Newsday from New York, New York • 55

51 Riders: Good Riddance To Those Turnstiles HEN1CAN from Page 18 TAKE 90 DAYS TO PAY! SEE SALESMAN FOR DETAILS DURABLE TWEED CARPET officer. For public access, it was the way to go. Part of Spellmans job is to supervise Iron Maiden repairs. Theyre a maintenance nightmare, he said. Sometimes, the problems are strictly mechanical.

More often though, the breakdowns are caused by vandals and thieves. "This is quarter-inch steel were talking about, and the vault compartments where the tokens go are built as tough as regular safes, Spellman said. Still, they are very vulnerable to attack. Everybody knows theres tokens in them, and the majority of them are at unmanned locations. Never underestimate the industriousness of subway thieves.

They have learned to cut the vault hinges off with electric saws three-inch steel hinges, nearly one-inch thick. They know how to use torches to cut holes in the back. Recently, in Greenpoint and West Queens, the token thieves have started using electric drills to get inside. They watch the registers and wait until the vaults are full, Spellman said. In the 2V4 months since the beginning of December, 48 of the Iron Maidens them have been put out of commission by attacks of various kinds.

The New York subway actually has three different models of high-entrance turnstiles. The oldest model, known as The American, made its first appearance on the IRT lines in 1930. Seventy-one of these remain. In 1937, the Perey Turnstile which built most of the normal turnstiles in the subway, introduced its Independent Percy model on the IND. Twenty-two of these are left.

The only real innovation in Iron Maiden design came in 1945, when Percy brought out a model with a special plunger to push the token in. These Percy 45s were said to jam less often, and 101 of them are left. Last year, Percy tested a new electronic prototype for the subway. It was supposed to be user-friendly and destruction-proof. It may well do wonders for the subways in Toronto or Atlanta or Hong Kong.

But it New York, it was a dud. We have it storage now, Ed Spellman said. We dont have much hope for it, to tell you the truth. Where They Are Where the 61 Iron Maidens" slated for removal are located: 6806 4th AYE. BAYRIDGE, BROOKLYN (bet.

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