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| Re: R27 / R30 Farewell - History in the Making (1254923) | |||
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Re: R27 / R30 Farewell - History in the Making |
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Posted by r17-6599 on Tue Oct 22 22:29:20 2013, in response to R27 / R30 Farewell - History in the Making, posted by Mysterious Friday 1986 on Tue Oct 22 20:18:57 2013. Great job, super catches, Mysterious. You caught history indeed. And history is not necessarily sweet, is it? Thanx for the posts.Glad to see these posts; I know , however, they will not obliterate the many great memories I have of these when they were new. In 1960, my 6th grade class was treated to an end of school season outing to C.I. We would hop the IRT Lex. from 149/ 3rd Av. As there was no 59th st express stop at the time, we changed for the 6 local to 59th. The train was a clean shiny green R26. I recall being thrilled to get a new train, but how loud the train sounded while sitting in the station. Don't think it was the compressors but something under there was blowing up a storm. We arrived at 59th & headed en mass to the BMT level. It was dark and damp smelling, water dripping off the walls, with bare bulb incandescent lights, many of which were blown out. Waiting for our train, a D-type pulled in headed to Queens. Our teacher, Brother Thomas by name, recalled with fondness growing up in Brooklyn how he rode these with much joy. Next an R27 came barreling in. I was shocked as it was fatter version of the IRT train I had just ridden. I peeked in to see the same basic layout. And there was a strange smell of newness, perhaps it was the plastic/ fibreglass finishings, the rubber moldings. Never knew what it was but the R27/30's had it for a long time, while the IRT cars did not. The sleek train pulled out and our CI bound standard came growling in. The R27 was not a favorite among BMT purists. The axiflow fans, fibre glass side saddle seating, the IND style route letters. Still the R27 in their own way became the NEW standards, with features that would last many years on the BMT-IND lines. Good bye old friends! R17-6599 |
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