Transit Magazine - 1950s

Transit was the employee news magazine published by the NYC Transit Authority between 1954 and 1957 and again from 1968 to 1972, when the MTA publication began publication. A question came up on the nyc.transit newsgroup about the City Island monorail. I knew I had a brief artcile about it and found it in the December 1954 issue. While looking for it, I found a number of articles that would be of interest in the perspective of more than 50 years later. Here for your enjoyment and information.
Each article (except the first and last) have links to the next story, to avoid going back to the index after reading each.

Articles from Transit Magazine - 1950 version
TITLE	DESCRIPTION			ISSUE Double click cover to view
November 1954
New York City Subway	The 50th anniversary article about the construction and opening of New York City's first subway.
The Toronto Subway	An article written shortly after Toronto opened the first subway line in Canada
The Glory that was Belmont's	The story of August Belmont's private subway car, the Mineola. As an update, the Mini is now in the Shoreline (Branford) Trolley Museum.
3/16ths of an Inch from Death	How Thrid rail maintainers worked on live third rails with only a 3/16th sheet of rubber insulating them.
December 1954
Monorails	The state of the art in monorails - 1954!
The Fall of the Flying Lady	The story of the brief life of the City Island monorail trolley line in 1910. Photograph of the car on the Shorpy web site
Power!	How power was generated by the NYCTA until 1959.
January 1955
Lost and Found	Some things never change. An article about stuff lost on the trains, trolleys and buses!
Million Dollar Trolley	The last runs of the PCC cars on Church Ave was only a year away
Subway in the Sky	How tracks are repiared on East River bridges.
Poeple Mover	Another proposal to replace the Times Square shuttle with a people mover! - This 1955.
Female Bus Driver!	Some things do change - the back cover story of a female bus driver left over from WWII and North Shore Bus Company - taken over by the TA. Be sure to read the rules and regulations part on the back cover!
March 1955
They Hate a Parade	Surface Command Center staff overview.
Freight Cars Wear Corsets	The TA's freight line, the South Brooklyn Railway
While Manhattan Sleeps	What goes on at night in the subway - construction work.
April 1955
The Subway Goes to Sea	The conversion of the LIRR rockaway line to the IND Subway.
End of an Era	The concluding story of the Manhattan elevated lines. Missing page 12 added (1/2/2009).
May 1955
Coney Island Shops	Inside story of the work that goes on in the Coney Island shops.
Summer 1955
Coney Island	Wooden Cars and Iron Men - How tranportation turned Coney Island from a swamp to an amusement park.
Towermen	Background information about Canarsie yard, the last with an ARMSTRONG interlocking.
October 1955
Moscow Subway	A follow up to the article about Toronto.
Air Conditioned Car	The car is R-15 6259, originally built in 1950 by ACF. One year later, the first train of experimental A/C units were installed in R-17's 6800-6809
The Scooter	A telegram from the Scooter himself thanking the TA for supporting a scholarship fund.
November 1955
Drainage	Underground work of the TA's drainage experts, a specialty needed to this day.
Subway for Joy Riders	The Rome, Italy subway
Scenic Subway	The TA's Flushing line - back cover
December 1955
TA Materials Testing	Another behind the scenes article, this about the Meterial Testing Department.
60th St Connection	Photos from the opening of the 60th St. Connection between the BMT in Manhattan and the IND Queens Blvd Line.
The Orphan Grows Up	The Dyre Ave line becomes a full part of the IRT.
February 1956
The Subway Sun	Some backgorund on the 1950's to 1970's posters. It features the artist Mrs. Amelia Opdyke Jones, who signed her work as OPPY. Link here to see some of the Subway Sun posters.
Grandpa Wouldn't Know Them	New York city Subway car design. the state of the art circ 1956. One of the fellow in this article gave me my first TA job in 1968.
The back cover	One photo say it all - Multis are gone, the tracks are gone, half of Atlantic Ave is gone!
March 1956
The Subway that Goes Round	Glasgow's interesting subway.
The Signals We Ride By	Background information about the subway signals. Some interesting pictures of the guts of NX intelrocking plants
April-May 1956
	The cover photo was taken at the brand new Grant St Station on the A Line
The Voice of TRANSIT	Before modern telephone systems, all calls to the TA's Headquaters were routed through a telephone switchboard.
The Signals We Ride By	Part 2 of the background information about the subway signals.
Summer 1956
Construction Station Design	Most of this issue is devoted to the opening of the Rockaway Line from the reconstruction of the LIRR right of way to the station designs.
Oslo Subway	This subway climbs mountains!
November 1956
Politically Incorrect Title	The folks who occupied what is Manhattan Island wouldn't know it!
The Miracle of Astor Place	The story of the reconstruction of the Lexington subway after the Wanamaker Building fire and resulting flood.
December1956
Good-bye to the Gandy Dancer	The lost art of laying track manually.
The Rubber Tired Subway	The opening of the first subway that used rubber tires (Paris)
Dungarees	Subway car maintenance.
January-February 1957
Letters	A follow up to the Gandy Dancer story - from the editor of RAILROAD Magazine. A plea for help from a second grade teacher.
London	Big Brother!
Wheelless Train	A follow up to the Paris Subway story in December 1956, that mentions a wheelless train!
	Look at the back cover, by double-clicking on the picture to the right. Find the subway in the photo. The answer is upside down above the TRANSIT logo. The New York Daily News of January 6, 2012 had an article about the building.
March-April 1957
Tunnels	An interesting perspective of the tunnels and bridges around Manhattan. Including subway, vehicular, and others.
New Subway Song	The background story of the new quieter subway using welded rail. Explaining some of the murals in subway station tiles.
Subway Art
Bus Operator Testing	Background for the state of the art in bus operator testing.
Summer1957
Consessions	Consessions in the subway. Pay toilets brought in $41,000 to the TA!
Different subway	Stockholm's subway system
Bus Painting	ENY Bus Paint Shop
Texas Subway	Long before Leonard's Department Store
	When the TA building at 370 Jay street was built in 1953, a memorial wall was built at the Willoughby St end of the main floor. It honored the WWII dead who worked for the TA. the back cover photo was taken at the 1957 memorial service at the wall. Double click the image to see the cover. By the 1990's the corridor leading to that end of the building was sealed off as part of the Transit Police HQ. The memorial has been moved to the main entrance of the building.
This is the end of the 1950's issues of Transit that are in my collection.