Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
R160B 9093 at Coney Island, September 1, 2019
There is something alluring about the last stop on a train line. Perhaps you take a train regularly and wonder what exactly is at a place such as Wonderland (end of the MBTA Blue Line) or Cockfosters (end of the London Piccadilly Line). Since 2013, New York based artist and photographer Rita Nannini has been on a quest to photograph the first and last stations on each of New York’s 26 subway lines (she counts each of the three shuttles separately, the Z as its own line, and also included the Staten Island Railway). It is interesting to see what she has selected for each station, since I myself have also been to each terminal station (as well as all the other intermediate stations along the way), and remarkable given the breadth of New York’s subway system the many different places you will be deposited should you ride a train to the end of its route. One only has to take the A train to the Rockaways to understand.
You can see Rita Nannini’s work on her website.
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
Breda A650 564 at North Hollywood, March 10, 2022
Los Angeles is not thought of as being an easy place to get around by public transit. To say that the lifestyle of most Angelinos is car-centric is not an understatement by any means. However, the United States’ second largest city has a very extensive transit network. Prior to the pandemic, only about 7 percent of trips originating in Los Angeles County used public transit, but this translates to an average daily ridership of 1.35 million and makes LACMTA the third largest public transit system in terms of ridership in the entire country.
Recently, Elaine Glusac, the Frugal Traveler for the New York Times Travel section spent three days relying solely on LA Metro, LADOT DASH buses, (and the Flyaway Bus) to get around while visiting the city. You can read about her travels here.
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
Breda MB100 Stock at Colosseo, May 2, 2008
Do you like trains? You’re here, so the answer to that is probably “yes.” Do you like podcasts and if so, what are your favorites? I’m going to go out on a hunch and assume many people reading this have heard of 99% Invisible. The show’s own website describes the podcasts as “a sound-rich, narrative podcast hosted by Roman Mars about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.” Naturally, this includes many topics related to urbanism, cities, and transportation.
This week’s episode is entitled “Train Set” and features seven short train related topics. You may be familiar with some of them even before listening to the podcast, such as the publicly staged train crash in Crush, Texas or the challenges of building the Rome Metro (which I’ve written about previously). It is definitely worth a listen, and you can do that by clicking here (or finding 99% Invisible wherever you listen to podcasts).
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
In the 1970s, the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act came in to effect. Jill Viner became the first woman to drive a bus carrying passengers in 1974. Four years later in 1978, Hannah Dadds became the first woman train operator, working in tandem with her sister Edna, a train guard, forming the first all-female Underground crew.
The article notes that even though many women have been hired in the past 40-plus years, women and especially Black and ethnic minority women are underrepresented in London’s transport workforce when compared to the overall population, and that they are paid lower median wages.
Read the entire article about the history of women working in London transport on the London Transport Museum’s website by clicking here. In addition, you can read more about Jill Viner’s story here, and you can read Hannah Dadds’s story here.
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
As I wrote about in the December 2020 Bus Photo of the Month post, traditional events organized by transit agencies to mark the winter holiday season look different this year due to Covid-19 pandemic responses. The New York Transit Museum released this video to “substitute” for offering rides on the R1-9 vintage train that typically runs along 6th Avenue on Sundays between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
You can see my photos of these trains from past holiday vintage train runs and other special events by clicking here.
Yesterday, the New York Times published an interactive article entitled The New York City Subway Map as You’ve Never Seen It Before. It is a very well done piece and I learned some things I hadn’t known before. For example, did you know that there are only ten buildings marked on the NYC subway map?
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
Last weekend was MUNI’s annual “Heritage Weekend” event, when vintage streetcars, buses, and streetcars are brought out in to revenue service by the Market Street Railway. I’ve never been to San Francisco for this event, but I did see an article floating around about how a San Francisco cable car constructed in 1883 was restored over the course of 20 years. That restoration was completed just in time for this year’s Heritage Weekend event. Click here to read the whole story.
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
Curious to have a glimpse behind the scenes at the TTC’s control centre? Click here to read the National Post’s article.
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.
Planning a trip to London? Perhaps you are traveling to ride the special steam train excursion that is coming up in June? Consider staying at the Ibis Styles Gloucester Road, which reopened this month and has a London Underground theme throughout the hotel. Check out what it looks like in this article from Londonist, and then make a reservation to stay there! (For the record, I have not been a guest at this hotel pre or post renovation.)
Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.