I used to ride the NX with my Father when I was a kid. It was an extremely fast express train and it got you to where you were going in no time. They never should have discontinued this line. I really miss riding this train.
For decades there was a Sunny Summer Sunday special that ran between Chambers St. and Franklin Av - Fulton Av via using the Fourth Ave. , Sea Beach, and Brighton Express tracks. It was discontinued during the 50s because low ridership.
It would work better if you deinterline manhattan bridge and have one 4th ave local go to CI via west end now you must use one of the extra services to be a super express
Basically The N Via Sea Beach Express And Went To Brighton Going Thru Coney Island. It entered service on November 27th 1967 and was discontinued due to low ridership on April 12th 1968 only a few months after its debut.
I rode the NX once, I was 10 at the time. It had a round NX logo metal disc on the front. As far as I know, it was the only train to run through Stillwell Ave. instead of terminating. Interestingly, it wasn't listed on the "New Subway Routes" map issued at the time. Several years ago, I got to ride the Sea Beach Express track when the D train was rerouted. Another short lived train introduced at the same time was the RJ. It ran rush hours only from 168 St. Jamaica to 95 St. Bay Ridge. After it was discontinued, a few RR trains ran to Chambers St. during rush hour.
In those days, the Sea Beach express tracks were not signaled. Consequently NX trains had to travel in an absolute block along the Sea Beach portion. Only one train could be at any point along that stretch at any given time. There were frequent delays at Brighton Beach, which was mentioned. I remember that service pattern, but never had a chance to ride on an NX.
If they somehow retrofitted platforms onto 8th Abe, New Utrecht Ave (might be logistically unfeasable from station design) and Bay Pkwy, I think it could work pretty well with peak express due to the heavier usages of those stations. It baffles me as to why express stops were never designed for the Sea Beach Line.
Took the NX in the PM rush as a "joy ride" about five times. Loved the ride down the express tracks. My usual stop was Sheepshead Bay, therefore I was one stop away when I got off at Brighton Beach. I heard that Fred Trump had influence in getting that subway line to be considered because he owned many apartment buildings in Coney Island close to the West 8th Street station. Would like to know more about the Trump connection to the inception of the NX. I remember R-27 subway cars then later R-32 cars were used on the NX.
The biggest issue with NX is the interlining/bottlenecking that feeds into 4th Ave capacity and lack of ANY express stops. I would love to see a feasibility study if express stations were built on New Ucht. Av. and Kings Hwy and the W (N local) was added on the R line and NX stays on the N line, essentially de-interlining both lines and providing frequent local & express service without capacity interruption.
In order for the NX to sort of stay in existence, the sea beach portion of the N needed to have been built with express stops in mind, much like what the 7 train line is capable of doing. Otherwise, it'll continue to get low ridership unless the MTA wants to deal with another layered hassle of N trains moving in and out of the local tracks.
I rode the Q train on a weekend where it ran express from 59 to Coney Island then from Coney Island to 36 street via the N and D express it was so fast
I read somewhere online that the NX was created for people that was living in the newly built housing projects in Coney Island but it did not work (low ridership).
@@peppertree5706 Thanks for the info about Donald Trump's dad who I did not know had something to do with what is Trump Village in Coney Island and the NX line. Thanks again
@@amazing50000 Fred Trump had friends at City Hall. That likely explains why his building were permitted to be higher than seven floor. Most are over 20 floors.
That map! That's the one I want! Not as common as the others. Old Timers told me that right off the bat, the NX logistics were bad. The T/D either emptied the layup tracks behind Brighton Beach to accommodate the arriving Q layups, or hastily changed side signs on a thru train. Plus, the race between an NX and any Brighton express to DeKalb Av. was no contest. Worse, only Track #1 at Coney Island was the connection to Brighton. Any occupation (work trains, etc) caused a lot of trips abandoned
I think it would be cool to do a comparison between all 4 lines serving Coney Island. All 4 of them stop at 34th Street Herald Square. In terms of the number of stops between there and Coney Island, the N has the fewest with 16 (20 on weekends), then the D with 18, followed by the Q with 22, and finally the F with 29.
The one subway today that does not go through Manhattan, the G line, has changed over the years due to work on the line (even happening now) and the usage it gets. It gets lengthened, shortened, but keeps running to this very day. Now it is getting new signals so they can track the trains more closely starting this summer.
If the NX still lasted till the summer, it would've been a strange service for those wanting to go to the beach if the NX was heading to Manhattan during the morning rush hours.
They should definitely add the NX on the R68S R68AS. Last couple of months ago they had the R62AS JFk signs Pelham 6 line Top of that they had the powder blue 🔵 6 just like the T JFK 8 Thrid Ave Elevated line powder blue 🔵 I'm telling you.
@MysticTransit, during the existence of the NX, what was the rush hour service pattern for the Brighton line between Brighton Beach and Coney Island? My recollection is that from at least 1969 (but perhaps earlier) the D-train *during rush hours* ran on the express tracks to Brighton Beach while the QB and QJ ran on the local tracks through to Coney Island. The QB was a rush-hour-only service. During non-rush-hours, the D ran express to Brighton; the QJ ran local to Stillwell. Nights and weekends: D local to Stillwell. Was the pattern I just described implemented when they killed the NX in April '68?
From Nov. 26, 1967 to August 16, 1968, D trains operated to Coney Island at all times while the QB and QJ terminated ar Brighton Beach. This caused frequent delays because trains had to switch tracks before Brighton Beach. On August 19, 1968, D trains began terminating at Brighton Beach when they ran express in Brooklyn, and QB and QJ trains ran all the way to Coney Island.
I rode the NX both AM and PM from West8th St. to Canal St. I thought the NX was a great idea. The first day of service there were only a few seats available at W 8th St. After an about a week, the train arrived quite empty but it gave Bay Ridge riders transferring at 59th St. a chance to get a seat on an express train to Manhattan. Perhaps, if the NX could have stopped at Kings Highway or Bay Parkway, it would have been much more utilized and remained in service.
The Improvements I would have loved to see with the N would have been an extension to Ocean Pkwy keeping the Local service on Sea Beach. This would keep the resemblance of the NX Line but this time making the local stops to Ocean Pkwy to avoid interference with the trains terminating at Brighton Beach. The Express NX service should be a summer only service however just like the seasonal extension that the Rockaway Shuttle gets.
That’s a good idea because Ocean Parkway has underutilized middle tracks and the middle tracks between Ocean Parkway and Brighton Beach are used as storage for oos B trains anyways so they can’t be used
A total reconstruction of the New Utrecht Avenue station would be in short order; it needs to be converted into an express station. This would justify the return of express service on the Sea Beach Line by allowing a transfer to the West End Line.
@@user-dj7wv5ok2x I think when they do use the express tracks down Sea Beach, they're only using the "Manhattan-bound" express track. Thus if you have New Utrecht an express stop, you could simply build a platform over the Coney Island-bound express track, thus making the station resemble Willets Pt on the 7.
Have an ‹N› service running at weekends in summer that operates as an extension of the B from Brighton Beach to Ocean Pkwy (where it would wait for several minutes to ensure punctuality), Aquarium, Coney Island, Kings Hwy, 59th St, Sunset Park, Pacific St, Union Sq, Herald Sq, Times Sq, Carnegie Hall, 5th Av, 59th St - Lexington Av, Queensboro Plaza, Astoria Blvd and Astoria Ditmars Blvd.
2:15; I paused this clip, and what I did see was that the "NX" train acted like the Q train from going Brighton Beach to Coney Island, and it also acted like the "N" or "Q" train going express after Canal Street until it reaches to 57th. Street Midtown.
It is not warranted, given the lack of any express stations and whatnot. Also just because something is abandoned or no in regular use doesn’t mean that it has to be put in regular use.
@@TheRailLeaguerThose tracks aren't totally abandoned; they're used as test tracks for new equipment, and for instructing new train operators in handling whatever equipment they might be assigned to.... But YES, those tracks would be great in regular passenger service; all that needs doing is rebuilding the New Utrecht Avenue station as an express stop to allow transfers to the West End Line.
@@user-dj7wv5ok2x Maybe but then you run into the problem into frequency of both lines. Even if both express tracks were rebuilt and the New Utrecht Avenue station were rebuilt to an express station (which is next to impossible), given the mac frequency of the N route 8 trains er hour, that would result in inadequate frequencies for both services. Even with deinterlining with N service operating 15, it’s still pretty bad. You need to not put too much emphasis on quantity over QUALITY.
Than after this MTA ran Æ line but discontinued it because people did not know how to say the lines name being a Manhattan express only in Manhattan on the eighth Avenue line from WTC up to I think 125th St. and meeting the same fate as the NX service
I still wonder why the Sea Beach branch has 4 tracks when the manhattan bound express track is filled with litter, construction equipment and sometimes the rail just cuts off at different spots
Honestly they should bring it back, albeit under a different name or something, and not make it peak direction (because there’s 2 express tracks available, not one). It runs express straight from 59th street to Coney Island. That’s more stations bypassed (9) in an express journey than anywhere else in the entire subway, excluding the SIR.
That would result in lower ridership since it would bypass every station on the line, doing nothing to speed up service on the Sea Beach Line. And even then given the frequency on the N route, you're just going to make Sea Beach commutes longer due to less frequent service. If anything, the track configuration on the Brighton Line should be changed to allow express trains to operate to Coney Island and local trains to terminate at Brighton Beach, speeding up trips between Coney Island and Downtown Brooklyn.
A Special Express should run Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day on the Brighton every 20 minutes. Maybe run B trains as far as 145 St or Special Q (or ) trains.
Tbh in my opinion the NX wasnt a bad idea it just had bad execution. If it had some in between stops at Frequently used stations it might have lasted untill the 70s.
the NX was a really sort of useless line to begin with, as since Sea Beach Exp tracks skip a lot of residential areas. It just ran with the N, so why make it a different color? (thanks 2nd ave for taking it) Also the TA Guide which you showed in this video had the most random colors and letter assignments known to mankind like GREEN C AND GREEN R WEREN'T EVEN CONNECTED EXCEPT AT ONE STOP? There had to be reason why the colors were marked that way, but that's all that I have to say.
I'm not against having a Sea Beach Express in general. Just use the diamond N for rush hours, express to Manhattan AM hours, express to Coney Island PM hours. Likewise, restore the Astoria Express permanently for rush hours.
Area in Brooklyn it passed through is very car dependant. I doubt their study to that into account as these people's actual commuting patterns outside of actual extending an line further elsewhere or building a actual line reflective of these patterns. The IBX will be just as underutilized for the same giving reasons.
What you’re saying isn’t 100% true, and you seriously need to stop having something against the mere concept of IBX. It will be very heavily utilized since it is a line reflective of actual commuting patterns, though many would’ve loved for it to be heavy rail
