One grandmother lived on 20th Av, equidistant to the Sea Beach and the West End Lines of the BMT. I remember many a time when her or my aunt would take me to the Sea Beach Station where I would stand on the 20th Av overpass and watch & wave at the trains below. (I now bring my son Arthur to the overpass at Mineola Sta to do the same) I remember many times taking a BMT Standard on the Sea Beach and peaking through the window on the motorman's cab door watching him drive. (Guys at subtalk say the Sea Beach used D-Triplex cars in those days-They might be right, I don't remember them, I was young, But I definitely remember the standards!) When I was about 12 (around 1965) she moved to a building next to the Van Siclen (now Neptune Av) station on the "F" train where I rode on my favorite trains, the R1-R9.(the interior of which is the background to this site!!)

My other grandmother originally lived near Eastern Pkway where I actually remember as a toddler the trackless electric buses!!! She moved to Av Z near the "F" then when I was about 8 she moved to NY Av a block from the IRT Newkirk Av Station on Nostrand. (Unfortunately after the Low-V's stopped going there) I would travel home on an ancient electric LIRR train from Flatbush Av to Hempstead, trains that sounded like R1's or standard's or Low-V's with a large mail or baggage area behind the engineers cab. She eventually moved when I was a teenager to Far Rockaway (B.25 Street/Wavecrest) and I finally had an excuse to take that great line over the bridges to Rockaway!!

As a teen I worked as a Vendor at Yankee, Shea, & Madison Sq Garden. Get your hotdogs here!!! I would take 2 buses to Jamaica from L.I. (remember the Hempstead Bus Co. and the Bee Line before MSBA?) where I would take the subways to work. To Shea you had the good ol' "7" train with its blue & white Worlds Fair colors. To Yankee you could either take the Jerome Av train (now the "4" with its breathtaking view of the stadium as it left the tunnel onto the el) or the "D" train with that great speedy nonstop ride between 59 Street and 125 Street on the ol' R1-R9.

A typical day off from school or work would take me on an all day exploration of the subway. I would walk from my house to Westbury LIRR station where I would take an ancient diesel train to Jamaica (riding behind the LOUD locomotive where the conductors never went!! Now I arrest people for fare-beating!!!) I would get off at Jamaica. (unless there was a connection to LIC on the Lower Montauk Branch-my favorite ride) In Jamaica I would take the Jamaica El at Sutphin (remember?) to Eastern Pkway/Bway Junction and change for the last remaining BMT Standards on the "LL" 14 Street Canarsie Line. (Except for the Franklyn Shuttle which also had Standards) Changing at Myrtle I would take the last remaining Q-cars on the Myrtle El to Jay Street. I would ride on many other trains during the day including the Culver Shuttle with its former SIRT cars (at the time I thought they were BMT Standards) and the Third Av El in the Bronx on the last remaining Low-V cars.

With the birth of my son Arthur I'm reliving my childhood through him. Now I have an excuse to ride the trains all day. I take him to the city at least once every two weeks. I take him all over. For instance I took him to the Coney Is Aquarium by train- the Brighton to and the West End from!!! The last time I took the West End before this was about 30 years ago to change for the Culver Shuttle at Ninth Av!!! I'll take the 'lil one to the 2nd Av Station on the "F" for a hot dog at Katz Deli or to the 5Av Sta on the "R" to go to FAO Schwartz (he goes right to the electric train section). Other times I'll take him out east on the LIRR. I'm thrilled that there are still 2 trains daily on the ol Montauk Branch to Long Island City through Queens even though all the stations between LIC & Jamaica have been discontinued. LIC is probably the only Station where you have t walk through a trainyard to get to your train.

Is there something called tansit archeology?? I love looking for remnants of old lines!!! For instance as a Sgt in Bedford Stuyvesant I see the old Myrtle Av El station above the "J" station on Broadway with the metal structure (with no tracks) going to Lewis Av. I cannot find any remnant of the Lexington Av El-not even by the Gates Av Sta where it joined the Bway El. However I do notice Lexington Av is more industrial & Commercial than surrounding streets. On Long Island there is an old railroad trestle just east of the Meadowbrook Pkway where the old Central Line went East of Country Life Press to Bethpage & Farmingdale. I remember a RR crossing on Hempstead Tnpk just north of the W. Hempstead Station by IHOP, White Castle & S. Klein's (now Shopper's Village) You can still see the old right of way. And Some other favorites: although its very dark you can still faintly see the old Woodhaven Av Station on the Bklyn line of the LIRR when riding in the tunnel. The Myrtle Av Station on the BMT Bridge trains just north of DeKalb Av Station A cutoff spur on the #4 el just north of Yankee Stadium (there was an old shuttle there to the old 9th Av el) Several remnants of the Fulton Av El at the Bway Junction Station Many others which are covered in a special section of nycsubway.org

Do You Remember?? Having to put a token in the turnstile to LEAVE a station on the Rockaway Line? The "NX" Super Express on the middle tracks of the Sea Beach through Stillwell to Brighten Beach? The Woodhaven Station betw E.NY & Jamaica on the LIRR? Double Deckers? Freight trains to the C.I. yard on the roadway right on McDonald Av under the El? The state names on the Blue #7 train cars? Kelso winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Sorry about that!!) The Av B & E. Broadway Bus Company? How 'bout The Jerusalem Av Bus Company? The elevator at 149 Street between the underground IRT & the Third Av El The Engineer having to get off just before Hempstead Station to manually throw the switch? The street level waiting room at the Flatbush/Atlantic LIRR Station? The Culver Shuttle? Ceiling fans and cane (whicker) seats? The pumplike brake handle clanking away on the R1-9's? Mack Buses? wooden platforms? Reversing the seats on the LIRR at terminal stations Card games on the LIRR

Here are some great links:

* Pictures of my son Arthur (then 3 yrs old) at Mineola Station in the summer of '99. Great shots of some old discontinued diesel trains, some new tri-levels, and an electric M-1 (or M-3) at the Main Street RR crossing by Nassau Tower. * nycsubway.org- The best rapid transit site on the web!!! Everything about NYC transit & alot about transit worldwide!!! * A CHAT FORUM on above site. A gathering of transit experts & buffs some of these guys know every car by number!!!! * Railroad.net Great railroad site * LIRR History.com Great LIRR site * A good NY rail forum * A great site on the no longer existing Central Branch of the LIRR * Kevin Walsh's great site about remaining remnants of old NY * Mark M. Oring's great NYC Transit site * A Great LIRR site * Links to live webcams with trains on them!! * Website of "The Shoreline Trolley Museum" in Branford, Ct. (Get directions to it and GO!!! * The unofficial website of the New York and Atlantic Railroad The freight company on the LIRR *** The SARGE-my homepage My Memorial to Roosevelt Raceway My Abbott & Costello Quiz-How much do you know about Bud & Lou?

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