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Yesterday's Trip |
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Posted by R36 #9346 on Sat Sep 1 08:54:21 2007 Yesterday, I took a little trip, with three phases.Phase 1: Broadway Junction. I had heard something about an interesting G/O where L trains from Canarsie would terminate at the Eastern Parkway J platform. I missed a southbound Q39 and eventually caught a northbound Q39 which I took to the G train. After sprinting to catch an L train of R160 cars, I discovered that the G/O must have finished early since it was after 11 AM, and the train was going to Canarsie. So Phase 1 was abandoned, and I immediately moved on to Phase 2. Phase 2: Coney Island. Having not visited Coney Island all summer, I decided to take a trip down there and take a few pics of the 'hood before the summer ends. I'll post the pics to OTChat later. On the journey, I took the C to the FAS, and transferred to a southbound Brighton Line train. Was it an N or a B? As part of my trip yesterday, I made a transfer from the Franklin Avenue Shuttle to the southbound Brighton Line. As I'm crossing over the tracks, I notice a train of R68 cars pulling in on the southbound express track and immediately proceed to board the train. A quick glance of the signs told me that this train was either lost, confused, or rerouted. The signs in the car I boarded showed (N)|Astoria|Coney Island. "An N on the Brighton? Weird," I thought, but since I was going to Coney Island anyway, I figured I'd go along for the ride. It continued down the express tracks and called at Church Avenue. That's when I moved into the next car forward, and to my surprise, one sign showed (N)|Astoria|Coney Island, but exhibited a case of Upside-down Letter Syndrome, since an upside-down <Q> was peeking through on the exterior side of the sign. The other sign showed (B)|Astoria|Coney Island. The train continued on to Newkirk Avenue. I moved to the next car and discovered another car that appeared to be confused. This time, both signs were showing (B)|Bedford Park Bl|Brighton Beach, but the sign nearest the corner cab was showing 6th Avenue B, and the sign nearest the full-width cab was showing Broadway B! The train called next at Kings Highway, where I had to bypass the next car forward due to the fact that all its doors were closed, and go into the next car forward of the closed car. This car was properly signed for N service as well. Now, I'm thinking, "This train is either going to Coney Island, or Brighton Beach. If the train doesn't know where it's going, how should I?" Since we didn't pass any Q trains going southbound, they probably should fill the gap by sending this BeN down to Coney. We get to Sheepshead Bay and I go to the front car, which is properly signed for B service. Then came the moment of truth: the interlocking north of Brighton Beach. If we go to the local track, we're going to Coney. If not, our best bet is this being a Brighton Beach B. Sure enough, we pull in on 3 track at Brighton Beach, and get the last stop call. Since there wasn't a Q in sight, I went through the train, taking some pics and taking notes on this confused consist. From the north end: Car 2814 was properly signed for B service. Car 2815 had both signs reading (B)|Astoria|Coney Island. Car 2813 was properly signed for N service. Car 2812's 1 sign was set (B)|Astoria|Coney Island, while the 2 sign's ULS notwithstanding, was properly signed for (N) service. Car 2856 was almost properly signed for B service. The only deviation being the route sign on the 1 side was showing Broadway (yellow) B. Car 2857 was properly signed for N service. Car 2859 also. Car 2858 was properly signed for B service. When my Q train finally arrived, I got on and looked at this confused train as we left. The front sign (which I never saw until this point, since the front of the train had already entered the station as I crossed over the tracks) said B. I guess it was a B train after all. taking the pics and grabbing some lunch at Popeye's, I headed over to the N train and boarded car 8850 (W00T! the Siemens set). Another interesting thing, it was signed up as an N via the West End line. For a moment the FIND went blank, and came back up, showing Bay Parkway was the next stop, and the local stations were Will Not Stop'd (W00T²! West End Express). I got off at 9th Avenue and photographed the next two N trains as they went around the curve. The second N train was an R160 set, and a moment later, a D train showed up. The C/R of the N announced that the D would leave first, so I got on the D. I went from 9th Avenue to 7th Avenue, and it took 30 minutes. At 7th Avenue, I hopped on the E train to proceed to Phase 3. Phase 3: Cannonball East of Jamaica. Up until yesterday, all of my photos of the Cannonball were at locations west of Jamaica (HPA, Woodside, 60th Road). I wanted to take a stab of getting one pic of it from a location east of Jamaica. I had taken trains to Freeport before, and as I pass by the Laurelton and Rosedale stations, I was interested in the fact the latter has a TTTPT track/platform configuration, so I figure that would be the optimum choice for the purpose. Before the trip, I had planned to take either the Q5 or Q85 to the Rosedale station to get there just about when the Cannonball was scheduled to leave Jamaica. I got to the surface just in time to see the Q5 (which was the later of my two target buses) pulling away. All was not lost, though. I walked a bit past the other bus stops along Archer Avenue, when I see something on the ground that saved the trip. An unused Long Island Rail Road ticket which was printed almost two hours before I found it. I went over to the Jamaica station to get a refund (which I may not have needed, since the ticket as printed was Jamaica to Nostrand Avenue, but since I wanted to go Rosedale to Woodside, I didn't want any conductors telling me that I was on the wrong train). I photgraphed the Cannonball as well as a few other trains, and got on the train that would take me back to Jamaica, where I would catch the train to Woodside. The latter train had come from Ronkonkoma, so it was über-crowded. It was making all stops between Jamaica and Penn Station. Apparently one guy didn't get the clue that at Forest Hills, you need to be in one of the first 4 cars (I was in the 5th). The train stopped at FH just off the platform, and I told him that he needed to be in the next car forward, and he rushed out. I got to Woodside and took the 7 train home. Pics have been uploaded, but will be posted later since I don't have time to post them now. After |
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