Hi Dave,

Greetings from Manhattan!

Interesting point about the LED drop-in module being compatible with the Pelican M6 - I wasn't aware of that.

As far as getting out of a subway car, in general, the doors at the car ends are unlocked, except:

(1) the train end doors are always locked

(2) on trains with full-width conductor's cabs, those doors are locked.

(3) on trains with 75' cars, all the car end doors are locked - this means all trains on the D, G, Q, R, S-Franklin, S-Rockaway, V, and some trains on the A, F, N, and W - the rest all use 51' (IRT) or 60' (BMT/IND) cars with end doors unlocked. And on the 75 footers, the end door windows can be punched out in an emergency (they're surrounded by a rubber gasket).

My opinion is, the best way out in an emergency evacuation is through an unlocked end door. The chains spanning between the cars can be unhooked, and you can jump approx. 4 1/2 feet to the track level below. A word of caution: On the IRT lines the third rail extends out past the train itself, so take care not to land on it (on BMT/IND lines the third rail is pretty much underneath the car body). The third rail is covered but don't depend on the cover holding!

That said, the tunnels are off-limits, so if you leave the train without permission from the train crew, you stand a good chance of being arrested if you're caught walking on the track level.

That also said, if people, including pregnant women, the elderly and small children are forced to be trapped in a crowded, dark, sweltering train without as much as a half-decent announcement as to what is going on and are completely unable to contact the outside world through cell phones or otherwise (and this was the case for many people for upwards of 2 hours back in the big blackout last summer), I'll be the first person off that train. If they arrest me, jail can't be much worse than being stuck on that train.

Of course, if somebody follows you out, falls down and fries themself on the third rail, their family will sue you (and the city). This is true whether or not you held a gun to their head and forced them to follow you.