SUBWAY SAGA: An Old Time Train Ride on the IND 6th Ave. Local

I was headed into Manhattan this afternoon when the F train pulled into the 2nd Avenue station. Across the platform was one of those nostalgia trains, made up of different decommissioned rail cars that once ran through the subway system.

Just as there was some sort of historic photo shoot going on, people were filtering through the rail cars. I've been through the New York City Transit Museum in Brooklyn (in the old Court Street station, once part of the Fulton Street Line), so I've seen the historic interiors before. But I've never been on a nostalgia train as it’s gone through the subway system.

This train ran from 2nd Avenue along the 6th Avenue Local to Queens Plaza via 53rd Street. These train cars are incredibly loud. When there gaps in the third rail current, the lights go out momentarily. The announcement system was not working, so the conductor yelled out: "E train to Queens Plaza making all local stops."

The rattan seats are pretty comfortable. I sat adjacent to an older couple who looked around with giant grins on their faces. It's not every day a time machine pulls into your subway station.