As a high school student at Brooklyn Tech (1956-1960), I rode both the Jamaica El and the IND Subway daily to school. For variety, sometimes the old Myrtle Ave. El to the Broadway El junction and then straight through to Woodhaven Blvd. in Queens. Also many trips to Manhattan to visit the Lionel Showroom and the many NYC hobby shops of the day. Especially loved those big rambling BMT "Standards" that ran on the Jamaica and Broadway El's!
Growing up on Staten Island, traveling to either Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium was a two hour ordeal. NYCTA bus to the Staten Island Ferry. Ferry to Manhattan, Then the #4 train from Bowling Green to Yankee Stadium. Or, to Shea via the #1 train to Times Square then changing to the #7 train to Shea.
@Henryjint posted:Growing up on Staten Island, traveling to either Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium was a two hour ordeal. NYCTA bus to the Staten Island Ferry. Ferry to Manhattan, Then the #4 train from Bowling Green to Yankee Stadium. Or, to Shea via the #1 train to Times Square then changing to the #7 train to Shea.
Henry,
That was quite a ride either way! But, I wouldn't mind making it when things get back to normal. I haven't been on a train in more than a year...
MELGAR
@Tinplate Art posted:As a high school student at Brooklyn Tech (1956-1960), I rode both the Jamaica El and the IND Subway daily to school. For variety, sometimes the old Myrtle Ave. El to the Broadway El junction and then straight through to Woodhaven Blvd. in Queens. Also many trips to Manhattan to visit the Lionel Showroom and the many NYC hobby shops of the day. Especially loved those big rambling BMT "Standards" that ran on the Jamaica and Broadway El's!
Tech Alma mater molder of men!!! Rode the n from sunset park to tech for 4 years
@Mannyrock posted:BlueLine, is that a subway train? (Only two things in life I am terrified of. Brown recluse spiders and the N.Y. subways.)
I agree about the NY subways. They are totally confusing for an out of town visitor and the signs are non-existent. NH Joe
@Mark Boyce posted:I’ve never been out that far east. Photographs of the Delaware Water Gap look beautiful.
Wow you are a home body. Or maybe you have traveled west, south, and north. I've lived in 11 states.
There are apparently many Tech Knights on our forum: "Proudly we stand to salute thee again!" :-)
Lived in Corona and rode the #7 and the R to The Art Student's League across from Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. Later lived in Bensonhurst and rode the B into the city to go to the museums and see the GF. Still later lived in Yorkville and rode the 4-5-6 to get downtown or up to Yankee Stadium. Even later commuted in from NJ by bus and took the 7 or S over to catch the 4-5-6 to work.
@Will posted:Wow you are a home body. Or maybe you have traveled west, south, and north. I've lived in 11 states.
I’ve lived in Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and back to Westsylvania. We used to go to Arkansas when my in-laws lived there. My trips to New York were to Niagara Falls, Cooperstown, and Lake George. As to subways, I have ridden the Washington Metro about 4 times. It is very clean and well marked I thought. I have heard horror stories about NYC subways for years. Ben needs a Medal of Honor for working there.
@Will posted:Wow you are a home body. Or maybe you have traveled west, south, and north. I've lived in 11 states.
Before I met my future wife, I dated a young woman. Unlike me, she had travelled a lot.
She said with a smile, "some of us are like trees with roots, while others are like bubbles that fly away."
Railfanning along the Hudson River:
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@Mark Boyce posted:I’ve lived in Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and back to Westsylvania. We used to go to Arkansas when my in-laws lived there. My trips to New York were to Niagara Falls, Cooperstown, and Lake George. As to subways, I have ridden the Washington Metro about 4 times. It is very clean and well marked I thought. I have heard horror stories about NYC subways for years. Ben needs a Medal of Honor for working there.
Nah, they're just fine. I rode them daily throughout the 70's when NYC was at its nadir. No problem. Definitely the best way to get around town. But then I was an artist and a bohemian so a certain amount of grittiness is normal.
Will is correct The subways in general are just fine You have to know what neighborhoods are dangerous as is the subway through them Some parts of the Bronx should still be called Fort Apache
As a college student who commuted, I took Metro North, the Shuttle and the 7th Avenue subway every day without incident, and in my first year of law school in Albany, NY while walking from the library to the dormitory I got accosted and robbed by a thug who was built like Tarzan. LOL.
Fort Apache! Yes, some friends and I went to a movie Fort Apache, expecting a western, way back in the early ‘80s. We were surprised it was in The Bronx. We didn’t even stay for the end. I know, a bunch of country bumpkins! I still look up to the tops of the tall buildings on the rare occasion I go to Pittsburgh! 😄
@Mannyrock posted:They should have a train that runs directly from Mid-Town Manhattan to Peter Lugers.
That would be the M train - but it does make multiple stops before your get there it's a local. Take it from Rockefeller Center.
The bleachers from the Polo Grounds ended up as the bleachers at Rikers Island the city prison. They have since rotted away.
Here is my slice of New York, New York via New York Central System. 
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The Empire State Building
The city is safe with our hero passing the top of the Chrysler Building.
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I call your Empire State and raise you a World Trade Center
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I fold. You win.
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:The Polo Grounds was in Manhattan, on the western side of the Harlem River, and was the home ball park of the New York Giants baseball team from around the early 1900s until they moved to San Francisco around 1957.
Here it is:
LOL.
The Polo Grounds was also the home ball park of the New York Mets in the early 1960s until Shea Stadium in the borough of Queens was built.
Yankee Stadium is in the Bronx, on the eastern side of the Harlem River. Here it is:
LOL.
Also known as the House that Ruth Built, Yankee Stadium was built around 1921, shortly after Babe Ruth joined the team.
Gee Mark, I can't thank you enough for asking the questions you asked, which has been so much fun for me to answer.
And, of course, I will never forget Yogi Berra in left field at Forbes Field, watching Bill Mazeroski's walk off home run clear the fence in the 7th game of the 1960 World M. At that moment, you must have been ecstatic! LOL, Arnold
My Dad's office was next to the Polo Grounds. The Polo Ground's subway stop was at 155th street and 8th avenue. Here's my version of the stop on my layout.
I have some skyscrapers too.
Wowzie Dowzie!!!! Y'all make me feel so z-scale.
Here is Mcdonald Avenue in Brooklyn around 1960. The R1 subway is up on the Culver Line El. The PCC trolley is heading to Bartel Pritchard Square from Coney Island. There is a New Look Fishbowl bus, the white Good Humor Truck.
Plasticville buildings fit right in to Brooklyn!
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@bluelinec4 posted:Will is correct The subways in general are just fine You have to know what neighborhoods are dangerous as is the subway through them Some parts of the Bronx should still be called Fort Apache
The subways are fine as long as you don't get lost at Fort Apache? I always got lost in the NY subways.
I have never had a problem with riding subways in Tokyo, Paris, San Francisco or London. The NY subways, at least for me, are total chaos and confusion. NH Joe
Suburban commuter action....meets milk train......
Peter
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Hi NH Joe,
A little perspective is needed. New York City subways cover 248 track miles and about 472 stations. Also, its are a combination of 3 different subway companies, IRT (Independant Rapid Transit), BMT (Brooklyn Manhattan Transit), and IND (Independant Subway) over the last 116 years.
There is no chaos and confusion. The lettered subway lines start with the "A" train running north/south and then proceed through the alphabet running west to east. The numbered trains begin with the "1" train running north/south and then proceed through the other numbers going west to east.
Tokyo is 120 route miles and 180 stations, London is 250 track miles and 270 stations, Paris is 136 route miles and 302 stations, San Francisco is 131 route miles and 50 stations.
neal
Dad took the subways from Greenpoint to Brooklyn Tech every day. Here is the January 1940 Handbook. Check out the courses; one was steam power. He went to work for NY Central.
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Arnold, it’s a great layout you have, enjoy watching your postings of your trains navigating it. With that said, I’ve been to NYC 2 times, that was 1 time too many! No desire to go back! Hahaha.
C Murley,
Why do you say that? New York is and will always be the center of culture, commerce, media, museums, theater, fashion, and may other things. It is no coincidence that Joshua Lionel Cowen started the best toy train company in the world in New York. He would be proud of the current state and future of his city.
neal
Then why did Cowen move his factory to Jersey ?
I was born and raised in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn and later in Woodhaven in the borough of Queens for a total of eighteen years (1942-1960). Would not trade those years for any other city in the world! :-)
The great subway and el system and the proximity to the great railroads of the day like the New York Central and Pennsylvania made it a rail paradise. Both the A.C. Gilbert Co. And Lionel had their great showrooms and display layouts there which were always a great treat to visit.
@Putnam Division posted:Suburban commuter action....meets milk train......
Peter
Fantastic... I’m getting long train envy again!!! 
I only run trains that might have been seen here in St. Louis. Of course, that means New York Central! I picked up these MTH NYC E8's to model the Southwestern Limited or the Knickerbocker into St. Louis Union Station.
As for real New York, I've been a subway rider as long as I've been visiting NYC. Nothing to be intimidated about. Just use the same precautions you use in any big city. Heck, I even took my little daughters on the subway a few years ago. I think they were 8 & 10 years old at the time. No big deal. I like the NYC subway a heck of a lot better than the London Underground. Much easier to navigate.
If you have a chance, visit the MTA Museum in Brooklyn. The museum is an old subway station. Very cool. When I visited, I wasn't yet into trains as a hobby. I need to go back with "new eyes". 
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If you have a chance, visit the MTA Museum in Brooklyn. The museum is an old subway station. Very cool. When I visited, I wasn't yet into trains as a hobby. I need to go back with "new eyes".
why wait? You can visit the transit museum right now. Enjoy! -
@Tinplate Art posted:I was born and raised in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn and later in Woodhaven in the borough of Queens for a total of eighteen years (1942-1960). Would not trade those years for any other city in the world! :-)
Probably because of lesser real estate costs.
I can only claim to be born in the Bronx, Parkchester Hospital to be exact. The hospital no longer exists. I have lived in CT ever since. I do have a lot of direct decendents in All Faiths Cemetery in Queens.
I’ll look forward to that Peter Lugars shuttle, one of the steak houses on my list I have yet to visit. Always wanted to try Harry’s Steakhouse at 1 Hanover Street. Looking forward to meeting Kate and Leapold there.
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@shorling posted:I can only claim to be born in the Bronx, Parkchester Hospital to be exact. The hospital no longer exists. I have lived in CT ever since. I do have a lot of direct decendents in All Faiths Cemetery in Queens.
I’ll look forward to that Peter Lugars shuttle, one of the steak houses on my list I have yet to visit. Always wanted to try Harry’s Steakhouse at 1 Hanover Street. Looking forward to meeting Kate and Leapold there.
Steve.....we're practically neighbors 
......I was born one hospital over (probably 2 neighborhoods away), Westchester Square.....still on the number 6 EL line.
Peter
@Putnam Division posted:Steve.....we're practically neighbors
Peter
My Grandparents lived on 200th Street in Bedford Park about midway between the Concourse and the Botanical Gardens. There was a nice view from their apartment of the local fire department, I could see all the action. The subway entrance was just up the street towards the Concourse. It is located under an overpass. My parents had their first apartment just down the street on the corner of 200th and Marion Avenue.
As you can see from the photos I posted in this thread my layout has some NYC scenes. I also have a Woodlawn Stop and the store front of my Dad's place of business that was adjacent to the Polo Grounds on Bradhurst Ave. I can remember walking down the street and peeking threw the fence to see the game. Also, afternoons spent watching Mantel and Marris at the stadium just across the river from the 155th street viaduct. My family didn't have any associated with Woodlawn other than the cemetery, I have a number of relative there too. No cemeteries on the layout but I do have a vineyard.
9th avenue EL Polo Grounds Shuttle below, should be available now for Peter Lugar's livery
