Yesterday Jeannette & I planned to meet up over at Tien’s for chili and football. Beforehand, Jeannette got tied up with her in-laws but Tien and I were able to go across the street to the New York Transit Museum, which turned out to be way fun.

We planned to have a football party at Tien’s Aunt’s, where he is staying while she is out of the country and while his apartment purchase goes through. Since the games didn’t start until 3 p.m., we went to the New York Transit museum in the afternoon before gametime. Conveniently it is located directly across the street from where Tien is staying.

The beginning of the museum was a display with old photographs and stories of how the subway was built. It was much less interactive than the second half, which had you actually going into old subway trains and busses and things. The first part was still very informative, even if it was not as fun. This chart shows the costs of things at the time of the subway construction as opposed to how much a laborer would earn.

Beneath the museum is a subway stop that is now only used by the museum. They have old subway cars from many different time periods parked on each side of the track and you can go into them and have a look around. On the platform the signs and benches match the time period of the train parked nearby.

I think this car is from around 1907.

Inside the circa 1907 subway car.

Even the really old subway cars had advertising in them.

This subway car is from about 1916.. note the ceiling fans!

This train is from about 1928. Thus far the seats have all been padded and covered with a material that seems to be woven from some sort of synthetic straw-like material.

I like the porthole windows on the 1949 subway train.

1949

Some old subway signs.

The history of subway commutors being nicknamed “strap hangers” goes back to this. In the really old subway cars, this one from 1907, there were straps hanging from the ceiling that commuters without a seat hung on to for balance. “Strap Hanger” has become somewhat of a prideful nickname to the modern-day commutor and there is even a public interest group called Straphangers Campaign which has been a respected voice for New York’s daily subway and bus riders since 1979.

Running the length of the train behind the straps, you can see in this photo of a 1907 train, is a cord. At the end of the cord is a bell. When you want to get off at the next subway stop you ring the bell and the conductor stops. .. much like our current bus system. The remaining photos are of the evoloution of the strap.

1916 “strap”.

1928.

1949.

1955.

Tien

More Information:
- The New York Transit Museum, by Tien
- Fun at the Transit Museum, by Tien (includes lots of cute photos of me!!)
- New York Transit Museum Official Site
- NYCSubway.org