New York City's secret subway line with antique cars is going back into service - here's what it's like to ride it
We arrived at the Queens Plaza stop not long after boarding at Second Avenue in Manhattan. Here's the Shopper's Special antique train line as it rides away, with one of the many passengers posing for a final pic:
My final look into the train was perfectly representative of the bizarre mash-up of antique train cars with modern life: a woman, dressed in antique clothes, listening to music on her smartphone.
And the placards on this one even lit up:
It was full of the same adorably designed seats:
The final car looked more like a train line than the modern subway system:
Look at this tiny platform he's standing on:
For the final car, another throwback to the 1930s (though the decoration on the interior is from the 1940s):
These cars ran through the 1970s — some of the riders were discussing when they used to ride on these trains in New York:
The subway map looked considerably different back when this train last ran:
And these "modern" destination placards!
Check out these futuristic oscillating fans!
The "straps" were much newer, as was the lighting and the seats. This looked the closest to the modern New York subway:
The next car was far more modern, but that's not because it was built much more recently than the other cars:
Next car!
It's pretty delightful seeing modern fashion juxtaposed with these classic subway cars:
There were some adorably bizarre seats on this first car:
Stuff like emergency brakes are notoriously low-tech:
And our friends dressed in vintage clothing made another appearance, classic photography gear in-hand:
The seats have clearly been replaced, but they still retain the same charm of their original form:
This older car looked a bit worse for wear — the metal "straps" were extra worn, and the fans were worryingly close to riders' heads:
Despite the subway car being from the 1930s, advertisements in this car started erring toward the 1960s:
The sliding doors were far less safe on these early trains. If you got caught in between, it felt as if two metal doors were closing on you!
This MTA worker even dressed the part:
This is not a bathroom — this is for subway operators, despite looking like some sort of nightmare prison:
The next car was even older, from 1930, also built by American Car and Foundry.
To the next car! The line keeps the doors between cars open, so you can freely walk through its eight cars:
Some of the ads are for events long passed, like this "I Am An American — Citizenship Day" — an apparently free event in Central Park.
And yes, Citizenship Day is a real American holiday that you've probably never heard of (I certainly hadn't).
It takes place on September 17 every year and serves to commemorate the signing of the US Constitution (on September 17, 1787). The holiday was originally called "I Am An American Day," which was celebrated during the 1940s; it became "Citizenship Day" in the early 1950s. Probably not a bad idea considering America's history as a nation of immigrants.
Nearly 100 years later, and the New York subway is still running ads for New Yorkers (and tourists!) to visit Coney Island.
There's something inherently more classy about calling it the "City of New York" instead of just New York City, isn't there?
And this amazingly inexpensive soap. Just five cents!
A lot of the fun is in the details. I couldn't stop gawking at every old advert, like this adorable Wrigley's ad:
In addition to restoring the lighting and ventilation systems, the MTA also restored the station ID placard. Remember how there weren't always screens everywhere?
This car was built in 1932 by the American Car and Foundry company, so it's assuredly gotten some love in the past 80 years.
The lightbulbs have all been replaced, and the ceiling fans are all running (pushing air out of the vents along the top of the car).
The cars are near-perfectly restored, from the metal "straps" to hold onto, to the yellow-orange seats.
Many of the advertisements on the first train car were from the 1940s, such as this advertisement for war bonds:
Right off the bat, the level of detail is stunning. Old advertisements run through each car:
OK, enough is enough: It's time to get on this train and take a ride through history!
New York City's secret subway line with antique cars is going back into service - here's what it's like to ride it
There are some amazing details on these old train cars:
While the train was stopped, people dressed in anachronistic clothing posed for photos next to the antique train cars:
Since the vintage subway line runs during the holidays, it's festooned with Christmas wreaths on the back and front:
Just like any NYC subway, the "Shopper's Special" (as it was called in 2016) rolls into the station at high speed:
But you're here for the train, right? So was I! It arrived about 10 minutes ahead of its 1:03 p.m. departure time — plenty of time for photos!
There's no running to the train given that no one's using the vintage subway line like an actual subway line. Subways in NYC don't usually stand in a station for longer than a minute or two, but this one stops to pose for photos for at least a few minutes.
The gentleman here in the white hat told me that he and his crew were going to a party afterward at Webster Hall, an event space/concert hall in Manhattan's East Village.
A ton of people on the train were dressed in period-appropriate clothing. Of note, these are not paid actors.
Even though we arrived at 12:30, there were already a bunch of people waiting — some were clearly tourists; others were clearly New Yorkers.
As you can see from last's year schedule, the train runs throughout the day starting at 10 a.m. and concluding at about 5 p.m.
The schedule is slightly different for 2017 due to the two different lines the line is running on. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), the train "departs from the 2nd Avenue subway station on the F line at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. and from the 96th Street subway station on the Q line at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m..
I got on at the Second Avenue stop in Manhattan — in 2016, the train ran between the Second Avenue stop in Manhattan and the Queens Plaza stop in Queens.
In 2017, the holiday train is running on the F line between 2nd Av and Lexington Avenue / 63rd Street, and via the Q line between Lexington Avenue / 63rd Street and 96th Street on the Upper East Side.
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