For those folks who wonder about the commute to Rockaway on the A train visit this page, video is on the bottom of the page:
Subway Memories
After the arduous trip through Manhattan & Brooklyn you enter the descalation phase of the trip were goes onto the elevated section. As the train makes the trip past the Aqueduct station you can make out part of the racetrack to the left then it heads towards Howard Beach/JFK (actually it is the Hamilton Beach section). Then you go over the first leg of Jamaica Bay through the Gateway National Park bird sanctuary into Broad Channel, this is the stop where you will catch the shuttle to Rockaway Park. The train then proceds over the second train tressle into a section know as the Hammels "Y", this is the fork in the tracks that splits to Far Rockaway & Rockaway Park. At the end of the video you can see the new housing being built around Arverne-By-Sea.
Yes, it is a long ride from Manhattan but usually watching out the window rolling over the water made it seem all worthwhile. It is a rare, peaceful experience on the NYC subway.