LIRR M3 RFW Jamaica to Ronkonkoma. First M3 RFW I’ve done in over 3 years. 6/15/23
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- Enjoy this exciting head end ride aboard these  veteran Budd M3 cars. The Main Line to Ronkonkoma is a high-speed, well engineered right of way. This is further enhanced by the new triple track east of Floral Park to Hicksville. This is narrated with some graphics identifying all stations, signal indications, interlockings, and passing trains. I hope you enjoy this ride as much as I did. In the future, I will do a complete ride from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma. (At times the loud horn drowns out of some of my railroad crossing ID’s but only a few. I could take this video out and redo it but I don’t think it’s worth the effort for just a few crossings.  I will keep this in mind for future videos of this type.)
My favorite view of track. Straight down at speed. Thanks.
As always, very informative. The “modern” updates are amazing. Being early gives them the straightest road going. Electrics really allow them to move. Thanks for all of your videos.😮
Tim I just rode Cal Train. Great engineer. It’s definitely worth the trip.
LOL I was thinking the same thing. At farmingdale how are those people getting any sleep with all the crossings on top of one another like that..... Poor urban planning...smh
Best video I've seen yet of the triple-track main to Hicksville. IMO, even more important than the third track was the elimination of all the grade crossings. I hope the LIRR can do more of that, like in downtown Farmingdale?
not in the plans
Thanks Tim....... You know how much I love the head end rides. It will be a sad day when they finally retire the M3 cars. How many M3 cars are still in service?
About 80
Excellent video!!
You need to redo all of your rfw videos and add commentary on the trips. 😂
@@ariesarethebest271 I prefer non commentated trips. I appreciate the offer though.
@@MrMaster767 I was only kidding.
Always love your videos but going down the Ronkonkoma branch are my favorite ones to watch. Memories of growing up in the 70s and 80s just south of the Peters Blvd crossing in CI. I watched the branch transform from diesel to electric and remember the days when there were Pine Aire, Republic and Grumman stations. I even remember when the trains branched off to CI State Hospital just about where the midpoint of the present eastbound platform at CI station is and paralleled Lowell Avene. Long live those Change at Hicksville days!! 😂😂😂 Thanks for your great videos!
I’m glad I made mention of all of those things.
Awesome!!! For some reason i can smell the inside of those cars just by looking at a picture of them!!! 😂
Great ride, Thanks Tim informative as always😊
Nice ride! Up front views are my preference. Great speed on this branch.
Thanks Tim😀💚
Soon I will try to do a complete ride from New York to Ronkonkoma
🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁LION c LIKE No. 225
First rate video, and great running commentary!
Nice. Can't wait to watch. Adding to my LIRR RFW playlist.
I think you will find it worthy
@@3985uprr Loving it. Watching now. Sure hope you get more M3 rfw footage.
@@ariesarethebest271 I want to get a NYP to Ronkonkoma ride. They are easier to find on Ronkonkoma Line in pm rush. They are erratic on other lines
I used to work at PPC. The tracks to the station are lone gone, but the canopy and the platform still exist on G Road. Somewhere on the World Wide Web is a picture of a Alco with passenger coaches at the PPC station. I would pick up and drop off employees at the Deer Park station and take clients to Social Services on 2nd Street. I definitely don't miss those days.
I love seeing Long Island rails. Wish I could afford to live back home.
When I worked at Grumman in the 1980s, I used to see a Ferrari 308 parked everyday at the Bethpage station. That guy had a lot of moxie parking a car like that every day in an LIRR parking lot! I happened to see him leave one day and followed at a distance. He turned up Round Swamp Road when I turned down Merritts Road. I think I crossed the tracks on Merritts more than any other crossing during my L.I. residency.
If you go over Merritts crossing too fast, you can bottom out and rip apart an exhaust pipe
@@3985uprr Yeah, I remembered it was quite a bump.
@@jimpern it slopes. I went over it yesterday
I suspect the ride from Jamaica to Hicksville is faster now that the grades are all eliminated. Definitely quieter.
It was always fast but getting rid of those crossings eliminated many safety hazards
The third track project on the main line cost 2.6 billion dollars and took four years to complete but it was a great investment by the MTA and the state. They worked through it even during the worst days of the pandemic. Also with the eight grade crossings removed as part of the project the quality of life for residents along the main line has significantly improved with no more blowing of the train horns.
New Deer Park is in Edgewood.
I was looking at a map, and I saw the word Baywood nearby
I thought I was the only one that thought that 168 been there forever 😂😂😂😂😂😂. I used to work in that area off of rte 110 many years ago. I remembered their used to be one track after Brentwood, now it’s 2 tracks 😮
Nice video. The grade crossing just east of Deer Park that you couldn't recall it's name would be Executive Drive.
Tim, another superb ride. I love headend rides and your fabulous narration and graphics. I worked for NYC, PC and CR. I had many head end rides during my career but have nothing to show for it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey I love your detailed information on your vids much better doing a head on instead of from side window
never used the rails myself but grew up in Brentwood LI thanks!
A lot of people actually like window views, but admittedly, I personally like to do the front views if I have the opportunity
14:00 First time I've seen a 12-car LIRR train in a railfanning video since the opening of Grand Central Madison
Really hoping to see another rfw ride out of or into Penn station again soon! Would make my way down to New York to see myself, but work has not been making that easy
I did the m7 and m9 about a month ago
Great video. I had a question, which is the busiest branch for the LIRR as far a amount of services
I would say Babylon line. Up to 6 trains an hour at times. Ronkonkoma is busier than it was. 4 trains an hour up from 2. That’s my favorite electric line.
Nice highspeed and smooth ride on those old crusty but soldiering cars.
You would not like the RFW on many European trains, they rarely toot their horns at grade crossings.
That would be somewhat depressing
Don't forget to add whistle guy to horn guy
Ridership seems to be up. What are the levels compared to before COVID?
Not quite pre-pandemic but it’s getting closer little by little
Ridership is 70% of pre pandemic
Great video! As always, your narrative is informing and entertaining. Question- the signal at the east end of the Hicksville platform had an extra light at the 9 o'clock position. It reminds me of the B&O signals. I've seen that on the West Hempstead branch where it joins the Montauk Branch. What aspect would it display? Cheers
It’s a red flashing signal that tells engineer that train orders are to be received. Since that tower is closed, no orders would be delivered so the light would not be needed
@@3985uprr Thanks!
He😮
What do those small "W" black on white signs mean?
Whistle posts. Sound horn. They are mostly posted before railroad crossings.
At Hilside I noticed a M9 set in the middle of a M7's - can they run togther in passenger service?
No they can’t
Does the signals east of Rt.110 still work?
@@3985uprr No it wasn't seen very strange they still work but they took down the ones at Farm Interlock
Nah they don't, they were actually bagged up at one point but they never took them down and the bags must've flew off. They used to be the signals for the for the former FARM2 interlocking which is basically PW interlocking today, you can see the signals are not connected to any wiring and the signal ID tags are not on them anymore.