 for their last few months. Once again in mainline service they could show a good turn of speed. The last run was on February 29, 1988. The last train had cars (N) 6620-6614-6550-6681-6579-6618-6624-6623-6619-6626(S). It left Flatbush Avenue at 8:06 PM for Dyre Avenue. One R-17 was painted into a "Pullman Green" paint scheme along with R-21 7075 for use as spares on the Green R-33 train. I did say 17 R-17s were painted Fox Red didn't I? The 17th one was 6743 which was painted red during the latter part of its stay one the Flushing Line but it doesn't seem to have made the cut for the 42 Street Shuttle. Scrapings: Two R-17's were wrecked beyond repair at Zerega Avenue on August 29, 1957 and were scrapped in 1959. Three R-17s were destroyed in the 42 Street Shuttle fire of April 21, 1964 and reportedly scrapped on the spot. (There were on track 3 and suffered the most damage.) 6580 was wrecked in a derailment at Chambers Street on September 25, 1965 and scrapped in July 1967. Preservation: Two R-17s have been preserved. 6609 is in the Transit Museum at Court Street. She arrived there on July 26, 1976 about a month after the museum opened. She is painted in the original maroon scheme. To the best of my knowledge she had not been used in passenger service from 1976 to 2003 when she began running on the March of Dimes trips. 6688 is of course alive and well at Branford thanks to the many sub-talkers up there who work to keep her running. She is in the more modern "Redbird II" paint scheme. Credit for much of the earlier post about 59 Street should go the late David Rogoff who wrote many articles about the history of the subway system. Credit for the R-17 information goes to two sources; first to a Mr. Eric Oszustowicz for an article entitled "The Last Days of the R-17s" and second me. Larry, RedbirdR33 |
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