New York Transit Museum is a unique museum devoted to the impact of public transportation on the growth and development of the New York metropolitan region.
Due a generous donation, effective Friday, November 24th, the New York Transit Museum’s Holiday Train Show will be free for all visitors! We are incredibly thankful to have received this support and are glad to be able to pay it forward. Happy Holidays, New York!
Today’s the day! The new R-211
#NYCsubway
cars are entering passenger service.
These photos by
@MTA
photographer Marc A. Hermann show the interior and exterior of an R-211T subway.
It's our birthday, too! On July 4th, 1976, a group of
@MTA
New York City Transit employees opened the New York City Transit Exhibition. The exhibit was only intended to last a few months, but proved to be so popular that its run was continually extended - and here we are 47 years…
Happy
#InternationalCatDay
from our favorite cat out there: Etti-Cat! In 1962, the Transit Authority introduced Etti-Cat to scold and cajole commuters into more courteous behavior. Posters featuring the superbly polite feline were ubiquitous in the subway cars of the 1960s.
Happy
#Hanukkah
to all who celebrate! Created in 2008 by Brooklyn-based artist Cheryl Berkowitz, this design transforms the Downtown Brooklyn area of Vignelli’s classic
#NYCSubway
diagram into an image of the
#menorah
.
Now available at .
The JFK Express, known to many locally at its time as “The Train to The Plane,” ran from 1978 to 1990 with the goal of making it fast and easy to reach JFK Airport from Manhattan, and, later, Queens. Do you remember "The Train to The Plane?"
Nowadays, we are used to seeing ads on the
#NYCsubway
for medical services, but when Dr. Zizmor began advertising his dermatology practice in subway cars in the early 1980s, he was the first. Indeed, he became the most famous doctor in
#NYC
. Do you remember Dr. Zizmor?
Take me out to the ballgame - on a vintage train! Our 1917 Lo-Vs and the Train of Many Colors are headed to
@YankeeStadium
for the
@Yankees
#HomeOpener
on 3/30! Vintage trains depart from the uptown 4 train platform at
@GrandCentralNYC
at 11am.
Info at .
This holiday season, we continue the tradition of Holiday Nostalgia Rides on our 1930s R1/9 cars! Departing from the F line’s 2nd Avenue station in Lower Manhattan, our vintage train will transport straphangers back in time every Saturday in December. Learn more at…
#BlackHistoryMonth
: 100 years before
#RosaParks
refused to give up her seat, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, a 24-year-old black New Yorker, stood her ground. With perseverance, she fought for equal rights on public transportation in
#NYC
. Hear her story at .
Happy
#Caturday
! In 1962, Etti-Cat was introduced to scold and cajole commuters into more courteous behavior. Posters featuring the superbly polite feline’s admonitions were placed in almost 3,000
#NYCsubway
cars. Learn more on Tuesday: .
Happy
#SubwayDay
! The
#NYCSubway
turns 116 today!
New York City’s first rapid transit subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit subway opened on October 27, 1904 with 28 stations along a 9.1-mile line extending from City Hall to 145th Street.
This is the last stop on this train!
Today, R-42 cars made their final trip, ending more than 50 years of service in the
#NYCsubway
. Thank you to
@NYCTSubway
and everyone who joined us for the final run of this beloved fleet. Farewell, R-42s!
Photos: Marc A. Hermann / MTA NYCT
After a three-year hiatus, our members-only “Jewel in the Crown: Old City Hall Station” tours are back! Tickets will go on sale in March. Join, renew, or gift a membership today to receive information about upcoming tour dates and purchase tickets: .
Happy
#SubwayDay
! The
#NYCSubway
turns 118 today! New York City’s first rapid transit subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit subway opened on October 27, 1904 with 28 stations along a 9.1-mile line extending from City Hall to 145th Street.
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1904, NYC's first subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit subway opened. This
#NYTMCollection
archival video, shot just months after the subway opened, shows a train pulling into 14 St Station and continuing uptown. Happy Birthday,
#NYCsubway
!
Happy
#Hanukkah
! We love this clever card by
#Brooklyn
-based artist
#CherylBerkowitz
. Created in 2008, the design transforms the Downtown Brooklyn area of
#Vignelli
’s classic subway diagram into an image of the
#menorah
. Shop greeting cards now at .
End of the Year, End of an Era.
R-32 subway cars are making their final trip, ending 58 years of service in New York City. Please join us to say farewell to the beloved Brightliners.
To learn more and see routes and schedules, visit .
The Museum in Downtown Brooklyn is reopening on Saturday, August 14th! After over a year of closure, we are thrilled to welcome old and new friends to explore our vintage train cars and exhibits. Come back and catch all the trains you missed!
Learn more: .
We're celebrating the 188th birthday of the
@LIRR
today!
This 1972 drawing depicts the 63rd St tunnel. In 1968, the newly created
@MTA
proposed expanding a planned
#NYCsubway
tunnel to create the joint-use tunnel shown here, with
@NYCTSubway
on the upper tracks and
#LIRR
below.
Happy
#PiDay
! It's 3/14, which means geometry fans everywhere are celebrating the mathematical constant π. We were able to get 9 digits into π before we couldn't continue with
#NYCsubway
route designations. Not bad,
#NYC
! Do you celebrate Pi Day?
Featured in the
#NYTMCollection
, this 1972 drawing depicts the 63rd Street tunnel. In 1968, the newly created
@MTA
proposed expanding a planned
#NYCsubway
tunnel under the East River to create the joint-use tunnel shown here, with subways on the upper tracks and the LIRR below.
The Franklin Avenue Shuttle, which opened in 1878, is a two car train that runs in Brooklyn from the Franklin Avenue station to the Prospect Park station and provides key transfers to the B, C, Q, 2/3, and 4/5 lines. Over 20,000 people ride the shuttle daily.
All aboard!
#GrandCentralMadison
opens tomorrow!
Allowing
@LIRR
trains to provide service directly to Manhattan’s east side, the new terminal is one of the most seismic shifts in New York transportation history.
Learn more at .
Are you ready for PARADE OF TRAINS? We sure are! Ride the rails in historic style from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, September 9th and Sunday, September 10th, by hopping on and off a selection of the Transit Museum’s vintage fleet at the Brighton Beach station B/Q platforms and Kings…
In the 1960s, PSA posters featuring this superbly polite feline’s admonitions were placed in almost 3,000 of the Transit Authority’s
#NYCsubway
cars! Learn more about the history of PSAs on NYC's subways and buses TONIGHT at 6:30pm. RSVP now at .
Get ready to step back in time with our newest Nostalgia Ride: Redbirds and Bluebirds Take Flight! Join us on Saturday, November 4th as we celebrate the iconic cars that once ruled the NYC Subway system.
To mark 20 years since the Redbird’s retirement and 60 years since the…
Happy birthday,
@GrandCentralNYC
! One of the splendors of Grand Central is that its vast, majestic spaces reveal extraordinary attention to the smallest design detail. These photos depict some of our favorite features of the historic terminal. Learn more: .
This is the last stop on this train!
Yesterday, R-32 subway cars made their final trip, ending 58 years of service in New York City. Thank you to the
@MTA
and everyone who joined us for the final run of the beloved Brightliners. Farewell, R-32s.
Photo:
@RiverRailPhoto
Holiday Nostalgia Rides begin this Saturday! Making stops between 2nd Avenue on the F line and 145th Street on the D line, our 1930s R1/9 cars will transport straphangers back in time every Saturday in December. View full route and schedule at .
#BehindTheScenes
: Taken by
@MTA
photographer Marc Hermann, these photos capture the R-32 Retirement Train's return to Coney Island Yard after its final trip in revenue service.
Happy retirement, Brightliners! You will be missed by many.
Did you attend the R-32 Retirement Runs?
Featured in the
#NYTMCollection
, this 1972 drawing depicts the 63rd Street tunnel. In 1968, the newly created
@MTA
proposed expanding a planned
#NYCsubway
tunnel under the East River to create the joint-use tunnel shown here, with
@NYCTSubway
on the upper tracks and
@LIRR
below.
Holiday Nostalgia Rides are back! In honor of the exhibit Reign of the Redbirds, the Holiday Nostalgia Train will feature the Train of Many Colors and travel along a new route this year!
View route and schedule at .
It's TIIIIME! Holiday Nostalgia Rides begin TODAY! Making stops between 2nd Avenue on the F line and 145th Street on the D line, our 1930s R1/9 cars will transport straphangers back in time every Saturday in December. View full route and schedule at .
#DidYouKnow
that IRT cars are able to run on BMT/IND tracks? All NYC subway tracks are standard gauge. However, BMT/IND cars are too wide and long for some IRT curves and tunnels.
The New York Central completed the first phase of electrification in 1906. Here, the line’s first electric train stands outside the Grand Central train shed after its first test run from High Bridge on the Harlem River in Northern Manhattan.
These
#NYTMCollection
station schematics from the 1930s showcase the extraordinary detail used in creating the coloring for
#NYCsubway
station mosaics.
Did you know that there’s a color-coded navigation system that exists outside of the main map’s colored lines?
THREAD 👇
#DidYouKnow
that before 1985 many routes of the
#NYCsubway
system used two letters in their service designation? This 1979
#NYTMCollection
photograph shows the Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street station IRT platform where signage points to several trains, including the RR and the QB.
It’s our birthday!
#OnThisDay
in 1976, a group of NYCT employees opened the New York City Transit Exhibition. The exhibit was only intended to last a few months, but proved to be so popular that its run was continually extended - and here we are 43 years later!
Taken in 1916, this
#NYTMCollection
photo shows the entrance to the 77th Street Station in
#BayRidge
, Brooklyn. The debut of the station, served by what is now the R line, sparked housing and development booms, transforming Bay Ridge into the vibrant neighborhood we know today.
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1972, the first R-44 cars entered
#NYCSubway
service. Originally designed for high speeds to allow for swift travel along the Second Avenue Subway, an R-44 broke the world speed record for a train car on January 31st, 1972 with a speed of 87.75 mph.
Color-coding of entrance globes began in the early 1980s to help customers determine which entrances were open and had a manned booth. Entrance globes remain an icon of the
#NYCsubway
. Today, most are green, but you can still spot red globes in a few rare places.
Featured in the
#NYTMCollection
, this 1972 drawing depicts the 63rd Street tunnel. In 1968, the newly created
@MTA
proposed expanding a planned
#NYCsubway
tunnel under the East River to create the joint-use tunnel shown here, with subways on the upper tracks and the LIRR below.
The
#NYCSubway
turns 115 today! Opened
#OnThisDay
in 1904, the NYC subway is now the largest 24-hour operating subway system in the world, with 472 stations, over 800 track miles and a fleet of more than 6,000 cars.
#SubwayDay
Don't forget! Tomorrow & Sunday it's
#ParadeofTrains
, a beloved opportunity to ride on multiple vintage trains in our collection. Go back in time on R1/9, BMT Standard, and BU Gate cars! Free with a MetroCard swipe or OMNY tap! Learn more at
Today’s the day we've all been waiting for –
#ParadeofTrains
is HERE! Ride the rails in historic style today and tomorrow, September 9th and 10th from 11am to 4m. Straphangers can step aboard different vintage trains at the Brighton Beach B/Q platforms AND the Kings Highway…
It's our birthday! On July 4th, 1976, a group of NYCT employees opened the New York City Transit Exhibition. The exhibit was only intended to last a few months, but proved to be so popular that its run was continually extended - and here we are 46 years later!
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge opened to the public, quite literally bridging the gap between Manhattan and the City of Brooklyn! At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
In 1902, Grand Central Station featured 11 cast-iron eagles, with 14ft wingspans, mounted on the building. Removed during the building’s demolition in 1910, the eagles were relocated to other places. However, two were later returned to
@GrandCentralNYC
, where they remain today.
#DidYouKnow
that “Æ” was once used as a route designation in the
#NYCsubway
? For a few brief months in 1968, some trains on the Eighth Avenue Line sported an Æ bullet during rush hours. Similar to today’s A line, but providing service only in Manhattan, the Æ instead terminated…
Featured in the
#NYTMCollection
, this 1972 drawing depicts the 63rd Street tunnel. In 1968, the newly created
@MTA
proposed expanding a planned
#NYCsubway
tunnel under the East River to create the joint-use tunnel shown here, with subways on the upper tracks and the LIRR below.
Get into the spirit of baseball season with a ride to Yankee Stadium aboard a 1917 IRT Lo-V train! Leaving Grand Central at 11am on April 5th, the Yankees Nostalgia Train will run non-stop to 161st Street – Yankee Stadium. More info at .
@yankees
Due to mechanical difficulties, the remaining Holiday Nostalgia Rides have been cancelled. Thank you to all who joined us for this season's rides. We look forward to seeing you again in 2024.
Tomorrow, Sunday, January 9th, R-32 subway cars are making their final trip. To commemorate its final run, the R-32 train will run on the Q line, its original debut route in 1964. Please join us to bid the Brightliners farewell: .
Photo: Marc Glucksman
#DidYouKnow
a tunnel was proposed in 1923 to connect Staten Island and Brooklyn? Due to the financial crash of 1929, it was never built, but this
#NYTMCollection
#map
by Ohman Map Company captured the proposed plan.
You all made it clear - one ride just wasn't enough! We've added a second "Redbirds and Bluebirds Take Flight" fan trip on November 4th! Tickets for the 2pm ride are now on sale at .
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1995, the Five Boroughs Token debuted. A special ferrous metal made them slightly magnetic, making slugs unusable. It was the only token issued by NYCTA that was never successfully counterfeited. What’s your favorite
#NYCsubway
token design?
Happy
#Hanukkah
to all who celebrate! Created in 2008 by Brooklyn-based artist Cheryl Berkowitz, this design transforms the Downtown Brooklyn area of Vignelli’s classic
#NYCSubway
diagram into an image of the
#menorah
.
Holiday Nostalgia Rides run every Saturday in December! Take a ride back in time on our vintage R-9s cars! Celebrate the magic of
#NYC
during the holidays for just the cost of a MetroCard swipe or OMNY tap. View route and schedule at .
#DidYouKnow
that the 207th Street Yard, located in Upper
#Manhattan
near the 207th St stations on the A and 1 lines, services both A and B division cars? Visible from the University Heights Bridge over the Harlem River, the yard provides maintenance to both IRT and IND/BMT cars.
#DidYouKnow
the Third Ave El had a Canal Street station on the Bowery, right near the base of the Manhattan Bridge? This
#NYTMCollection
photograph shows the unique view passengers once had from this vantage point. Do you remember this station?
It’s a
#ParadeofTrains
! Meet us on the
#BrightonBeach
B/Q platform today & tomorrow from 11am - 4pm to ride the rails in vintage style on our Brooklyn Union elevated gate cars, B-Type standards, D-Type triplex cars, and our Train of Many Metals! Free with the swipe of a MetroCard
The 34th Street – Hudson Yards station turns eight today! The station connects 7 line
#NYCsubway
service to Times Square and features stainless steel tile wall panels, granite floor tiling, energy-efficient lighting and mosaic artwork installations commissioned by
@MTAArtsDesign
Joining us for tomorrow's Nostalgia Ride? We have exciting news! To accommodate more railfans, a configuration of 6 IRT SMEE cars from the
#TrainOfManyColors
will arrive immediately following the Lo-V Nostalgia Train, operating between Grand Central and Yankee Stadium on Friday.
Happy
#SubwayDay
! The
#NYCSubway
turns 115 today!
#NYC
’s first subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit subway opened
#OnThisDay
in 1904 with 28 stations along a 9.1-mile line extending from City Hall to 145th Street.
Celebrate with special events all day:
Part of Unimark's
#NYCsubway
wayfinding redesign plan was to use only the typeface across all signage, called Standard (or Akzidenz Grotesk). Standard originated in the late 19th century and was a good choice for easily readable information.
Happy
#SubwayDay
! The
#NYCSubway
turns 117 today! New York City’s first rapid transit subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit subway opened on October 27, 1904 with 28 stations along a 9.1-mile line extending from City Hall to 145th Street.
#TodayinHistory
: Taken
#OnThisDay
in 1975, this
#NYTMCollection
photo from the NYCTA Photo Unit collection shows transport of R-46
#NYCsubway
cars through Sunset Park, Brooklyn. When the fleet arrived, it was the largest single order of passenger train cars in US rail history.
#DidYouKnow
that
@MetroNorth
has begun introducing a heritage series of locomotives? So far three locomotives have been rebranded with historic railroad looks. More are coming soon. Have you spotted one of Metro-North's new heritage locomotives yet?
Do you know what the R in subway car names means?
It stands for Rolling Stock, which refers to a transportation vehicle and is most often used to describe rail cars. This system was established when the first car order for the IND subway was built under contract R1.
📷 Hermann
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1995, the Five Boroughs Token debuted. Featuring a pentagonal hole at the center to symbolize the five boroughs of
#NYC
, sixty million were minted in a two-part process; the solid token was struck first, then the pentagonal center was punched out.
#TransitTrivia
:
#DidYouKnow
the
#NYTMcollection
doesn’t only contain objects and photographs pertaining to transit in New York? This photo by Harold I. Wright from 1971 was taken in a different country! Can you tell which overseas city this is?
Taken by
@MTA
photographer Marc A. Hermann, this photograph shows two trains stationed at the Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue Terminal in January of 2018. What’s your favorite
#NYCsubway
station view during snowy winter weather?
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1972, the first R-44 cars entered
#NYCSubway
service. Originally designed for high speeds to allow for swift travel along the Second Avenue Subway, an R-44 broke the world speed record for a train car on January 31st, 1972 with a speed of 87.75 mph.
Incoming! We've welcomed two R-10s and one R-16 car, escorted by an R-11, at our Downtown Brooklyn location.
You can come tour them at The New York Transit Museum, currently open Thursday – Sunday, 10am to 4pm! Advance tickets and masks are encouraged but not required.
#TodayinHistory
:
#OnThisDay
in 1988, the K train was discontinued. Never heard of the K? That’s likely because it only ran for 3 years. The local Eighth Avenue route, AA, was renamed K in 1985 and these
#NYTMCollection
roll signs show the designation. Do you remember the K train?
In 1963, Old Penn Station was demolished. Public outrage at the station’s demise was a major catalyst for the historic preservation movement and the 1965 New York Landmarks Law that helped save the iconic
@GrandCentralNYC
and more than 30,000 other buildings from similar fates.
When subway unification took place in 1940, few steps were taken to streamline the jumble of signs that occurred when three separate operating companies combined into one. To address the growing confusion, the design firm Unimark was hired in 1967 to redesign
#NYCTA
’s wayfinding.
One year ago today, R-42
#NYCsubway
cars made their final trip on the A line, after more than 50 years of service in New York City.
Did you attend the final run of the R-42s? Tweet your best photos today and don't forget to tag
@nytransitmuseum
so we can share our favorites!