October 27, 2004 Archives

All kids like trains, I suppose. Kids from New York City like subways. That's me.

New Yorkers have been taking subways for 100 years. Today is the actual anniversary of that first trip under Manhattan.

Growing up, I went to high school taking a bus and then one or two subway trains (depending on my rush and desire for a seat). It was a long ride.

The optional train was the Express - the "E" or "F" train. The required subway was the "GG." It is now called the "G," but it's the same.

The "GG" is the only subway line in New York that doesn't go through Manhattan. It started in Queens at Continental Avenue running parallel to the express track that went into Manhattan. At Queens Plaza it turned left, south toward Brooklyn.

I didn't know it at the time, but the "GG," which started in an affluent Queens neighborhood of tall apartment buildings, went through some of the toughest, most crime ridden, poverty stricken, neighborhoods in New York. Ignorance, for me, was bliss.

Sometime during my four years of high school, I made friends with a motorman on the "GG." He'd open the cab door a bit and we'd talk as the train rolled on. He was an Irishman. I think his last name was Sheridan. He spoke with a thick Irish brogue. He was a union man in the TWU - Mike Quill's union.

Even when I wasn't on his train, I'd usually ride in the front car, my nose pressed up against the glass, looking at the tunnel and tracks.

The "GG" has an interesting ride. Though we took the same route as the express trains, for a few stops they disappeared. I'm not sure if they took a more direct route or were over or under us. They just weren't there, where you expected them.

There was one spot that looked like it had been planned as a spur. The tunnel opened to the right side, though no tracks were laid.

In Brooklyn, at one stop, a third track appeared. The station had two platforms with the "GG" on the outside tracks and a phantom track in the middle. If it was used for anything, I never saw it.

The "GG" had old cars. In the late 60s, as stainless cars started appearing on other lines, the "GG" kept rolling with equipment from the 30s and 40s. The seats were padded beneath a wicker material or some red rubbery replacement. That was probably the last time New Yorkers were trusted with padded seats that could be ripped apart and vandalized. The cars were lit with incandescent bulbs that blinked every once in a while, as the train made and lost contact with the third rail.

To cut down on theft, the subway's bulbs screwed in the opposite direction of the bulbs you use at home. Pretty clever.

I knew these trains well - their ins and outs. If there was someone you didn't like, all you needed to do was take the 'arm strap' above and push it back until it would go no further. A black shower of very fine metal would come down, staining whatever was under it.

I always wanted to 'drive' a subway. I know that's the wrong term. It's still what I wanted to do. Even today, if given the opportunity, I'd take the controls.

When our family goes to New York. We often take the subway to go from place-to-place. My family thinks of it as necessary transportation. I think they know in the back of their mind, it's still a fun ride for me.

Blogger's note: Photos accompanying web entries should reflect the actual content. In this case, they are random subway shots I've taken. I wasn't clever enough to anticipate my blog and shoot the "GG" in 1967. Photography in the subway is now prohibited. This is a real shame. I loved taking available light shots while underground.

Monday, I wrote about the squirrel who was attacking our Halloween pumpkin.

If you get over the fact that these are little furry rats who carry disease and are generally pains in the butt, the pictures were cute. The pumpkin was ruined for this Halloween.

Since our trash pickup isn't until Friday and not wanting this pumpkin to rot in the house, we left it on our front step. Of course to the squirrel, this meant open season on pumpkins continued. He has not let us down.

Here's a look at the pumpkin taken a few minutes ago. I guess the squirrel is more interested in the outer meat of the pumpkin than the seeds inside. Or, maybe, he understands how sticky and matted he'd get if he made it to the gooey stuff!

In any event, he'd better eat quickly. We'll pack the pumpkin up and leave it with the trash late tomorrow night.

My new found traffic related to the Ashlee Simpson lip syncing story is now gone. After I posted my entry on Sunday morning, this website became Google's 4th result for "Ashlee Simpson Saturday Night Live Lip Sync." Now that same search leaves me on the third page!

Monday saw 19,970 visitors. At the pace I'm going, today will be back to around 1,000.

My original entry from Sunday has a Google ranking - 0 of 10. My homepage is a 5 of 10. Though everyone starts out equally on the net, the big sites are considered more important and do rank higher.

It was fun while it lasted.