The MTA is celebrating the holidays by allowing riders to take trips on vintage trains that were in service from the 1930s to 1970s.
Every Sunday from Dec. 4 through Dec. 18, this “city car” will take riders between Lower Manhattan and Long Island City for the price of a standard one-way MetroCard . The first trains ran this past Sunday, Nov. 28.
The eight-train subway car is usually displayed in the Transit Museum but every year, it is brought out for a Sunday ride. It consists of R1/9 subway cars, which ran on lettered lines A, B, E and H from 1932 through 1977. They have rattan seats, ceiling fans, incandescent bulb lighting, drop-sash style windows and roll signs.
Seven of the cars are almost identical except one: No. 1575, which appears much more modern than the rest of the cars. It includes amenities such as fluorescent lights and smaller ceiling fans.
“We owe a great deal to these City Cars, because they were durable work horses that remained in our fleet for 40 years,” said Wynton Habersham, NYC Transit’s senior vice president of subways. “They are the foundation of every subway car we have designed since, and they continue to serve as a reminder of our past and how far we have come in design and customer comfort. Our customers love riding these vintage classics every year, and we love showing them off.”
The train runs via the 6 Av Line between 2 Av and Queens Plaza on the M line.
The schedule is below:
Leaves 2 Ave Leaves Queens Plaza
10:05 a.m. 10:44 a.m.
11:13 a.m. 12:14 p.m.
1:03 p.m. 1:44 p.m.
2:33 p.m. 3:14 p.m.
4:03 p.m. 4:44 p.m.
