• MTA Deploys Vintage Trains, Buses For Holidays


    by on Dec 5th, 2010
    MTA New York City Transit Adds Service for the Holidays

    Source: MTA

    The MTA is deploying its fleet of “nostalgia trains” and vintage buses for the holiday season, replacing lines including the B1 with vehicles from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

    Other bus routes running the historic fleet are the B65 in Brooklyn; S61 in Staten Island; Q13 and Q46 in Queens; M34 and M42 in Manhattan and the Bx7 and Bx30 in the Bronx.

    The nostalgia train – comprised of subway cars in service from 1932 to 1977 – runs along the M line between Queens and Lower Manhattan. Ceiling fans, padded seats and incandescent light bulbs were state-of-the-art when these cars were first placed in service.

    The holiday “Nostalgia Train” will operate on Sundays only, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., from November 28to December 26.

    Meanwhile, the MTA is giving commuters and shoppers a little more to be cheery about. Weekends throughout December will have increased subway service to keep up with the holiday demand. Q and F train service is scheduled to run every 7.5 minutes instead of every 10 minutes.

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    • Anonymous

      Ned, is that you? Who is impersonating Ned? It’s Sunday, no?

      • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

        This is Ned 2.0

    • Jdlvtrn

      If I was drinking and saw one of these approach, I’d think I was in the Twilight Zone! Thanks for the heads-up!

    • BrooklynBus

      Was on the Nostalgia Train today. Was a lot of fun. The best part is looking at the old ads placed in every car. Warning — if you get on at Queens Plaza. The train waits 20 minutes to half an hour at 2nd Avenue but only spends 30 seconds at Queens Plaza. We actually missed the train there because we stopped to take a picture.

      Haven’t seen an old bus yet.

      Ned you should link the train schedule from the MTA website.

    • Retrofresh

      Wow, thanks for the info. I was wondering about a bus from the 70′s the other day driving down Bergen St. It was bouncing around and the driver seemed to be going extra slow between double-parked cars, such lousy suspensions they used to have. I thought it must be for a period movie.

      • bagels

        I think he was going slow due to the lousy suspensions but also lack of power steering.

      • bagels

        I think he was going slow due to the lousy suspensions but also lack of power steering.

    • http://twitter.com/nicktherat nick the rat

      ok… this makes no sense and enrages me. want to know why!?

      • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

        Let me guess. They’re cutting budgets and raising fares and then using gimmicks as a smokescreen.

        • Daveconservative

          If the unions weren’t robbing the city blind with tragically inflated benefits, perhaps budget cuts wouldn’t be necessary.

          • Staying Hidden

            The Unions aren’t the problem. Their members deserve the pay raises they need to survive in the City, especially considering how many City workers need additional help just to survive living in NYC, since pay raises have been frozen for the most part now for the past few years. The tiny inceases from the Union doesn’t even cover the difference in the cost of living! Oh joy a 1% raise!

            The real problem are the high-paid managers and execs, especially the ones recently added during Bloomberg’s past three terms, since many of the ones from the first term, easily make over 250K, far surpassing what their predecessors made, while new appointees are starting around 98k.

            You get rid of one manager or exec and how many jobs are saved? Instead let’s fire more police officers, teachers and etc., instead of one manager. Let’s start with the Commissioner in charge of the Bloomberg Clock, the clocks in the different agencies that shows how many days are left for Bloomberg’s term. Seriously, did we even need an “agency” for this purpose, much less someone getting paid six figures to manage this?

            • BrooklynBus

              Are you serious about the Bloomberg clocks or is this a joke? Sometimes it’s hard to tell sarcasm around here.

            • Staying Hidden

              Yep, serious. It counts down like a Doomsday Clock. The bullpen for City Hall has one at their temporary offices right now (since they’re doing construction at City Hall right now)

            • BrooklynBus

              A little like the countdown clock for trains. I’d like to know when the next train is coming and I’d also like to know when the next mayor is coming. Sounds useful to me.

            • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

              Ostensibly, its a reminder to decision makers that they on;y have so much time in which to get thing done.

        • http://twitter.com/nicktherat nick the rat

          sorry guys, i had a wicked bad stomach virus. my poop is finally almost solid again… ug. but yeah. OMG WE ARE SOOOO BROKE, we gotto raise fares. how much is THIS bullshit going to cost US??? why not clean or fix the trains that are always running. btw, how much money does the MTA make from ad revenue? is there a way to find out? every inch of every public transportation vehicle / pick up spot is PLASTERED with ads. you would think we could ride the shit for free with the bombardment of ads that hit us. seriously, the mta = corrupt asshats…

          • levp

            You did see my response to you earlier, right? Unless you spent that entire time elsewhere… Sorry, couldn’t resist.
            Also, see a response by BrooklynBus below on the subject of vintage trains.

      • levp

        Take it easy. This work is mostly paid for by donations and NY Transit museum membership dues. Mechanics who work on restoration donate their time.

        Operators do get paid, but it is a revenue train (as in “real train”), so all is cool.

    • BigBrother

      just wondering how much this is costing our bankrupt MTA? Good thing to know that the increased fares and tolls are going to good use. I really hate the people in charge of the MTA.

      • BrooklynBus

        First of all the train generates revenue. It has become sort of a tourist attraction. People without an unlimited pass pay a special fare just to ride this train. Some ride it several times. Also, some of the tourists are surprised by it and just love it, thinking it is a great idea. You should watch how they react. I heard one person ask, “Is this a real train?” Maybe you should try it this year. You may like it and be surprised.

        As for what it costs, I’m sure it’s not that much. I don’t even know if everyone gets paid. The employees who keep the train in running condition work on it on their own time. It is a labor of love. The same is true for the buses.

        Yes, the MTA is near bankrupt but think of this as your Christmas present. If you lost your job and weren’t earning any money, would you deprive your children of their Christmas gifts?

        • http://www.flickr.com/knightmare6 Knightmare6

          Are some of the maintenance guys keeping these in working condition on their own time? By now they’re probably clocking in time for the repairs/maintenance.

          Anywho, I do agree that using these are good for morale and drawing in some tourist/novelty dollars. Hell, if any of our modern trains break down, they can also use these older models as a temporary replacement. I know I’ve seen some of the older trains sometimes on the M line in the middle of the night being used as a temporary car for at least one revolution.

          • BrooklynBus

            I don’t think that they used cars on the M as old as the ones used on the vintage train. I don’t think someone can clock in and just work on any train they want to. If any do get paid to work on these trains, that would have to be authorized.

            I did a lot of filming on the train. It was interesting to note how all the lights would go out and the train would become completely dark for a second or two whenever the train passed a gap in the third rail. I forgot how that doesn’t happen anymore with the new trains. Certainly brought back memories.

            Anyway, here is the link to the timetable: http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/events/vintage.html

            • http://www.flickr.com/knightmare6 Knightmare6

              No idea, all I know is one weekend about a year or so ago I was waiting for a train on DeKalb and I saw a single green-and-white train attached to the other silver trains for the M. (Back when the M still stopped at DeKalb)

          • http://twitter.com/nicktherat nick the rat

            moral…hahaha. reminds me of the pig with lipstick remarks

        • levp

          As a member of the New York Transit Museum, I was told that part of membership proceeds go to restoration and mechanics donate their time.

    • winson

      i have ridden the vintage train every year since 2007. i do not think i will do it this year because it is redundant and i have lost a lot of interest in mass transit. if i catch one of those old buses, i will ride it. The increased headways of 2 minutes on weekends have been terrible.

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