Work Train at Myrtle-Broadway - A New York Subway Moment

Work Train at Myrtle-Broadway - A New York Subway Moment

I love shooting along elevated stretches of the New York City Subway system.

Not only do such settings allow captures of the fascinatingly complex infrastructure of tracks, switches, signals, cables, tripper arms, etc. that make the system work, but they also illustrate the extent to which these lines function as the steel arteries of the city, connecting neighborhoods via their elevated lines along and above major thoroughfares, lined by stores, restaurants, offices and other commercial establishments, as well as residential spaces.

Indeed, while the Subway's underground rails perform that same arterial function, it is these elevated structures carrying the tracks that most visually demonstrate how integral a part of these neighborhoods the rail system is.

This particular elevated segment is along the BMT Jamaica Line at the outbound end of the Myrtle Avenue station in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. This part of the line runs above Broadway. Serving the J and Z trains, it traverses a wide swath of Brooklyn, then curves onward into Queens on its journey to Jamaica Center. This station is also where the M train turns off to follow its own right of way above Myrtle Avenue toward its terminus at Middle Village, Queens. (*)

On this afternoon in early October 2018, the 1960s-vintage R32 and R42 (**) trains were still operating
on the J and Z, alongside the newer R160 trains, but the presence of this diesel-powered work train
added a bonus measure of grit and grunt to the rail-cityscape of Myrtle Av station.

The trackside signaling will, of course, keep the work train a safe distance
away from the J train up the line, currently stopped at Kosciuszko St Station.

©2021 Steve Ember
(*)