Nostalgia Trains Are Returning

A few days ago, the redoubtable MTA announced that their tradition of presenting vintage Subway trains during the holiday season will continue in 2013. There will also be vintage buses running on 42nd street in the city, but let’s face it, fellow Queensicans — we don’t go there on the weekends unless we absolutely have to. Why would you, if you live in a place as great as Queens?

The “Nostalgia Special,” as MTA calls it, will be running along the M line between Queens and Manhattan again this year during the first four Sundays in December and offers a ride on trains which can date back as far as the 1930’s.

From mta.info:

The Nostalgia Special is made up of subway cars in service from the 1930s to the 1970s, running along the lettered lines from the Grand Concourse to Coney Island.  They were also the cars that originally operated along the A Line. Their ceiling fans, padded seats, and incandescent light bulbs were state-of-the-art when these cars were first placed in service.  The last of the cars were removed from service more than 35 years ago and replaced by the stainless steel, climate-controlled trains that our customers have become accustomed to today.

Be warned, this is a popular event.

Subway and rail enthusiasts migrate in from all over the tristate area, as does the general public. The trains all bear period appropriate advertising and signage, as befits their status as museum pieces. Graphic designers and marketing professionals find this window to their industry’s past a particularly endearing feature.

Also from mta.info, a description of the car models which MTA plans on displaying:

NOSTALGIA TRAIN HIGHLIGHTS:

• 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.

The trains follow the M tracks between Queens Plaza and Second Avenue, and offer the regular Subway service one expects upon entering the system.

One of the joys of the ride is watching the city people blindly get on board, texting and futzing about with their phones. They then suddenly cast their gaze around, noticing their surroundings and the hordes of photographers and rail fans around them.

There will be amateur and pro photographers onboard who hired models to dress in period garb for the day. Pretty ladies and gentlemen will be observed wearing atavist fashions, posing for shots, and vamping in WW2 era clothes.

Goofy advertising from the past — admonishments to “hire a veteran”, “Smoke Viceroy”, and reminders that “real men wear a hat” line the walls. Be prepared though, for camera flashes and dozens of photographers roaming the trains as they hurtle along. One interesting note is how “bouncy” these trains are in comparison to the modern units, and they are also quite a bit louder.

It’s really something worth checking out.

“For the first four Sundays, subway riders will be able to catch a ride on this classic subway train at stations along the line between Queens Plaza and Second Avenue,” said Joseph Leader, MTA New York City Transit’s Senior Vice President of the Department of Subways.  “They aren’t the first subway cars, but these R 1/9 cars served for five decades and are historically significant as the rolling stock that originally served the IND.”