Thanks! I was actually originally intending to film out the side window (like a normal ride), but we asked the engineer and he let us ride up front. I myself was quite amazed.
🤣😂 I thought I was looking at the 63rd Street tunnel on the NYCT “F” line. 🤔 This 63rd street tunnel on the LIRR is identical. I also saw the double Decker tunnel section that they did in the 1970s. That was one of the smartest moves the MTA has ever did.
Although it took the MTA fifty years to put the lower level in operation after many years of delayed construction not to mention the cost that was many times what was expected when this proposal was originally approved. That said I have used GCM and found it did make getting to the Upper East Side easier and faster than the usual trip through NYP and taking either the Q to 86th or the C up CPW to 81st and the M79 bus across Central Park.
This train takes an atypical route while there's track out of service for maintenance. At 5:30 it moves over to track usually used by westbound trains. It switches back to a more typical route at 17:28.
The middle two tracks from Harold Interlocking to 17:28 are bidirectional, aren't they? 3 inbound and 1 outbound in AM rush hour, and 3 outbound, and 1 inbound in PM rush hour, NO ? Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario
@@thekamfanner Completely agree. What made me fall in love with them was the echo effect you hear when you're near two trucks from two separate cars. Their trucks aren't 100 percent matched so when it starts off or comes to a stop you hear an echo in it's sound.
@@apollospace9804 Believe me, I know. I took the PATH to and from Jersey City for years. Used to wonder how it would look if they ever took a hose to the inside of the tunnel.
In the belly of this beautifully done boondoggle. I am not a boondoggle guy, but this one was a real treat for transit foamers!!! If only the M-3's could have went to GCM. That front window ride would have been epic!!
It is cool hearing the F train NYCT line above in the double tier 63rd Street Tunnel portion of the GCM connection. Roosevelt Island and F Line Subway Station is above LIRR commuters' heads in the middle of tunnel portion!!!
I believe the signal was either yellow or red, meaning we couldn’t proceed. I genuinely think the operator was trying not to stop the train as much as possible, hence the crawling.
@@thekamfanner Not sure if it's practiced here in the U.S, but a British friend of mine who loves simulating UK passenger trains told me of a method drivers like to use over there called signal crawling. Usually whenever you have a red aspect that you can see a distance in front of you, it's better to creep up to it at 10-15mph, trying not to stop at it. Great footage by the way!! Was very neat to watch, I love hearing the ATC/ACSES systems in the cab occasionally beeping. :>
After the initial interlockings, I don't think that it was slow at all; I think that the track was so damn awesomely good quality, that you didn't notice the high speed. Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario
@@FOBob-sr1fdno it isn’t. It’s on the side outside the tracks. The rails you’re thinking of are to keep the train on the elevated structures if the train derails
congestion, LIRR is the busiest commuter railroad in the US. And there's a lot of complex switcing in the NYC sections of the line. Once out of the congested areas between Jamaica and Manhattan they can hit 80mph (130km/h) in a lot of track sections.
From that train you can see all sorts of brand new hi rises going up all over Queens, honestly last time I was in NYC in 2016 the suburbs in Nassau county looked more run down than Queens.
Oh this is not the norm. Take LIRR to Penn and the East River tunnels are much darker (though I've heard they have better lighting in recent years, but it was dark AF as recently as 2016, the last time I was in NYC) and NYC subway tunnels are nearly pitch black, no lighting outside of signals and a few lights near the maintenance doors.
Well, it would be deserted since the train is leaving, and all the entrances/exits are behind us at that point. Since tracks aren't posted until x minutes before departure, it's not like anybody is going to be hanging around on the platforms anyway.
@@trainman1971 Why do people feel duty bound to come up with all these farfetched convolutions trying to explain things that have perfectly straightforward causes? It's a plain fact that Grand Central is underused now. This has been reported on TV and in the NYC newspapers, and no amount of Fanboy wishful thinking will change that. At Penn Station or Atlantic Terminal there are always still people on the platform waiting for the next train. You would know this if you rode the LIRR more often. This platform was empty, not a soul standing there. Maybe if we all wish really, really hard when we go to bed at night, people will actually start using Eastside access in numbers that will justify this huge price tag, but I'm not holding my breath.
@@alkh3myst There is nothing farfetched about it. Nothing unusual at all about empty platforms at terminal stations. I've ridden the LIRR, Metro-North, and many other commuter railroads more often than you think. Like any terminal station with limited access, GCT, along with Penn Station and Atlantic Terminal both, again, would not have anybody on particular platforms until a track was posted for a train to board. Nobody is going to be just standing around on a platform waiting for a train when it is not know what that train is, or what track it is even coming in on. And even once a track is posted, do you expect them to just mill around on the platform? No, they're going to get aboard the train. I have seen this at all three both stations, respectively. Even during rush hours pre-pandemic. The numbers of people riding are not relevant to platform occupation. I am more than aware (as is the LIRR) that GCT Madison is not being used up to expectations, but we are not in normal times, either. There is still not a full workforce back in place in most major cities, so ridership overall is still a lot less than it was pre-COVID lockdowns. All the ridership predictions were mostly based on pre-pandemic numbers, so really, I am not at all surprised at the current ridership. No new service always generates mobs of ridership overnight... only time will tell if things change.
I’m a regular commuter and I use GCS about 3/4 of the time. I’ve noticed it is getting more crowded in the past month. As someone who had commuted for nearly 40 years, I am loving the reduction in ridership. Less of a daily hellscape.
This was probably an off peak train, I notice that most of the NYC railfanners usually ride off peak when they record their vids. I don't blame them given how expensive LIRR is during peak hours. Also good luck messing with a go pro on a train packed to standing room.
ACS is probably doing that because they're getting too close to the train ahead of them. ACS will reduce their authorized speed so they don't have to red signal the train if it gets too close to the next train down the line.
I wish they would add this to the LIRR module. It's already one of the more fun ones to play. The LIRR M7 is also one of the most realistic driving trains in TSW
,😒multi billions ant the damn train still can't take off flying off the platform. Amtrak can pull faster out of grand central. Announcement made when the train is screeching around a bend. Why not 0 to 90. What is stopping America from speeding on the tracks.
They always pull out of the underground stations slow because they have to cross the maze of switching without derailing. Otherwise LIRR and MNR are max of 60mph in the east river tunnels. They also use ACS which may have them go slower to maintain safe spacing behind the train ahead so they don't suddenly get red signaled. Remember LIRR is a VERY busy system, the busiest commuter railroad in the western hemisphere
Those tunnels are very well lit. ALL tunnels should be lit like that!🤨👍🏾
I'm just speechless that the Engineer actually went solitary for you! Excellent!
Thanks! I was actually originally intending to film out the side window (like a normal ride), but we asked the engineer and he let us ride up front. I myself was quite amazed.
@@thekamfanner And to think the only legal way was to do it through the door with the board down. I guess miracles do happen.
I don't typically watch much of the New York underground stuff, but those are some very well-lit tunnels, i gotta say.
Nice to see some transit infrastructure in NYC that doesn't date from the Woodrow Wilson era.
There’s more than one…
This is nice. The tunnel looks great. Thanks for posting.
You’re welcome; I’m fortunate to have been able to film the tunnel from the front window unobstructed.
🤣😂 I thought I was looking at the 63rd Street tunnel on the NYCT “F” line. 🤔 This 63rd street tunnel on the LIRR is identical. I also saw the double Decker tunnel section that they did in the 1970s. That was one of the smartest moves the MTA has ever did.
Although it took the MTA fifty years to put the lower level in operation after many years of delayed construction not to mention the cost that was many times what was expected when this proposal was originally approved. That said I have used GCM and found it did make getting to the Upper East Side easier and faster than the usual trip through NYP and taking either the Q to 86th or the C up CPW to 81st and the M79 bus across Central Park.
This train takes an atypical route while there's track out of service for maintenance. At 5:30 it moves over to track usually used by westbound trains. It switches back to a more typical route at 17:28.
The middle two tracks from Harold Interlocking to 17:28 are bidirectional, aren't they? 3 inbound and 1 outbound in AM rush hour, and 3 outbound, and 1 inbound in PM rush hour, NO ? Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario
Excellent work. Best M7 rfw video I've seen thus far. Glad this was done on an M7 as it's the best sounding new tech train in my honest opinion.
Thanks! The M7s do have god tier sounds, especially the propulsion.
@@thekamfanner Completely agree. What made me fall in love with them was the echo effect you hear when you're near two trucks from two separate cars. Their trucks aren't 100 percent matched so when it starts off or comes to a stop you hear an echo in it's sound.
@@ariesarethebest271 never experienced that myself but it sounds cool!
M7's arent new there alreday 20 plus years old
@@NickyD Cool story.
Amazing to see such a clean tunnel.
.
It's supposed to be clean if it's new, but over time, it will get old and dirty, and obviously, rats will have a new tunnel home.
@@apollospace9804 Believe me, I know. I took the PATH to and from Jersey City for years. Used to wonder how it would look if they ever took a hose to the inside of the tunnel.
Give it time with the steel dust
Finally a high quality video of LIRR video ever I've seen
Wow, those are some very well lit tunnels, especially by NYC standards haha
Maestro. Muchas gracias por su magnífico video. El M7 es mi tren favorito.
Saludos desde México
Nice riding thru the old neighborhood, Kew Gardens. Thanks for the ride along. Cheers.
Great video! Thanks for posting!
In the belly of this beautifully done boondoggle. I am not a boondoggle guy, but this one was a real treat for transit foamers!!! If only the M-3's could have went to GCM. That front window ride would have been epic!!
Dame it looks amazing keep up the good work
Very well-done high quality LIRR video!
How well the journey on this beautiful train line is filmed!
Amazing such a clean view
It is cool hearing the F train NYCT line above in the double tier 63rd Street Tunnel portion of the GCM connection. Roosevelt Island and F Line Subway Station is above LIRR commuters' heads in the middle of tunnel portion!!!
"go slowly to the light..." 7:15
🔥🔥🔥🔥
Wow great quality video
Awesome 😎
Is 3:16 the point where the original tunnel kicks in that was underneath the F train?
06:24 - Kinda surreal!! Go into the light.. 😳
Cleanest station and tunnel I seen.
Shades of the Kyoto/Kobe Lines in Japan with their quad-track 80mph EMUs (albeit with VERY different service levels)
YESSSSSSS.
hat is the light colored tall building the tracks go under at 14:32? I see it frequently in the videos
Hey. what's with the signal indications. It looks like just 3 aspects, but not the new cab signal ones like G/L.
2:19
Anyone know why the new frogs were put in place over the older simpler ones? Don’t the new frogs with a moving rail need more maintenance?
Thank You!
I see water actively dripping on the third rail covers in several spots in the tunnel. Normal for such new construction?
subways have it all the time
the east river do be like that
10:55 special masts, quintessentially American / bijzondere masten, typisch Amerikaans.
Why the slow-walk coming out of the tunnel? And then train stops? What's that about?
I believe the signal was either yellow or red, meaning we couldn’t proceed. I genuinely think the operator was trying not to stop the train as much as possible, hence the crawling.
I think once Amtrak finishes the bypass in Sunnyside, the LIRR trains will move quicker out of the tunnel.
Hit a stop signal at Harold interlocking.
@@thekamfanner Not sure if it's practiced here in the U.S, but a British friend of mine who loves simulating UK passenger trains told me of a method drivers like to use over there called signal crawling. Usually whenever you have a red aspect that you can see a distance in front of you, it's better to creep up to it at 10-15mph, trying not to stop at it.
Great footage by the way!! Was very neat to watch, I love hearing the ATC/ACSES systems in the cab occasionally beeping. :>
@@zepheryowl9772 thanks! I didn’t know that was an actual technique that had a name. How interesting.
I thought it would’ve been able to go top speed from grand central til it merged with the older tracks by sunny side it’s kinda a slow ride.
Why is the speed so reduced in these tunnels compared to penn? is that gonna increase over time?
After the initial interlockings, I don't think that it was slow at all; I think that the track was so damn awesomely good quality, that you didn't notice the high speed. Aarre Peltomaa of Mississauga, Ontario
Is this in nyc?
2:16 where is that track coming from?
Where is this at?
Who operates the switches?
Is that a third rail on the right side? kind of exposed to the unwary if it is
all of new york city is like that. get out more...
@@FrankTedesco I’m in the Windy City. Our third rail is between the tracks.
Not really an issue in the tunnels, you should see how it is out on Long Island, 3rd rail at grade, right behind people's houses haha.
@@FOBob-sr1fdno it isn’t. It’s on the side outside the tracks. The rails you’re thinking of are to keep the train on the elevated structures if the train derails
Why was the train terminating at Floral Park? Was it a Hempstead train?
They were doing track work on the Hempstead Branch past Floral Park, so all the Hempstead trains terminated there
Cool Thanks! @@thekamfanner
Is this what dying must be like? 6:44
Long time between stations why moving so slow?
Nice ! But why is this ride so slow ? (Seen from Europe).
congestion, LIRR is the busiest commuter railroad in the US. And there's a lot of complex switcing in the NYC sections of the line. Once out of the congested areas between Jamaica and Manhattan they can hit 80mph (130km/h) in a lot of track sections.
Nyc looks quite old and rundown outside of Manhattan. Im sure there are still some nice areas though.
From that train you can see all sorts of brand new hi rises going up all over Queens, honestly last time I was in NYC in 2016 the suburbs in Nassau county looked more run down than Queens.
It’s good how you guys in the states light your tunnels all the uk ones I’ve watched including the tube are all pitch black 😂
Oh this is not the norm. Take LIRR to Penn and the East River tunnels are much darker (though I've heard they have better lighting in recent years, but it was dark AF as recently as 2016, the last time I was in NYC) and NYC subway tunnels are nearly pitch black, no lighting outside of signals and a few lights near the maintenance doors.
@@mrvwbug4423Incorrect. Most NYC Subway tunnels are lit throughout. Just not very brightly
Train number and date? Why not just post the engineer's name too?
lucky dog
3:38 Emergency Exit to Roosevelt Island
Cool,4:39
LIRR tunnels aren’t as dark as the subway’s tunnels 🤔
KAM do you have a second CZcams channel called TYR railfan
No
The new station has only one platform?
7:28-- no red why stopping. Turn the atc off
The platform at Grand Central is deserted. Twelve billion dollars for a tunnel and station that people are barely using. 🥺
Well, it would be deserted since the train is leaving, and all the entrances/exits are behind us at that point. Since tracks aren't posted until x minutes before departure, it's not like anybody is going to be hanging around on the platforms anyway.
@@trainman1971 Why do people feel duty bound to come up with all these farfetched convolutions trying to explain things that have perfectly straightforward causes? It's a plain fact that Grand Central is underused now. This has been reported on TV and in the NYC newspapers, and no amount of Fanboy wishful thinking will change that. At Penn Station or Atlantic Terminal there are always still people on the platform waiting for the next train. You would know this if you rode the LIRR more often. This platform was empty, not a soul standing there. Maybe if we all wish really, really hard when we go to bed at night, people will actually start using Eastside access in numbers that will justify this huge price tag, but I'm not holding my breath.
@@alkh3myst There is nothing farfetched about it. Nothing unusual at all about empty platforms at terminal stations. I've ridden the LIRR, Metro-North, and many other commuter railroads more often than you think. Like any terminal station with limited access, GCT, along with Penn Station and Atlantic Terminal both, again, would not have anybody on particular platforms until a track was posted for a train to board. Nobody is going to be just standing around on a platform waiting for a train when it is not know what that train is, or what track it is even coming in on. And even once a track is posted, do you expect them to just mill around on the platform? No, they're going to get aboard the train. I have seen this at all three both stations, respectively. Even during rush hours pre-pandemic. The numbers of people riding are not relevant to platform occupation.
I am more than aware (as is the LIRR) that GCT Madison is not being used up to expectations, but we are not in normal times, either. There is still not a full workforce back in place in most major cities, so ridership overall is still a lot less than it was pre-COVID lockdowns. All the ridership predictions were mostly based on pre-pandemic numbers, so really, I am not at all surprised at the current ridership. No new service always generates mobs of ridership overnight... only time will tell if things change.
I’m a regular commuter and I use GCS about 3/4 of the time. I’ve noticed it is getting more crowded in the past month. As someone who had commuted for nearly 40 years, I am loving the reduction in ridership. Less of a daily hellscape.
This was probably an off peak train, I notice that most of the NYC railfanners usually ride off peak when they record their vids. I don't blame them given how expensive LIRR is during peak hours. Also good luck messing with a go pro on a train packed to standing room.
If the lines are specially dedicated to the express trains then why is it slowing down at each station and then speeds up!! That's ridiculous!!!
ACS is probably doing that because they're getting too close to the train ahead of them. ACS will reduce their authorized speed so they don't have to red signal the train if it gets too close to the next train down the line.
at the 5 38 mark you can see graffiti alfrady disgusting wont be long before those so called artists have the whole tunnel covered
I bet you're fun at parties and keep the ladies interested (sarcasm)
@DovetailGames Get to work
I wish they would add this to the LIRR module. It's already one of the more fun ones to play. The LIRR M7 is also one of the most realistic driving trains in TSW
The E Train gets from 42 to Jamaica faster. Whole project a waste of money
all the sheep with their face nappies....
Covid muzzles. 😂
@@EMEM71No they don't... And I hope they enjoy their bouts with reinfection and Hypoxemia!!!
Screen was blurry.Not good quality.Need to do better.
3rd World Train...
Wolfgang Berlin Germany
,😒multi billions ant the damn train still can't take off flying off the platform. Amtrak can pull faster out of grand central. Announcement made when the train is screeching around a bend. Why not 0 to 90. What is stopping America from speeding on the tracks.
Uhhhhhhhh, avoiding derailments, much?
@@videonut1988 I'm saying they couldn't build straight track put of the station for a faster departure
They always pull out of the underground stations slow because they have to cross the maze of switching without derailing. Otherwise LIRR and MNR are max of 60mph in the east river tunnels. They also use ACS which may have them go slower to maintain safe spacing behind the train ahead so they don't suddenly get red signaled. Remember LIRR is a VERY busy system, the busiest commuter railroad in the western hemisphere
There is other trains in front of it and they have to stay on schedule
beyond boring
What did u expect, a fireworks show
As a matter of fact..........@@showmestatefinest5412