Vintage NYC subway rides are back every Saturday during the holidays

The New York Transit Museum’s Holiday Nostalgia Rides are back this season. Every Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas, New Yorkers can embark on old-school NYC subway trains in Manhattan from 2nd Avenue on the uptown F line platform and 145th on the downtown D line platform. The Holiday Nostalgia rides include eight cars used in the 1930s.

This year’s train features eight of the subway system’s R1/9 cars, which entered service on the Eighth Avenue line (today’s A/C/E line) and ran until 1977. The vintage cars feature rattan seats, paddle ceiling fans, incandescent light bulbs, roll signs, and period advertisements.

A ride costs a single MetroCard swipe or OMNY tap.

The Holiday Nostalgia Train departs from 2nd Avenue at:

• 10 a.m.
• 12 p.m.
• 2 p.m.
• 4 p.m.

And depart from 145th Street at:

• 11 a.m.
• 1 p.m.
• 3 p.m.
• 5 p.m.

The Holiday Nostalgia Train will run between 2nd Avenue on the uptown F line platform and 145th Street on the downtown D line platform and make stops at the following stations:

Uptown stops:

• 2nd Avenue (F)
• Broadway-Lafayette Street (D/F/M)
• West 4th Street – Washington Square (D/F/M, A/C/E)
• 34th Street – Herald Square (D/F/M)
• 42nd Street – Bryant Park (D/F/M)
• 47th – 50th Streets – Rockefeller Center (D/F/M)
• 59th Street – Columbus Circle (A/C/D)
• 125th Street (A/C/D)
• 145th Street (A/C/D)

Downtown stops:

• 145th Street (A/C/D)
• 125th Street (A/C/D)
• 59th Street – Columbus Circle (A/C/D)
• 7th Avenue (D/E)
• 47th – 50th Streets – Rockefeller Center (B/D)
• 42nd Street – Bryant Park (D/F/M)
• 34th Street – Herald Square (D/F)
• West 4th Street – Washington Square (A/C/E, D/F)
• Broadway-Lafayette Street (D/F/M)
• 2nd Avenue (F)

Vintage trains are scheduled on December 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30. Note, on December 2, the train will only be servicing the uptown D platform at 145th Street.

More information on Holiday Nostalgia Rides can be found here.

For holiday train festivities on a smaller scale, the museum’s holiday train show will return to Grand Central Terminal’s annual Holiday Fair for the first time since 2019. As part of the event, intricate displays of model trains will be presented departing from a miniature replica of Grand Central Terminal. This year’s show begins on November 16 and runs through February 2024. Tickets cost $5 and advanced registration is required.

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