New York Transit Museum

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SFC History 1201-15
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Word count: 1275 words
Individual Field Trip Report: New York Transit Museum
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Institution
Introduction
I visited the New York Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday 21st February 2015. The museum was initiated close to four decades ago and is the largest in the United States. It is ranked among the leading cultural institutions and also among the premier institutions globally. It is committed to urban public transportation history. The museum which is located within a historic 1936 IND subway station endeavor to shed light on how the region of the great New York metropolitan has developed. This is achieved through offering exhibitions, educational programs, tours and workshops based on social, cultural and technological account of public transportation. The museum is credited for sharing with different audiences the rich and exciting history of the public transport at local, regional and global level.
Within the Museum, there are several exhibitions that are really attractive and makes one have the feeling that paying the museum a visit is worth a thousand times. Some of the exhibits that attracted my attention include the Steel, Stone and Backbone: Building New York’s Subways 1900-1925. This exhibition is a presentation of the building of the first subway line in New York. It shows the people who it as well as the various construction methods that were employed. In this gallery, there are several pictures that were taken over a century ago, the time during which the first subway was constructed. There are also period videos and historical artifacts. It is so amazing to view the faces of the people involved in the construction as well as the images of the initiation of the subway. From this visit, one is left with a feeling of awe and truly appreciating the workers’ dedication, persistence as well as their sacrifice towards building the subway.
The other exhibition that was really fascinating was the Moving the Millions: New York City’s Subway from Its Origins to the Present. At this point the museum offers an over view of the complexity and magnitude of the rapid transit system within New York City. The diagrams features that are present in this gallery include historical photographs, cartoons, , newspaper clippings as well as period maps all illustrating core issues and events that resulted to the development of North America’s largest transportation network. It is also very exciting to board museum’s classic collection of subways as well as elevated trains to visit an operational signal tower.
The other equally thrilling exhibition is the On the Streets: New York’s Trolleys and Buses. In this exhibition, there is a simulated traffic intersection installed with traffic lights and synchronized walk signs, walk-don’t, fire hydrants, parking meters as well as other street furniture. There are also wheel chairs, 12- seat bus, child-sized trolley as well as refurbished 1960s bus cab that is fishbowl shaped; all of which can be accessed by children of all ages. Most interesting is the informative commissioned photo essay ‘A Day in the Life of a Bus’ as well as an audio interview with the personnel ...