NEW YORK — The last of three New York City Transit Museum-sponsored trips using vintage subway equipment drew a sellout crowd on Saturday, Aug. 13, for a trip to the Rockaways. The trip used 1930s Independent R1 through R9 equipment, along with century-old Brooklyn Rapid Transit/Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Co. (BRT/BMT) B-type/Standard equipment — a consist that would never have occurred in regular revenue service.
The trip originated at the IND 96th Street-Second Avenue station in Manhattan, traveling to the Rockaway Park-Beach 116th Street station in Queens. The train’s routing took it from the 6th Avenue IND to the 8th Avenue line at Jay Street/Borough Hall in Brooklyn, continuing on the IND trunk line in Brooklyn, down the Rockaway Beach Branch through Hammel’s Wye for the short ride to the Beach 116 Street terminal station.
While this was the last of the nostalgia rides for summer 2022, but the trips are likely to return next year. In the meantime, a number of vintage subway cars, as well as NYC Transit buses, are on display at the Transit Museum at 99 Schermerhorn Street in downtown Brooklyn. More information is available at the museum website.
Railroad nostalgia is truly unmatched! It both pleases and saddens, educates and teaches! A big bravo made of stainless subway steel to the management of the New York City Transit Museum once again! See you next summer, folks!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün