New York Transit Museum

🎃 Not everyone who built the #NYCsubway made it out alive. Secret no. 39 is the 100% true story of one of the bravest—and unluckiest—men to work construction on #NYC's first subway line. #50SecretsofTransit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the #NYTransitMuseum. Join us as we pull back the curtain like never before on New York's transportation system, revealing hidden spaces, untold stories, and the people behind the scenes who keep our city moving. 🦇 Theme by Roman Angelos. #HappyHalloween

#TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 2002, the first M7 railcars entered revenue service on the Long Island Rail Road. Manufactured by Bombardier, the M7s were introduced on the Long Island Rail Road’s Long Beach Branch. Two years later, the M7A debuted on Metro-North Railroad. Though nearly identical in design, the M7 and M7A were constructed as two individual models to satisfy the unique signaling and electrical arrangements of Metro-North and LIRR. M7 railcars feature black and yellow front exteriors, while M7A railcars sport blue front exteriors with white stripes on the bottom. This photograph shows two M7 cars at Jamaica station earlier this year. Can you identify more differences between the M7 and M7A?

#TodayInHistory: 🌀 #OnThisDay in 2012, Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast, devastating much of the New York metropolitan region and testing riders, transit workers, and infrastructure in unprecedented ways. The storm overwhelmed shorelines, flooding a staggering 17% of #NYC. Seven subway tunnels connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens were flooded, along with the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (formerly Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel) and others. Power outages halted emergency pumps. Downed trees blocked rail lines, and salt water damaged sensitive mechanical and electronic systems above and below ground. These #NYTMCollection photographs, taken by Leonard Wiggins, show some of the devastation right after Sandy and the MTA's response: 1. R32 train in mid-air during lift onto tracks of the IND Rockaway Line at the intersection of Hawtree Street and Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens. 2. Boat astride on Metro-North Railroad tracks in Ossining, NY. Metro-North crews used a crane to remove the obstacle. 3. Flooded uptown platform at South Ferry station. 4. MTA pump train siphoning floodwater out of the Cranberry Street Tunnel. 5. Far Rockaway, Queens: The MTA surveying the damage after ballast and railroad bed completely washed away. 6. MTA employees cleaning up debris washed onto the tracks near Hammels Wye. Where were you during #Sandy? Learn more about how the MTA got the city moving again in our digital exhibit at bringingbackthecity.com.

🐈 Happy #NationalCatDay from our favorite subway cat: 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’s admonitions were placed in almost 3,000 #NYCsubway cars. The artist and writer of the campaign was Jo Mary McCormick. She signed her name “JOM,” and those initials appear bottom right of these #NYTMCollection posters. Inspired by and featuring the McCormick's feline friend Pipsqueak aka “Pippy,” Etti-Cat continues to enjoy a following today among cat people and #NYTransitMuseum visitors. Etti-Cat posters are displayed in our vintage fleet of subway cars, and you can see them when you visit the Museum. We are open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm. Plan your visit via the link in our bio. What’s your transit etiquette pet peeve?

🔸 What do diamonds mean in the #NYCsubway? In use since the 1980s, the diamond route indicator is generally used to show that a train route’s service has been modified; regular service is marked with a circle. Diamond service may designate weekday-only express service, special service, or rush hour-only service. Today's diamond routes include 6, 7, and, most recently, the F was added in 2019 for express service on the Culver Line, skipping all local stations between Church Avenue and Jay Street-MetroTech. The first image shows the former Q diamond, which indicated Brighton Line rush hour service from 1985 to 1988 and express service from 2001 to 2004. What other diamond services do you remember?

🎂 Happy Birthday, #NYCsubway! 📽️ Behold! The first-ever known footage of the subway, and we're sharing it today on the subway's 122nd birthday. #TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 1904, New York City’s first rapid transit subway, the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) opened. #NYC's first subway line ran along a 9.1 mile route extending from City Hall to 145 Street and had 28 stations. The line ran under Park Avenue South to Grand Central, across 42 Street to Times Square, and then up Broadway to 145 Street. This #NYTMCollection silent film, shot just months after the subway opened, shows a train pulling into 14 Street Station and continuing uptown. From those early days until now, the subway has been an integral part of New York City life. What does the subway mean to you?

#DidYouKnow the number or letter assigned to a train's route is called a "service designation?" Originally, #NYCsubway service was provided by three separate companies, each with their own nomenclature. Some of their service designations overlapped, causing confusion. For example, there was a "4" train on both the IRT and the BMT. Even after the subway was unified, many of the old designations remained. During the 1950s, customers unfamiliar with the city could board a 4 train at Union Square expecting to go to Woodlawn (an IRT station), but end up in Coney Island (a BMT station)! To address this problem, in 1960, the Transit Authority implemented a new system of numbers and letters. This "Know Trains at a Glance" sign from the #NYTMCollection helped commuters remember the changes. Some of the letters listed here still represent service designations today. Others are no longer used. Can you name them?

🎃 The Bronx is full of secrets. Learn about a particularly spooky one in secret no. 38. #50SecretsofTransit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the #NYTransitMuseum. Join us as we pull back the curtain like never before on New York's transportation system, revealing hidden spaces, untold stories, and the people behind the scenes who keep our city moving. 🦇 Theme by Roman Angelos. Featuring Jodi Shapiro. #VanCortlandtPark

Today is #InternationalDayofClimateAction. 🌳 #ObjectSpotlight on these 1990 #NYTMCollection car cards from an @MTA ad campaign touting the environmental benefits of public transportation. The ads point to the problem of cars creating pollution and congestion. As an alternative, sustainability through using buses and subways is promoted. Today, transit riders across the New York City region prevent at least 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being pumped into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed by a forest the size of Indiana!

#DidYouKnow there was once a 91 Street Station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (today's 1 train)? Taken just two years before the station was closed, this #NYTMCollection image from 1957 shows the 91 Street Station’s southbound entrance at the northwest corner of 91st Street and Broadway. It also shows the classic cast-iron kiosk architecture of the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit), NYC’s first subway line. At the time the photograph was taken, the nearby 96 Street station was undergoing a platform extension. A longer platform at the 96 Street station resulted in the creation of a new station entrance on Broadway between 93rd and 94th Streets. This entrance was so close to the 91 Street Station that the 91 Street Station could not have its own platforms extended. With its location essentially redundant, the 91 Street Station was closed in 1959. You can still spot a glimpse of the 91 Street Station’s platform from the 1 train if traveling between the 86 and 96 Street stations. Have you seen it?