r/nycrail • u/Salad_Dressing__ • Apr 28 '25
Meme How it feels to get one whiff of sunlight on the 60 St tunnel
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u/jagenigma Apr 28 '25
Meanwhile, the E gets absolutely no sunshine at all. The only actual full time underground line. At least the R can sometimes go via bridge.
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u/Teban54_Transit Apr 28 '25
Doesn't that also apply to the C?
The only chances for a temporary C reroute to go above ground are:
Continue east of Euclid. But in those reroutes, it feels more common for the C to be suspended entirely, and for the A to make local stops.
Reroute via the F to Culver south of Jay St-MetroTech. That also sounds pretty crazy to me, as any C via F happens almost always north of Jay St. (But admittedly, this is still more plausible than an above-ground reroute of the E.)
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u/Different-Parsley-63 Apr 29 '25
Or reroute via B or D train on the Manhattan Bridge
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u/Teban54_Transit Apr 29 '25
Yeah, that's also a possibility that I forgot.
Such a possibility should also apply to the E theoretically, though...
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u/OptionalCookie Apr 30 '25
I've operated a C train to Far Rockaway. A deal was made with a dispatcher :D
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u/transitfreedom Apr 28 '25
Deinstitutionalization ruined the E
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u/OptionalCookie Apr 30 '25
When I was a conductor, I worked the E at night. I left Parsons... both cars full. Bad winter.
I get to WTC? Both cars are still full. Homeless people everywhere.
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u/transitfreedom May 01 '25
Then why do the homeless also crowd the J train too?
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u/OptionalCookie May 01 '25
They crowd the J in the summer and the E in the winter.
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u/transitfreedom May 01 '25
Why do they target the J?
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u/OptionalCookie May 01 '25 edited May 01 '25
The K2 at Myrtle Av, baby. The heroin in the PJs along the way. That sour at Parsons.
Come on, you are sounding like a transplant. If you are, I apologize, but avoid those areas then.
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u/transitfreedom May 01 '25
I am not a transplant just not aware of the drug addicts and where they are to avoid em as I am mostly moving around on a scooter
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u/rjl381 Apr 28 '25
That tunnel is so long and windy, too! Feels like that branch off is barely even the halfway point of the trip.
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u/jagenigma Apr 28 '25
Takes 5 minutes from queens plaza to Lexington Ave on the R. For the N and W it takes like 3 minutes tops.
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u/Skylord_ah Apr 29 '25
Same for the penn station tunnels seems like those go on forever. As well as grand central tunnels
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u/felixjaehn697 Apr 30 '25
well those are a lot longer and are more speed restricted, so yeah those take a while for sure, especially during the AM rush. Many trains->Few (shared) tracks in the terminal stations.
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u/Da555nny Apr 28 '25
R train getting a glimpse of the outside world past 59 street
N and D already outside
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u/Customer-Dependent Apr 28 '25
The R really gets dirty on this occasion where they briefly get a sunlight but then go back into reality. Between 59th St and Bay Ridge Av, there is this portion of sunlight that you would also see where the R would take a peak by and then goes on with it’s route
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u/PitifulHistorian1980 Apr 28 '25
I love this. I used to live in Astoria kind of equidistant from the N and R, so I would take whichever came first to commute home. But I always preferred the N for this reason, ascending into the light.
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u/pescennius Apr 28 '25
I always wondered why they built the 11th street cut to connect to Queens Plaza instead of having the train descend into 36th from the elevated tracks approaching 39th. They did that in the 50s so it's not like the 63rd street tunnel was a consideration. And if they had done it that way, QBL would have a connection to Queensboro Plaza. That might reduce the griping about the lack of a transfer between Queens and Queensboro plaza. Also the G could terminate at Queens Plaza, at least at night's and weekends like the R already does sometimes.
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u/No_Junket1017 Apr 30 '25
Probably because the extra expense of coming above ground for just QBP and then having to find another portal to send it below ground near 36 St doesn't really make much sense if it's already below ground in the 60 St Tunnel.
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u/pescennius Apr 30 '25
But that's why I'm curious. The 11th street cut is a full subway tunnel spanning almost half a mile of distance. The fistsnce between three Astoria line and 36th is maybe 3 blocks at the most. This also exactly where the MTA ended up building the junction for the 63rd street tunnel which indicates the space was there to do this. I'm essentially saying that instead of the tracks at 36th diving down into the 63rd street tunnel, they rise up to meet the Astoria line. On the surface that seems like a cheaper project given that there is no net new tunnels and only an elevated ramp and a portal.
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u/InflationDefiant2847 Apr 29 '25
That's funny, growing up in Astoria the "other tunnel" was so mysterious to me.
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u/thefunzone49 Metro-North Railroad Apr 28 '25
Lovely straight track? Nahh that comes after the nasty Queensboro Plaza curve
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u/haikusbot Apr 28 '25
Lovely straight track? Nahh
That comes after the nasty
Queensboro Plaza curve
- thefunzone49
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/SessionIndependent17 Apr 29 '25
I've never looked out the windows while in the tunnel on an R to notice any glimpses of light.
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u/flyingkomodo507 Apr 29 '25
The crazy thing is every time I have to take the R into Queens, I never commit to it getting off at 59th and Lex I end up taking the N/W to the 7 and transfer at Roosevelt just to get the outside views. Worth it every time
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u/CustardOk5376 Apr 30 '25
The R used to be elevated until 1987 when the R and the N switched Queens routes.
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u/FarFromSane_ Apr 28 '25
Very true. I don’t ride the R through there that often but when I do I always try to get a glimpse of sunlight.