My ride on the new R160 train!

Per usual I stood on the freezing cold elevated platform at 36th Avenue this morning waiting for that yellow N or W circle to come 'round the bend. To my surprise, instead I saw a lighted red letter coming, as if I were at 59th Street and the 6 was approaching!

This is what I was riding to work this morning:

http://www.nycaviation.com/hosting/r160.jpg

Talk about brand spankin' new! The cleanest brushed metal I've ever seen, shiny floors, new composite smell, and that sly grin on everyone's faces because we all knew that we were slightly priviledged and lucky to have this ride. :)

I hope they roll these out for all of the Ns eventually!

Sweeeet! So is the inside like the rolling stock on the 6 line?

Man, I'm waiting for new Q trains!

The inside looks just like a 6, except that the walls are a nicer silverish instead of white and everything just looks updated. I made sure to note all of the differences as soon as I transferred at 59th. I felt a bit nerdy for being so excited.

Uh oh, you're turning into a subway nerd now.

I was really excited when this train debuted this past summer...I was actually planning on riding its first trip, but something happened and I couldn't make it. I saw one running on the A not too long ago, but it was going the opposite direction. So I'm still an R160 virgin.

Nice to see the N getting these...they are one of the neglected lines.

Is this on the W, too, or are they going to be stuck with the R40s forever?

Curse the W!!! Every night when I go back home from Rector Street I stand around and watch the old R40 W's sit and wait for Whitehall to clear; waiting for the R to the Q.

These new cars are great. They almost put the new 4/5/6/L cars to shame.

I remember seeing one on the A going in the opposite direction and I was tempted to hop on anyway. A week later I wound up taking a number of rides in just a few days, but haven't seen them since.

Here are some photos (not mine, from http://www.nycsubway.org/) showing the new route map, undoubtedly one of the biggest improvements:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?52557
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?45348
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?52527
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?54112

Tokyo subway is still decades ahead. :P I'll have to find my pics.