Often in the New York Metropolitan area, we take transit for granted. Its certainly the best in the country, I’m not too sure about the rest of the world. Even in my native Jersey City, the PATH train is just a wonderful thing. A while back there was something called PATHursdays at the Journal Square Station, I have no idea what it is, but Eric Tarn and myself always wanted a PATHursday t shirt. Last year while in brooklyn waiting for the A/C train, something random and wonderful happened. This big ass old train rolls through the station, painted all green, looking like it came from a long gone era, through the tunnel, and into the Hoyt Schermerhorn station. The doors never opened, it just slowed down long enough for everyone to ask “wtf is that!” then it sped off.
Since that day, its been a goal of mine to ride on this train. Imagine renting out one of the cars for a party, and just tearing it p on a 1930’s subway? If you can think of a better venue, I would like to hear about it immediately. Well….randomly one night, I saw a poster in a station along the F, for the “Nostalgia Train”, operating on sundays for a few hours in the end of November/beginning of December. THIS WAS IT!!!! They take out a vintage 1930’s train and run it for a day on t he V track! Oh man, I was so ready to tear this shit up. So, the girlfriend and I made a date, to meet on the downtown track of the V at Rockerfeller Center. Can you thinkup a better venue for a date? If so, again, I’d like to hear about it immediately.
So, I took the PATH in, got off at 14th street, transferred to the V to get to the specified station. What should arrive immediatley as I get there? Yep. The Nostalgia Train. I kind of felt like a douche, its like “OH HEY, why dont we do this cool thing? I’m gonna get there first though, and have fun before you get there, cool? thanks” But, all was well.
Seriously, it was fucking awesome. Check out some pics.
How cool is that? Each car was slightly different, most apparently from the 30’s, some a little later. They had the old school woven seats, ceiling fans, regular light bulbs in most (not this fluorescent shit currently happening) all sorts of wonderful things. The ads at the top of the car were from the era, you can see a few in the 2nd photo. I wonder if I could ever talk the MTA into renting one out. Lets somehow get this in motion. Best Channuka Party Ever?
The best thing though, was that everyone in the station who saw it, kind of looked on in amazement. The homeless dudes, the families, the really old grizzly dudes, the hipsters, the overdressed jersey looking girls, businessmen, everyone. The Subway: Uniting all the crazy people with very old trains. Yes, my career in advertising is sure to be a bright one.
Also, here’s a picture of the kids, its been a long time since a family photo, I’m not sure if the SG has been mentioned in these pages, but its a welcome new addition to the crew:
