By Philip Newman
For some Queens commuters, taking mass transit this holiday season could seem a bit like the 1950s or even the era of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
As a holiday treat, the New York City Transit Authority is operating vintage buses and subway cars on a number of routes until Jan. 2. Riders of the Q32, M8, M14, M20,M23, M34, M42, M57 and M79 bus routes will have the chance to ride vintage buses.
The old buses run weekdays only during the morning and evening rush hours and the vintage subway cars only on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 7, 14, 21 and 28.
“We are pleased to add to the flavor of an old−fashioned holiday by providing these quaint subway cars on Sundays this holiday season,” said Transit Authority President Howard Roberts.
“If they time it right, fortunate shoppers and sightseers can catch a ride on classic subway cars at stations along the V line between Queens Plaza and Second Avenue,” Roberts said.
The last train will leave Queens Plaza on the designated Sundays at 4:44 p.m.
Transit officials said the Nostalgia Trains are made up of subway cars that ran from the 1930s−70s. Ceiling fans, padded seats and incandescent light bulbs were the latest things when these cars were first put into service.
Many of those cars are regularly on display at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Transit Museum in Brooklyn Heights.
At the same time, the annual Holiday Trains Show is going on at the Transit Museum Gallery Annex in Grand Central Terminal. It features nine trains on a route from Grand Central to the North Pole, passing by such landmarks as the Brooklyn Bridge, the terminal and the Empire State Building.
The Transit Authority is also running 19 vintage buses, including 1917 wood body double deckers on routes throughout Manhattan and Queens, for the holidays. The buses also include the first bus equipped with air conditioning.
“Bus technology has come a long way since the 1960s and, 70s and riding on these buses is a great contrast to the equipment we operate currently” said Joseph Smith, senior vice president of the New York City Transit Department of Buses. “The older buses have a lot of charm, but our customers are benefiting from tremendous advances in bus design, with improvements in comfort and efficiency.”
These buses have been modernized to the extent that they take your MetroCard.
