Home View from Underground The View from Underground: This train don’t stop here no more

The View from Underground: This train don’t stop here no more

by Benjamin Kabak

Have camera, will travel underground. With forgotten hallways and intriguing nooks, the subways are awash in photogenic sights. So without further ado, The View from Underground.

The West Fourth Street station is a fairly important transfer point. It links the Eighth and Sixth Avenues lines to each other right in the heart of Greenwich Village. But at the north end of the station, a solitary staircase links the northwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Waverly Place to the subways, and its sign directs passengers to a confusing platform.

The most glaring problem, of course, is the presence of the orange Q bullet. Every now and then, I notice the orange bullet on the Q trains I ride, but the Q hasn’t stopped at West 4th St. since 2001, when track work on the Manhattan Bridge had the trains doing all sorts of weird stuff.

Now, it’s all wrong. The F sure does open its doors on the lower level. But two F trains? You might need to wait a long time for that. There’s no sign of the B, D or V, all trains that have long stopped at West 4th St.

Sure, this entrance is hardly used. It features just two HEET entrances. But it’s certainly confusing to see the trains listed as the F, F and Q. It’s more like the start to a terrible Scrabble rack than an accurate picture of the West 4th St. station.

You may also like

3 comments

F Express September 5, 2007 - 5:23 pm

well… this isnt the only sign that isnt updated… there are numerous signs in the system that show false directions or other misleading information, such as the shuttle bus sign for the Nostrand Ave A station or even the signs for Jamaica trains at 63rd Dr station
http://www.forgotten-ny.com

Reply
Larry V September 6, 2007 - 7:03 pm

I’m not exactly sure which signage at 63rd Drive you’re referring to (since mosaic signs often stick around for years), but references to Jamaica aren’t all that wrong. The late-night E does stop at 63rd Drive on its way to Jamaica Center.

This is probably coincindence, though.

Reply
When the signs aren’t close to current :: Second Ave. Sagas April 18, 2011 - 11:07 am

[…] the only relic. The map at 23rd St. still featured the V and W trains, and I’ve seen remnants of the Manhattan Bridge service changes at various places throughout the system. More recently, I’ve noticed how the Rockefeller […]

Reply

Leave a Comment