205 Street
Norwood-205 Street opened along with the rest of the Concourse Line in 1933. Norwood is also a relatively new addition to the station name and only appears on subway maps, no one announces "This is a Norwood-bound D train" just "This is a 205 Street-bound D train."
The station is a terminus that wasn't meant to be a terminus, originally it was supposed to be the first stop on a two track line (the third Concourse line track ends one stop before at Bedford Park Blvd) that would extend under the Metro-North Tracks, the Bronx River and Bronx Park and along Burke Avenue to service the Northeast Neighborhoods of the Bronx, that are primarily served today by the Dyre Avenue line that the subway absorbed from the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway.
The station has one island platform but has the cross-over switch for trains switching tacks and directions after the station instead of the much easier and conventional before the station design. Terminating trains come in on their track, where they are "Temporarily out of service" and fumigated, checked for sleeping or other loitering passengers. Trains then leave the station and run out of service up to the re-lay tracks beyond the station. The driver then must walk back to the other end of the train before the train runs back onto the other platform where it is cleaned and re-enters revenue service. The station also doesn't have any crew quarters so crews are changed at the next stop, Bedford Park Blvd (where rush hour B trains also terminate) which adds a few extra minutes of travel time.
The station itself is in very bad condition and is deep beneath the surface so the tail tracks can tunnel under the Bronx River for the unbuilt extension. As of 2004 the station has lots of paint that is pealing and there are garbage bags on the platform since trains are cleaned here. The station is in the worst condition of any on the Concourse Line and needs to be re-habilitated as soon as possible. The station has green platform columns and a Green trimline with little 205s beneath it.
For exits, the station has two. Towards the western (Manhattan-bound end) of the platform two staircases lead up to a small lower landing where they combine into one, stop at another intermediate landing before up to a small upper mezzanine area. Here an up escalator arrives directly from the platform. A single bank of turnstiles facing a token booth leads up to a narrow area outside of fare control where two streetstairs, both accessed by a double length staircase with an intermediate landing to the West and East (this intersection and the street grid here is at an angle because of the Bronx’s hills) corners of 206 Street and Brainbridge Avenue.
The secondary exit is at the eastern end of the platform where a ramp leads up from the end of the platform to another mezzanine fare control area. Here are turnstiles and a single High Exit Turnstile. There was a Customer Assistant stationed here until that program was discontinued and this exit and the turnstiles became unstaffed. Here streetstairs lead up to the NW and SE corners of 205 Street and Perry Avenue. These streetstairs are at a notable lower elevation than the 206 Street entrance because of the Bronx's complex topography.
Photos 1-5: February 1, 2004; 6-9: February 10, 2007; 10-29: January 6, 2011; 30: January 27, 2012;
