December 4, 2009
1930s subway cars, 1950s buses in service for holidays
Starting Sunday, subway cars from the 1930s-era will return to service on the New York City rails, shuttling shoppers on the V line for the holiday season, the MTA announced Thursday.
“With a little bit of luck and good timing, riders will be able to catch a ride on this classic subway train at stations along the V line between Queens Plaza and Second Avenue,” Steven Feil, New York City Transit’s Senior Vice President of the Department of Subways, said in and MTA news release. (Which coincidentally, is exactly what he said last year.)
Highlights of the 2009 Nostalgia Train:
Car No. 100 – Manufactured by American Car and Foundry, this R1-type car was the first car in the initial order of 300 cars placed in service for the opening of the IND subway.
Car No. 484 – Part of a 500-car order of R4 cars manufactured by American Car & Foundry. In 1946, this car received a retrofit of bulls-eye lighting and a public address system.
Car No. 1575 – Originally manufactured as an R7, this car was involved in a wreck in 1946. Sent to the American Car & Foundry factory the car was rebuilt as prototype of the next generation R10 subway car.
Many of the cars come from the collection of the NYC Transit Museum in downtown Brooklyn.
For more nostalgia train pictures, see NewYorkology’s 2007 story from the rails.
The Nostalgia Train will roll on the V line from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Sunday through December 27. The special train is mixed in with modern-day trains, so you may have to wait on the platform for awhile until you see the 1930s cars as they make the loop from Queens to the Lower East Side.
On weekdays, vintage buses will be mixed into regular service on the M42 route along 42nd Street in Manhattan. “Everything but the MetroCard fare boxes will be original,” according to the MTA.
The price to ride a vintage bus or subway is the same as any modern-day train or bus - a $2.25 MetroCard swipe.
The vintage buses — which will run weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the holidays — will include:
Bus No. 3100 – 1956 General Motors owned and operated by Fifth Avenue Coach Lines. (First Air-conditioned transit bus).
Bus No. 9098 – 1958 General Motors, among the first buses outfitted with fiberglass seats.
Bus No. 2969 – 1948 General Motors, among the first forty-foot transit buses to operate in NYC.
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
December 4, 2009 8:46 AM in Cheap Stuff, Downtown, History, Kids, Midtown, Museums, Out of Manhattan, Transportology
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