BusTalk

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

I long have been wondering the same thing; it seems as though, that, whenever the subway was "spoofed" in an animated cartoon, it was virtually ONLY the "Eye-Are-Tee" that was depicted!

Only TWO cartoons I can recall spoofed the "Bee-Em-Tee"......

"MADHATTAN ISLAND"* (Paramount/Famous Studios)

"A MOUSE IN MANHATTAN" (MGM)

*In this short, there is also a quck scene that looked as though it had been "rotoscoped" from live footage, showing crowds trying to jam aboard an "Eye-Are-Tee" train at the old City Hall loop!

I can JUST recall seeing a Paramount/Famous Studios cartoon as a kid (something about inventions) where a guy squeezes his person into a crowded subway car with a bulging suitcase, in the hopes that the jam-packed crowds will squeeze his suitcase shut; I was just a kid, but, in my memory, the cars looked like they MIGHT have been "R-11s".

In the 1935 Betty Boop short, "STOP THAT NOISE", we see crowded El trains rattling past Betty's apartment window, featuring overloaded end platforms!

Again, the "EYE-ARE-TEE"!

"NYO"

['INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also...........

In the Richard Widmark crime drama, "PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET"*, we see stock footage of an "AA" train ("Arnines") also seen in the "I LOVE LUCY" episode "LUCY & THE LOVING CUP", as well as movie-set scenes, as well as the "SUPERMAN episode, "A SHOT IN THE DARK".

The "Eye-Are-Tee" was also featured in 1944's "THE CLOCK"* (great "Blunderbus" scenes as a bonus), as well as 1935's "THE GILDED LILY".

(realistic movie set scenes, along with brief live-action footage)

"NYO"

*VERY authentic prewar rolling stock sounds, here!)

["IRT LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also..........

In the riveting 1967 thriller "THE INCIDENT", live action footage of the "Toid Aven-uh" El in "da Bronx (featuring 1938 WF cars and STEINWAY trailers) features prominently throughout this film (STILL a scary flick, even though it is, sadly, quite "tame" by 2025 standards)

The "Tee-Yay" did NOT want to participate in this film, and the camera used to capture the live footage of the trains was courtesy of a hidden movie camera.

The nostalgic sounds of these ancient cars (whooping compressors, grinding gears, hissing doors, etc) indeed exactly replicated the sounds I grew up with, on the old "Aitch & Em's" Black cars, 60-odd years ago!

The subway car interior was a "set" (1938 "WF" car), but, dang, AUTHENTIC, with most viewers thinking they were aboard an actual subway train.

This film is a MUST for any "Eye-Are-Tee" buff...........

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061814/

["DYRE AVE.-E. 180TH ST."]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Interior of the "movie set" car, indeed authentically replicating a 1938 "WF" car.........

https://prod-images.tcm.com/tcm-articleHeader-imgs/Incident_Article_01_21.jpg

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Real time" interior photo (1938 "WF" car), for comparison...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46868

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also.................

Online sources tell us that a part of this film took place on the IRT Lexington and Jerome Avenue lines; of course, there was footage filmed (on the sly) along the Bronx "Toid Aven-uh" El, the last IRT line to use prewar rolling stock.

*In the interior scenes, we can see that the car # (1938 "WF") was #5674....................

'NYO"

(in my collection of I have a number plate from #5698)

["THIRD AVENUE ELEVATED-NEXT STAIWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here is "WF" Lo-V #5674 at E. 180th Street back in 1971, two years after being retired from revenue service.

Note that, though the car has been renumbered, it still carries its original metal number plates.

Note, also, the long-abandoned NYW&B platforms in the background........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?7153

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["NO PASSENGERS"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Funny, I've often thought of what WHY that hyphen have been inserted for, on those "WF" end roller curtains; IMHO, it simply did not make sense.

Note that the "WF" cars were only in use for 30-odd years; that's a mere drop in the bucket, when one considers that the oldest "Aitch & Em" cars (the 1909 Class "B" cars) were 56 years old when they were retired in late 1965.

Recall, also, that both the remaining "Lo-V's" and the "Broadway Battleships" (Standards) were both retired the same year (1969), while the "Arnines" soldiered on until 1977.

This I find interesting, in that the newest of the prewar "Eye-En-Dee" cars were just about the same age as the 1938 "WF" cars, but ran in regular service eight years after the former had been retired..............

"NYO"

["ST. LOUIS CAR COMPANY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"GRAND-CENTRAL"....................

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?45874

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["SHUTTLE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

I'm surprised that the INTERBOROUGH did not insert a hyphen between "WORLD'S" and "FAIR".............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?45209

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

['TAKE THE INTERBOROUGH TO THE FAIR!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

At least the hyphens used on bus roller curtains made sense...............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153215

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153259

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154474

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154936

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153268

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["1 MADISON-CHAMBERS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recalling now the long-ago use of "TO" on bus roller curtains............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154158

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155120

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155118

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154731

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["6 TO SOUTH FERRY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Side sign box of "WF" R-33.............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4428

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["TIMES SQUARE"]