Video: Meet the underground time travelers

Every Sunday in December, the special nostalgia train creates one of the most unique experiences New York has to offer during the holiday season: the rare moment underground where everyone is happy to be commuting.

The train runs from Second Avenue on the Lower East Side up to 96th Street on the Upper East Side. It's made up of R 1/9 subway cars manufactured throughout the 1930s, which are part of the collection at the New York Transit Museum. The loud sounds of the train are celebrated by fanatics, where lively and friendly discussion is the norm, as is expressing your creativity and style.

This holiday season, we talked to riders on the nostalgia express about what makes this once-mundane train so special to them, and whether they think riders 90 years will be crowding around to take a turn on our own modern trains that are facing retirement.

📽️ Watch it now:

There is one last chance to experience this special ride, on Dec. 29, the last Sunday of 2024. There are four round trips scheduled, making stops on the F and Q lines. All it takes is one tap of OMNY or one swipe of a MetroCard to ride!

Follow Ilan: @transit-scapes.bsky.social.