🤫 Subway archaeologist Max Diamond makes an interesting discovery at Canal Street station. This is the next secret from #50SecretsofTransit, a new series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the #NYTransitMuseum.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1986, a power blackout hit Grand Central Terminal. This #NYTMCollection photograph shows commuters exiting an MTA Metro-North train guided by emergency lighting along the gangway of a tunnel.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1976, Billy Joel released “Turnstiles.” Joel was born in the #Bronx and grew up on Long Island. He moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after he signed with Columbia Records. Disenchanted with California, he returned to #NYC in 1976.

#OnThisDay in 1988, #R68A #subway cars entered service on the Bronx and Manhattan half of the D line. Built by the Kawasaki Rail Car Company, the R68A fleet was the last to be built with a length of 75 feet per car, allowing for more room for passengers per car than the typical 60-foot length.

#ObjectSpotlight on this #NYCsubway car card that appeared in 1 and 9 trains in the 1990s. 🏃‍♂️ Who remembers having to be in the first five cars at South Ferry?

ICYMI, @nytransitmuseum.bsky.social Was gracious enough to let me play in their archives! youtu.be/sfrlS30nuA0

🧪 🔬 NYC's transit system once had its own team of scientists! Secret no. 9 is their story. At the MID (Materials Inspection Division), generations of dedicated chemists and engineers tested concrete, paint, fuels, steel, and many other materials used in public transportation.

#AAPIHeritageMonth: Canal Street is Chinatown’s most important thoroughfare, and the #NYCsubway has been instrumental in bringing people into the heart of this historic and bustling neighborhood since the system first opened.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1997, #MetroCard was officially accepted throughout #NYC's subway and bus systems. A year later, artist Juan Carlos Pinto arrived in #NYC and began finding MetroCards strewn around the city. Both plentiful and colorful, MetroCards became Pinto's medium.

#DidYouKnow that Roosevelt Island was once accessed through a trolley station in the middle of the Queensboro Bridge? Between 1909 and 1957, trolleys traversing the bridge from Queens and Manhattan would stop at Welfare Island Station, where commuters could take an elevator down to the island.

🚂 🎉 The moment you’ve all been waiting for… Parade of Trains returns Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7 from 11am-4pm! For just the cost of your regular subway fare, you can ride the rails in style!

During the age of the token, one of the more difficult challenges for New York's transit system was “slugs.” A slug is a coin or object that resembles the shape or weight of a genuine currency. Some riders would avoid payment by fooling the turnstile or farebox into accepting slugs as paid fare.

#TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 1955, the Third Avenue Elevated made its final run in Manhattan. The portion of the line from Chatham Square to East 149 Street in the Bronx was closed and soon dismantled. This #NYTMCollection photograph shows the Third Avenue El in its final year.

🦅 These eagles were entombed deep in the subway until Mary Miss discovered them in the 90s. That story, as told by the artist herself, is secret no. 8. #50SecretsofTransit celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the #NYTransitMuseum. "Framing Union Square" was commissioned by @MTA.info Arts & Design.

#DidYouKnow there used to be a shuttle between the 9 Avenue and Ditmas Avenue stations in #Brooklyn? From 1954 to 1975, the Culver Shuttle, designated by the SS route indicator, ran along now mostly demolished remnants of the BMT Culver Line. 📸: A 1967 map that shows the Culver Shuttle’s route.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1969, the first two R42 subway cars entered service. Beginning their careers on the BMT Broadway line (today’s N train), these R42s ran in a mixed consist train with eight modified R40As. The R40As and R42s were very similar in appearance and could function together.

🚂 Happy #NationalTrainDay! Today we’re celebrating the rail systems that keep us connected across our city, state, and country. Railroads and subways transformed America, shrinking distances, powering industry, and growing cities.

#ThenAndNow: When Gun Hill Road station in the #Bronx opened in 1912 (the same year this #NYTMCollection photo was taken), it was not part of the #NYCsubway. Instead, it was a stop on the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway.

🤔 If these #NYCsubway route colors look strange to you, that's because the color system we use today was not established until 1979. Before that, things looked a bit different. This front route replacement roll sign curtain appeared in R12, R14, R15, R17, R21, R22, R26, R28, R29, R33, and R36 cars.

Known as “Cosmopolitans,” M2 railcars began service on the New Haven Line in 1973. They had some unique features, including red exterior striping and an interior wall design with a repeated pattern of New York and Connecticut state seals.

🐘🐫🐒 The circus arrives in a most unexpected way in secret no. 7. In 1981, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel began its three-decade career as an unlikely conduit for elephants to reach Madison Square Garden. #50SecretsofTransit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the #NYTransitMuseum.

#MetroCardMonday: #AAPIHeritageMonth: This #MetroCard, issued by the @MTA.info in the year 2000, features a historic photo from the collection of the Museum of Chinese in America. It was one of ten MetroCards in Emmigrant Savings Bank’s immigration series.

🚌 #SurfaceSunday: This circa 1977 #NYTMCollection postcard showcases the "New Look" Flxible Bus. Built in 1976, the bus shown, #7541, was one of the first so-called "Kneeling" buses in #NYC, introduced to make it easier for people with mobility issues to be able board. Do you remember these buses?

This 1968 #NYTMCollection photo shows passengers waiting for the IRT White Plains Road Line at 174 Street station in the #Bronx. Like many survey images in our Subway Construction Photograph Collection, it also captures an authentic slice of life (and fashion) from the time it was taken.

🤹 The subway never closes, so the @MTA.info Crew Assignment Office never stops juggling. Come take a peek with us at secret no. 6. #50SecretsofTransit pulls back the curtain on New York's transportation system, revealing hidden spaces, untold stories, and the people who keep our city moving.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1973, the Third Avenue El made its final journey along remaining tracks in the Bronx between 149 Street and Gun Hill and White Plains Roads. The next day, Bx55 bus service replaced the Third Avenue Elevated railway, stopping at each of the El’s former stations.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1924, the Ohio State Limited began service out of Grand Central Terminal. The route travelled to Cincinnati via Buffalo and Cleveland. This postcard from the #NYTMCollection shows the Ohio State Limited in August of 1966 passing through Spuyten Duyvil in the #Bronx.

#ThenAndNow: This 1950 #NYTMCollection photo shows Nostrand Avenue at Fulton Street in #Brooklyn. The tracks and overhead catenary of the Nostrand Avenue streetcar line are visible, as well as a GMC bus, and the entrance to the Nostrand Avenue station on IND Fulton Street Line (today’s A/C trains).

🕳️ Look down! Secret no. 5 is at your feet. Uncover manhole covers with us. #50SecretsofTransit pulls back the curtain on New York's transportation system, revealing hidden spaces, untold stories, and the people who keep our city moving. The series celebrates the #NYTransitMuseum's 50th anniversary.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1956, the final portion of the BMT Fulton Street El was closed.

👀 Have you ever spotted one of these vintage #NYCsubway entrance lamps in the wild? There are both green and red lamps still in use on city streets. The lamps sport the MTA's two-tone “M” logo, in use from 1968 to 1994.

#TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 1834, New York State officially chartered the Long Island Rail Road. 192 years later, the LIRR is the nation’s busiest commuter line and the oldest US railroad still operating under its original name. This archival video from the #NYTMCollection shows the LIRR in 1989.

🕳️ Buried under Bay Ridge, there are still pieces of a tunnel to Staten Island. 🤫 Secret No. 4: Hylan's Holes. #50SecretsofTransit The #NYTransitMuseum turns 50 this year! To celebrate, we are pulling back the curtain on New York's transit system, revealing hidden histories and untold stories.

🌎 Happy #EarthDay! These #NYTMCollection images show retired #Redbird subway cars being pushed into the Delaware Bay in 2001, as part of an artificial reef ecological project.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1917, the IRT Flushing Line, known then as the IRT Corona Line, opened between the Queensboro Plaza and Alburtis Avenue (103 Street–Corona Plaza) stations. The IRT Flushing line has been dubbed the “subway line with the best views.” Photo by Dennis Livesey.

#TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in In 1965, the New York City Landmarks Law was signed by Mayor Robert Wagner. Thus began an era of preserving important buildings and historic sites, including many distinguished structures that make transportation to, from, and within New York possible.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 1972, the first R44 cars entered service in the #NYCsubway system. Originally designed for high speeds to allow for swift travel along the Second Avenue Subway, an R44 broke the world speed record for a train car on January 31, 1972 with a speed of 87.75 mph.

#ThenAndNow: Taken in April of 1975, this #NYTMCollection photograph shows the corner of 41 St and 2 Ave in Industry City in #Brooklyn, during a delivery of brand new R46 cars to the #NYCsubway system.

Secret No. 3. 🤫 Do you know which #NYCsubway stations are the oldest? 🔎 Here are two ways to tell. #50SecretsofTransit celebrates the Museum's 50th anniversary by pulling back the curtain on New York's transit system, revealing hidden histories, untold stories and the people who keep us moving.

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 2003, the final set of R33ML cars retired from revenue service, making its last trip on the Lexington Avenue Line.

🌺 Happy #NationalGardeningDay! #DidYouKnow the @nybg.bsky.social used to have its own station on the Third Avenue El?

#TokenTuesday: #DidYouKnow the #NYTMCollection contains dozens of tokens from cities outside of New York? They represent lost transit systems, mostly former streetcar lines. This month we’re sharing images of token obverses from the Southeast and West regions of the United States:

#TodayinHistory: #OnThisDay in 2003, the #NYCsubway stopped accepting tokens after nearly 50 years in use. First introduced in 1953, the token had six variations in its time, and became a well-known symbol of #NYC and its bustling underground transit system.

#TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 2007, ground broke on the Second Avenue Subway, Phase 1. Ten years later, the first three stations on the line opened, along with 2 miles of tunnel. And through it all, @MTA.info photographer Patrick Cashin was there, documenting the construction from start to finish.

⛴️ Ever boarded a NYC Ferry at the Fulton Ferry/DUMBO terminal? This is what that spot looked like 119 years ago.

Where's my iPhone? 🤫 Secret No. 2: You never know what'll turn up at MTA Metro-North's Lost & Found. #50SecretsofTransit The #NYTransitMuseum turns 50 this year! To celebrate, we're pulling back the curtain on NY's transit system, revealing hidden histories and untold stories. @MTA.info

#TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 1936, the HH train began its one decade of service in the #NYCsubway. Known as the "Court Street Shuttle," the HH ran a very short 3-block route from Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station to Court Street station and back.

🪵 #TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 1990, "Twin Peaks" premiered on ABC. It ran for two seasons. 27 years later, in 2017, these #NYTMCollection #MetroCards advertised the show's return to television for it's long-awaited third season, "Twin Peaks: The Return" on Showtime.

🚨New series alert! Starting today, we'll be spilling the 🤫 secrets of transit! #50SecretsofTransit will take you behind the scenes of NY’s transportation system, revealing hidden spaces and untold stories. Join us as we pull back the curtain like never before. Here's Secret No. 1: Transit Font Hunt.

We’re turning 50 this year! 😱 What began as a temporary exhibition in 1976 became the largest museum in North America dedicated to mass transit—and a beloved cultural institution. Celebrate with us all year!