new york transit museum
i went to the new york transit museum today after the insistance of my friend, matt. it was definitely worth the trip!
i headed there on an overcast, hot, humid day. the museum is in a "retired" subway station, so probably not the best place to head when it is hot and humid. most of it is not air conditioned.
it was pretty neat. i made it just in time for the tour. the tour took us through how the first subways were built, the history of paying subway fares, how they actually collect all the money out of the subway cars and buses, and then we got to walk and sit in old subway cars. the tour was definitely nice since the guide was informed and interesting, but there seemed to be plenty of signage and documentation around the museum that you could do it on your own.
the museum flowed very nicely. when you enter, it is all about subway construction. you could explode your own set of dynamite, see the tools and many pictures of the construction. it was really interesting to learn about how they built the subways under the east river in the early 1900s. did you know that the subways are actually about 50 feet under the bottom?! they had samples of every subway token/coin as well as samples of just about subway turnstile. the guide took us through the competing subway companies and their eventual merger into a city run single company.
on the lower level, it is the actual subway track. this track is filled with different subway cars; the earliest dates back to 1904. it was cooler down here because they had fans going. you can walk in, sit down and take a little break in the old subway cars. some of the cars are still functional and go out for rides about once a year.
note: the museum is very child friendly. you can touch practically everything!
definitely worth the entrance fee and a great stop if interested in the subways or just want to go to a museum where you can touch and try out everything!
times visited: 1
time in museum: 2 hrs
overall: A-
i headed there on an overcast, hot, humid day. the museum is in a "retired" subway station, so probably not the best place to head when it is hot and humid. most of it is not air conditioned.
it was pretty neat. i made it just in time for the tour. the tour took us through how the first subways were built, the history of paying subway fares, how they actually collect all the money out of the subway cars and buses, and then we got to walk and sit in old subway cars. the tour was definitely nice since the guide was informed and interesting, but there seemed to be plenty of signage and documentation around the museum that you could do it on your own.
the museum flowed very nicely. when you enter, it is all about subway construction. you could explode your own set of dynamite, see the tools and many pictures of the construction. it was really interesting to learn about how they built the subways under the east river in the early 1900s. did you know that the subways are actually about 50 feet under the bottom?! they had samples of every subway token/coin as well as samples of just about subway turnstile. the guide took us through the competing subway companies and their eventual merger into a city run single company.
on the lower level, it is the actual subway track. this track is filled with different subway cars; the earliest dates back to 1904. it was cooler down here because they had fans going. you can walk in, sit down and take a little break in the old subway cars. some of the cars are still functional and go out for rides about once a year.
note: the museum is very child friendly. you can touch practically everything!
definitely worth the entrance fee and a great stop if interested in the subways or just want to go to a museum where you can touch and try out everything!
times visited: 1
time in museum: 2 hrs
overall: A-
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