What's New at the Gallery Annex

Collecting at the New York Transit Museum

July 26 – November 2, 2008

The backbone of a museum is its collection, the objects and historic materials that link to our past. The New York Transit Museum's collection is unique in its scope, comprised of the sometimes unusual and often inscrutable objects used to build and operate the world's most extensive mass transit systems. Since the Transit Museum was founded in 1976, it has assembled a valuable array of materials that, when pieced together, tell compelling stories of how subways, buses, trains, bridges, and tunnels have built and sustained our city, driven our economy and culture, and continue to shape our daily lives.

Much of what we collect is industrial — from vehicles, tools, and machinery to station fixtures. Through close relationships with the many divisions of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the museum salvages artifacts directly from construction sites, abandoned stations and rail yards. The museum also receives gifts and transfers from collectors and especially from MTA employees, retirees, their descendants, and transit contractors, many of whom contact us to donate pieces of their personal or family history. Employee IDS, uniforms and badges, pay stubs, rules mnuals, and recognition awards, tell stories of working life from other eras. These gifts illuminate the commitment of employees, many of whom dedicated decades of their lives working in public transportation. We are grateful to these donors for entrusting such precious items to our care.

The interpretation and preservation of these industrial and cultural items is at the core of the museum's purpose. The museum interprets objects by researching how they were made, what they were used for and their place in a larger realm of related material. These objects are the center of hidden stories. By digging deeper into what might appear to be an ordinary object, the Transit Museum strives to unlock its mystery, relating its meaning to our daily lives.

What's New at the Transit Museum

April 22 – December 7, 2008

An anemometer, a ballast fork, a pneumatic drill, an opacity tester, an oxygen deficiency indicator, a TelAutograph telescriber, signal locks, rail tongs and a portable shunt are just some of the fifty objects featured in this latest exhibition at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn. All of these tools, dating from the 1880’s to the present, were used to build and operate railroads, subways, buses, bridges and tunnels throughout the metropolitan region. Examples include electrical testing equipment, communication and signaling tools, track maintenance tools, safety equipment and a variety of innovative and peculiar devices.

New York’s public transportation system encompasses thousands of vehicles, networks of tracks and tunnels, miles of power lines and signals, roads and bridges, yards and depots. Building, operating, and maintaining this infrastructure requires the ingenuity of a highly skilled workforce using an extensive array of tools and equipment - both specialized and common, simple and complex.

Oil Can In the 1830’s, thousands of manual laborers began building New York’s railroads, leveling the land and laying track. They were paving the way for the modern world of the steam-powered locomotive. The sledge hammers, picks and shovels workers used were quite similar to stone axes and digging sticks used 500,000 years ago. At the same time, engineers were pioneering technology that would quickly change the world. New tools were developed to aid in the specialized tasks of railroading. Rail tongs, tie tongs, and ballast forks made the grueling endeavor of track work more manageable. Signaling systems using train banners and signal lanterns allowed coded messages to be sent to moving trains, keeping them on schedule. The telegraph made instantaneous long distance communication possible and demonstrated a practical application of electricity.

As New York City’s trains and trolleys started to electrify their operations, tools were designed to safely harness this awesome force, and portable meters were invented to test and maintain the systems. With smokeless electric trains able to operate beneath the streets, construction of the subway began in 1900. Toiling underground, tunneling through solid rock and under rivers provided daunting challenges that were met with the aid of new types of power tools like pneumatic drills, jackhammers, and battery powered flashlights.

Today, technology advances ever faster, changing the way we live and work. Still, many ancient tools ― like a hammer or a crowbar ― are employed every day.

Major Sponsor: General Tools & Instruments, LLC

Additional support has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts,
a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

RELATED PROGRAMMING:

TOURS
Saturday, July 26 10 a.m. – 2p.m.
BERGEN STREET SIGN SHOP
$25, Museum members $20, children (5–17) $10
Visit New York City Transit’s premiere stop for sign production, the Bergen Street Sign Shop, and learn about its fascinating history. Opened sixty years ago to service 122 trolley coaches (trackless trolleys) and renovated when trolley coach service ended in Brooklyn in 1960, the building was redesigned to service trucks and other work vehicles and to house the Sign Shop, Tin Shop, and Carpentry Shop.

Tuesday, August 19 6 – 8:30 p.m.
CONEY ISLAND YARD
$25, Museum members $20, children (5–17) $10
The Coney Island Overhaul Shop is one of the world’s largest subway overhaul and repair facilities. This sprawling Brooklyn complex includes cranes that can lift entire subway cars, a paint shop, state-of-the-art brake and wheel repair equipment, and an impressive tower that monitors the movement of trains throughout the yard. Mike Hanna, retired superintendent of the NYC Transit Division of Car Equipment and restorer of vintage trains, will lead this tour. Please note that sneakers are not allowed.

Sunday, August 10 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
EAST 180th STREET YARD/SHOP
$25, Museum members $20, children (5–17) $10. No strollers allowed.

Built in the 1920s, the East 180th Street Maintenance Shop was once the largest in the IRT system. The shop was completely refurbished in the late 1990s to maintain a new generation of subway cars. Superintendent Joe Tassiello will lead a tour describing the high-tech tools and state-of-the-art procedures that carefully test car equipment and operation during inspection. See how “in service” conditions are created, and how wheel shape, temperature controls, and conductivity are weighed and measured. The tour involves climbing stairs. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and fitted clothing, and are welcome to bring lunch to eat onsite.

LECTURE

Wednesday, June 11 6 p.m.
ENGINEERING EAST SIDE ACCESS
Free with paid Museum admission.
Commuters coming into Penn Station on the West Side have long hoped for easier access to their East Side jobs. When completed, the East Side Access Project will bring the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) into Grand Central Terminal, serving approximately 160,000 customers a day. In conjunction with the exhibition Tools of the Trade, Alan Paskoff of MTA Capital Construction will discuss the tools best suited to construction conditions, tunnel boring machines working to link Grand Central Terminal to the existing 63rd Street Tunnel and LIRR facilities in Long Island City.

FILM SCREENING
July & August
Transit News: East Side Access - Tools for Tunnel Engineering
Free with paid Museum admission.
The original 63rd Street Tunnel built by New York City Transit was the city’s first successful use of tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology. Witness a TBM working to excavate and line new tunnels for the East Side Access project. When completed, the project’s seven new route miles will connect Grand Central Terminal to the existing tunnel and Long Island Rail Road facilities in Long Island City.