A Study of The New York City Subway

1900-2004

By Robert Rumely and Tristan Macek

Pre-Manhattan Transit

• New York City, as is today, was not formed until 1898. One main reason the subway did not start construction until 1900 was that the city itself was only the island of Manhattan. When the city was formed however, new projects were formed to accommodate the new city, the Williamsburg bridge (c. 1903) the Manhattan bridge (c. 1909) Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Terminal (both c. 1913).

• European population forced the city to expand and called for a service to transport people that were less fortunate and could not afford a car or a different method of transportation.

Pre-Brooklyn Rapid Transit

• Even though the subway did not officially open until 1904, Brooklyn still had a rapid transit system that started in 1873.

• These subway lines were to become predecessor's of the Manhattan El’s.

• The Brooklyn El’s– Coney Island El- ran from 62nd Street pier to Sea Beach Palace Hotel in Coney

Island– Brighton beach El- Originally ran as an excursion railway between Flatbush and

Ocean Ave to Brighton Beach Hotel. It became a commuter train in 1878.– The Rockaway Line- Ran from Van Sinderen Ave to Rockaway Ave (Parkway

Ave). Connecting ferries allowed people to travel across Jamaica Bay.

– These systems influenced life for New Yorkers in the 19th Century by allowing the less fortunate to travel around Brooklyn with ease. It would also influence New Yorkers living on Manhattan, as these designs were first used to provide elevated train service to the heart of Manhattan.

Beach Pneumatic Transit

• One of the early attempts at creating a subway system, this system ran for about 300 feet or about one city block. The first one was created in 1870, and was later used more as a mailing service rather as transportation due to the shortness of the route. It did however convince people that it was possible to create an underground subway system, and this would affect the lives of New Yorkers drastically.

Construction of the Subway

• In the original subway construction, five different designs were used along different areas.

• First Method- the covering of the subway was a few feet from the surface of the street. “I” beams were placed to prevent its collapse. This method of construction is seen the most and covers a majority of the subway lines around the city.

Construction Methods

• Second method- flat roof, reinforced concrete in between the tracks, supported by steel bulb-angle columns. This method was used only on the Lenox line, South Ferry loop, and on the extension into Brooklyn.

• Third Method- Concrete was lined into the tunnel, as well as rock if need be and present. Not used throughout the system but can be seen on the “1” line from 116th street to 122nd street as well as between 157th and 168th street.

Methods of Construction (con’t)

• Fourth Method- Elevated road on steel viaducts to support the subway passing over and preventing collapse.

• Fifth Method- Cast iron tubes used under the East and Harlem Rivers

The Original Two Contracts

• BMT- Earlier known as the “BRT” meaning Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, becoming the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation. The BMT or the letter lines, first operated in Brooklyn and extended over the Manhattan Bridge to Canal Street. It was eventually bought by the city in 1940, however because of the differences in car size the BMT lines cannot run on the IRT lines.

• IRT- Interborough Rapid Transit Company. This company held together the number lines and has significantly smaller amount of lines than the BMT. Like the BMT, the IRT was bought by the city in 1940.

City Involvement

• The city involvement of subway system affected New Yorker’s in a positive way. As the city as the main power in creating the subway system, the power mainly went to the people themselves. Fares could be regulated by the people and no one company could create a monopoly over the transit system.

• Besides the city being involved in the subway, an express service was created that revolutionized subway systems around the world, most only had one line to run and those stopped at every station.

The 40’s and 50’s

• The 40’s and 50’s were a significant time due to all of the subway contractors being bought out by the city.

• Throughout this time several major improvements/ major capital plans were completed such as the last leg of the (A train) route into rockaway, but at the same time several more were postponed due to the depression and war such as the “T” or (Second Avenue subway).

The World’s Fair

• The World’s Fair allowed New York to show off paint schemes and their subway systems to the world.

Subways decline

• Throughout the 70’s and 80’s the subway experienced dozens of problems large and small ranging from major budget deficits and little to none government help to the TA’s plan of deferred maintenance that finally caught up with them creating major delays and almost a complete collapse of the system by the mid 70’s into the mid 80’s. The subway began a collapse as the city as a whole collapsed and would continue to decline until the end of the 80’s, when the city started to amend.

Budget Deficits in the 70’s• From the very

start of the 70’s it was clear that it was going to get much worse before it got better starting with a fair raise during the first four days of the year from 20 to 30 cents.

Deferred Maintenance in the 70’s

• Throughout the late 60’s the TA had decided on a deferred maintenance approach to running the subway simply because there was no money to put towards the maintenance of the system, which ended up causing hundreds of red flag zones where trains were required to run and 10mph or less do to the condition of the track.

Subway in the 80’s

• Just at the subway entered the 80’s, it came to a screeching halt with a 12 day transit strike. The graffiti movement was in full swing, but there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel which ended up with a major overhaul of the entire system bring it up to where we are now in the early 21 century.

Subway in the 80’s• The subway could be described in one simple quote said by Mark

S. Feinman in his article on the subway in the 1980’s.

•“The 1980s could be summarized as the "Jekyll and Hyde" period of the New York Subway System. As the decade began, it had the filthiest trains, the craziest graffiti, the noisiest wheels, and the weirdest passengers. By the end of the decade, it had cleaner trains, no graffiti, quieter wheels -- and the weirdest passengers.”

80’s• While it may have seen like there was not a lot of major work

completed in the 80’s to the eye of the average subway customer, there was in fact billions of dollars worth of work completed during this time.

•by the end of the 80’s almost all red flag zones of track had been repaired, all subway cars were not allowed to run with graffiti on them, all destination signs and maps had to be correct and the completion of the 63rd St tunnel was finally completed in fall of 89’

63rd St. tunnel under construction

Day to Day Operations

• Power

• Signals

• Drainage

• Fair Collection

• Garbage Removal

Power

5,000 Kilowatt Alternator - Main Power House

As we all know, the subway is run by the third rail system, meaning that there is one elevated electrified rail on the side of the tracks that the train connects and draws power from in order to move and then used the two tracks as a return to complete the circuit. However, most people don’t know how the TA powers the third rail, because where a normal house used 120V AC current, the TA uses 600-625V DC current to run its trains, but uses the same power you use to turn on your light bulbs. The Question is how do they turn normal low Volt AC in to high Volt DC current?

Power

• They use a simple, beautifully designed

machine called a rotary converter that simply produces noise, dust,

heat and transforms AC to DC power keeping the

subways running. “Not merely like a motor or a generator, or even comprising a pairing of each, the rotary converter is actually both at once, a diabolically ingenious hybrid of an AC motor and a DC generator (dynamo). Unlike a motor, it turns no load, and unlike a generator, it is turned by no engine -- it just sits there and turns”-Bernard S. Greenberg Nycsubway.org

Signals and Train Spacing• All subway routes operate under the

"wayside color-light block signaling,” meaning that not only are there physical signals in the tunnel, but that they run under a block system where each signal covers one block and wont change until the block is cleared. This is essentially the same technology that was used on the first IND line over 100 years ago proving just how advanced the subway signaling system really was when first deployed.

Train Spacing

• In order to prevent collisions between trains, the signals always keep a minimum of three block spaces between

the end of one train and the front of the next. This means that there will always be two reds and one yellow

between trains allowing ample space for a runaway train to stop after being tripped by the red before colliding with

the train in front of it. (Distant aspect) Proceed-- the next ("distant") signal is clear (not red).

     Proceed with caution, prepare to

stop at next signal.

• (Stop, with automatic key-by) Stop, operate automatic stop automatic release, then proceed with caution, prepared to stop within vision expecting to find track occupied, a broken rail, or other obstruction in the block

(Lunar white "one shot" GT aspect) Approach at posted speed, expecting this signal to clear if you do (be tripped if you fail)

("Two-shot" GT aspect) Approach at posted speed, expecting the next signal to clear, making this one green, if you succeed.

(ST (Station Time) aspect) Approach at allowable speed indicated by illuminated number, expecting signal to clear if you do (tripped if you fail).

Pneumatic Track Stop, (a,k.a,) “the device that trips a run away train” Showing Stop Trigger in Upright Position

View Under Car Showing Trigger on Truck in Position to Engage With Track Stop

Front View of Block Signal Post, Showing Lights, Indicators, and

Track Stop

Rear View of Block Signal Post, Showing Transformer and Instrument Cases with Doors

Open

Original photos and drawings of the signal and safety systems installed on the first IND line, and more than 100 years later we are still using essentially the same system with

its almost flawless safety record.

Drainage system

• While almost all of the subway lines in Manhattan are underground, and a large percentage of the outer borough lines are underground, including 12 tunnels under the east river, the subway has had generally had little problems with water and floods over its more than 100 years of existence.

• This is mainly due to the original construction plan which included extensive water proofing during tunnel construction from the outside in sealing out water, and an elaborate system of drain pipes and pumps which quickly remove any water that makes its way into the system via underground springs or open sidewalk grates.

Fair Collection

• While the MTA now relies solely on Armored trucks to move its revenues from Metrocard vending machines to its processing center in downtown Brooklyn as of the last few years, before then since the start of the subway, special trains were used to move revenues from the old token booths to processing stations in the

city.

Garbage Removal

• Similar to the old “Money trains” there are several garbage trains that work there way through the subway every night clearing out hundreds of bags of trash from station garbage cans and platforms.

Future Projects• As of now, the biggest future

project would be the 2nd Avenue subway, with the “T” line and the extension of the “Q” line up to 96th street. Another project is the expansion of the “7” line to Jacob Javitz Center as well as the completion of the Fulton Street Transit Center. All around, station modifications to reinforce platforms and installing computer systems into all lines. So far the only one to have a computer system in the station is the “L” train.

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2002. 2 June 2008 <http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/history-nycta1970s.html>.• Feinman, Mark S. "The New York City Transit Authority in the 1980s." NYCsubway. 08 Dec.

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<http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/irtbook_ch5.html>.• "New York City Subway." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 May 2008, 11:06 UTC.

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