Jay Lloyd's Getaway: The History of New York Mass Transit
By Jay Lloyd
NEW YORK, N.Y. (CBS) -- Getting around is a big part of any getaway, so let's take a look at how native New Yorkers like me do it -– and have done it over the years.
I was raised on the "A" train, both riding it and listening to Duke Ellington's classic romance with it. And now, a few vintage cars still exist in a subway station turned museum in Brooklyn.
"You're sitting in a subway car that's 100 years old," said Laura Kujo, who directs the education programs at the New York Transit Museum, during my recent visit there.
Ancient subway cars with wicker seats and leather "straphanger" hand-holds fascinate young and old alike. (My exuberant daughter and her friend even danced in a more recent style car, at right.)
The exhibits take us back to days of 5-cent fares, and it totally captivate youngsters.
"It's something that's familiar to them," Kujo explains. "They hop on the subway, they hop on the bus."
They can even get behind the wheel of a big city bus, or play motorman on a subway.
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And most fascinating of all, a vibrant display traces construction of the New York subway system a century ago. It was, as the exhibit notes, "Steel, Stone, and Backbone." Not to mention dynamite.
Get directions and details at www.mta.info by clicking on "transit museum."
