#transithistory

WHY DOES EVERY NYC SUBWAY CONDUCTOR POINT AT A BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED BOARD AFTER STOPPING AT EACH STATION? 🚇 Throughout the subway system's 472 stations you will see one of these stripped signs in the middle of each platform facing the tracks, and every time a train pulls in, the conductor acknowledges the sign by pointing at it. So what is this all about? The striped boards are referred to as ZEBRA BOARDS. Each subway car has a specific spot where it has to stop at each platform. If the train pulls up too short or too far, the conductor needs to know not to open the doors. The signs are placed to indicate the conductor is in the correct location on the platform to open the doors. Although Zebra Boards have been around almost as long as the subway system, up until 1996 conductors were not required to acknowledge them. Requiring the conductors to point at the boards verified they were paying attention to the train's location, as they are often being recorded by station cameras. Additionally, all new trains have a feature that allows the operator to enable the conductor to open the doors on the correct side of the train and only after it has stopped in the correct location. #subway #nyc #nyctransit #manhattan #brooklyn #nycsubway #queens #queensnewyork #thebronx #railfan #nyhistory #transithistory #subwayhistory #transitplanner #urbanplanning #architecture #planyc #mta #nycnta #mtanyc #subways #5train #skyline #skyscraper #nycurbanism (at Brooklyn Borough Hall) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7W-RVGnBt6/?igshid=pu54d4nqvhel

Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority's (which became the MTA) first annual report (1966-7) "proposed high-speed rail use of the center mall of the Long Island Expressway from Holbrook to Riverhead on eastern Long Island.” This report also proposed what would turn into East Side Access – what if Long Island also had high-speed rail? #longisland #longislandexpressway #eastsideaccess #mta #publictransit #longislandhistory #mta #subway #brooklyn #queens #manhattan #urbanplanning #nyhistory #nychistory #transithistory #urbanism #longislandrailroad #lirr (at Long Island Expressway ~L.I.E 495) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwZ4y9unBEh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sp73mnvcgbs4

#MapMondays - 1968 East Side Access maps Today we launched our story on East Side Access (link in bio) - East Side Access is a megaproject that connects the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to Grand Central Terminal via more than 8 miles of new tunnels and a new eight-track train terminal 150 feet below Grand Central. These maps are from the MTA’s ambitious transit expansion program in 1969 that first called for a #LongIslandRailroad terminal in East Midtown. The proposal included a new East River tunnel at 63rd Street connecting to a terminal on Third Ave and 48th Street that would be constructed with an office tower on top. The ‘69 expansion plan also included a proposal for constructing the #SecondAvenueSubway, which would have provided subway connections to the new LIRR terminal. By the end of the year, construction had started on the 63rd Street Tunnel... (More to come tomorrow!) Visit our website to read about the entire history of East Side Access, get an update the status of construction, and see recent construction photos, and an illustrated description of the concourse and tracks 150 feet below #GrandCentralTerminal. Stay tuned for more on East Side Access all week! Follow @eastsideaccess for daily updates on the project. #MapMonday #EastSideAccess #mtacapitalconstruction #mta #lirr #publictransit #nychistory #urbanism #midtown #grandcentral #haroldinterlocking #sunnysideyards #transithistory #nyctransit #nycsubway #subway (at Grand Central Terminal) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu4cVKwHCO1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zodsz5yh7xuo

#SubwaySunday 🚇 The corrugated stainless-steel R32 "Brightliner" subway car - first introduced in 1964. The new cars were 4,000 pounds lighter than previous models, featured improved rollsigns, clearer intercoms, plastic seats (previously they were wicker), with a more open feel for passengers. The cars were manufactured by Budd Company in Philadelphia who built 600 cars in '64 and '65 at a cost of $69 million. When the R32 was first released it looked completely different than its predecessors, paving the way for future all-steel designs. Today the R32s are the oldest subway cars in service, more than extending their 35-year lifespan, older than any metro system in the country and one of the oldest in the world. Most of the cars were replaced in the late 2000s with only 222 remaining in 2017 which, today are limited to the A/C line. Retired cars were scrapped for steel or stripped and sunk as artificial reefs, a program which ended in 2010. Once a shining example of modern engineering, today the cars break down more often than any other in the system averaging only 33,527 miles between failures. The average subway car can last 400,000 miles with the newest pushing more than 750,000 miles before breaking down. The R32 is the only car that predates the MTA, as it was first ordered for the NYC Transit Authority. The @nytransitmuseum has a pair of R32's from their inaugural 1964 trip into Grand Central in their vintage train collection. #subway #r32 #r32brightliner #brightliner #railfan #nycsubway #r32subway #transithistory #atrain #ctrain #neworksubway #nychistory #urbanism #brooklyn #manhattan #nyc #nycurbanism (at New York Transit Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJtrzulZ6n/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1gjvi378uhplv

Three generations of MUNI trolley coaches. You can see all three on Muni Heritage Weekend on Sept 24-25. And if you stop by the Market Street Railway Museum you can pick up a Museums in Motion calendar in which I'm one of the featured photographers. Streetcar.org for more info. @sfmta_ @sfmsr #muniheritageweekend #transithistory #museumsinmotion #urbanphotographer