New York Transit Museum

Happy Juneteenth! in 1865, the last enslaved people in the United States finally learned of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, we honor that day by reflecting on the immense impact of slavery, and recommitting to a more equitable and just future.

The Museum is closed today in observance of the holiday and will resume regular hours tomorrow, Saturday, June 20, 10am - 4pm.

👉 to see the words that marked this turning point in American history, and learn more with the National Museum of African American History and Culture: nmaahc.si.edu/Juneteenth.

: in 1993, R110A prototype cars entered service on the 2 line.

Built by Kawasaki, the cars were manufactured to test new technology that would be integrated into future fleets of New Technology Trains (NTTs). In previous decades, major orders for subway cars that introduced new untested features often requiring expensive retrofits. Contracts were awarded for the R110B and R110A prototype cars to alleviate some of the risk for a future large order of NTTs.

The 10 cars are permanently coupled in 5 car sets, with the middle car being a cabless, unpowered trailer. The R110A introduced wider sets of doors, being 63 inches wide, over a foot wider than the R62’s. The cars also featured exterior LED line indicators on the side windows and overhead on the first and last car, much like the R142s. In addition to the exterior LED displays, interior LED displays indicated the next stop, time, and various other messages.

In 1999, the R110A’s were pulled from revenue service and in 2013, the A-cars were converted to pump train cars.

Though no R110A cars still exist in their original form, the has an R110B car in our collection. Have you seen it?

: This photograph from 1955 shows the Lefferts Avenue station on the Fulton Street Elevated Line at the intersection of Liberty and Lefferts Avenues (now known as Lefferts Boulevard).

The second image shows this area area today.

Originally built for the BMT in 1915, the station has undergone several name changes over the years, though its location and structure remain intact. Now known as the Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard station, it is the terminus of the Lefferts Boulevard branch of the A train.

The station was disconnected from the BMT in 1956 so it could become part of the IND (Independent Subway System) Fulton Line. This image is part of a series of survey photographs documenting station conditions in preparation for that change.

Do you use this station in your commute?

This 1989 photograph shows a Shoreliner II in service on the Hudson Line, at Manitou, NY. This particular car, number 6111, was named “The Maria Mitchell Comet,” after the first female astronomer in America, Maria Mitchell, who was also the first American to ever discover a comet.

The Maria Mitchell Comet is one of 36 Shoreliner IIs, a fleet of locomotive-hauled rail cars built by Bombardier Transportation in 1987. For the most part, Shoreliners run on non-electrified portions of lines. They are owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - MTA and the Connecticut Department of Transportation. MTA cars contain blue stripes around and along the windows, while CDOT cars contain red stripes.

After Mitchell’s discovery of a comet in 1847, she went on to become an Astronomy Professor at Vassar College. Fittingly, Vassar College is accessible via the Hudson Line’s Poughkeepsie station, which is also the line’s terminus.

📕 In 1970, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) began a new era of visual communication with its Graphics Standards Manual.

The Manual, by Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda, of the firm Unimark International, created guidelines for an updated and coherent visual system for the . These new directives included the simplified color-coding of circle bullets for routes, and the standardization of typeface, letter spacing, and other symbols.

In the decades following its introduction, the Manual's elegant, modern wayfinding design became legendary. So, in 2012, when a dusty copy of the original Manual was found in the basement of the Pentagram Design Firm, enthusiasts rejoiced, and a reissue campaign began. The Pentagram Design Firm received permission from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - MTA to scan, print and rerelease the Graphic Standards Manual on a limited edition basis. The Kickstarter created to fund the project raised over $800,000!

These photos show an original copy of the Manual that is part of the .