Travel Back Thursday: Subway Advertisements

By now, some of you might have figured out my slight fascination with the history of public transportation systems. I highlighted the Washington, D.C. Metro’s opening day last month, and decided to scrounge up a photo from the New York Subway system to carry the theme forward.

This shot is one of a few old advertisements found on the New York Subway from decades ago.

We’d love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at OfTheDay@gadling.com.

Baby On Board: Babies Born In Train Stations

Last week, the hashtag #MetroBaby was trending after a Washington, D.C. woman gave birth to a baby boy on a Metro platform. Despite many humorous suggestions for the baby’s name (my favorites: Stan Clear and Doris Closing), Amir Mason was born a few weeks early and delivered safely.

Yesterday, New York got its own Metro Baby when police helped deliver a baby boy in Penn Station. On her way home from a doctor’s appointment and waiting for a Long Island Rail Road train, the mother was overcome with labor pains and taken to the police station office inside the train station. Paramedics from St. Luke’s Hospital were on hand to deliver baby Oscar, and assisting MTA Officer Melissa DeFrancsco noted, “It was awesome.”

The D.C. Metro baby got a train-themed gift basket and $100 transit card from the agency. The New York MTA is presumably still picking out a card.

Are train station babies a new trend? What station is likely to be next? I’d vote for somewhere like London‘s airy and renovated St. Pancras station, with plenty of restaurants and shops, a luxury hotel, and an easy hop to Paris by Eurostar.

Photo Of The Day: B Train, New York City

Routine experiences like commuting take on a new meaning when we travel. There’s a thrill to taking the New York City Subway or the Paris Metro when it’s not part of our everyday; a sense of the exotic in the midst of the mundane.

Flickr user Mike GL captures just that in this shot of the B Train in New York City. He manages to get both the movement of the train and the still feeling of the passengers waiting for the next one to arrive.

Have an image that captures the essence of travel? Submit it to the Gadling Flickr Pool for a chance to be featured on Photo of the Day.

[Photo Credit: Mike GL]

Wi-fi, cell coverage coming to New York City subways

Do you ever feel the urge to live-tweet your ride on the F train? A jones to push iPhone photos to Posterous? Well, you’ll have the chance soon. Whether you just want to chronicle your subway rides for the rest of the world or feel the need to stay connected at all times, New York City is going help you out. Wi-fi access and mobile service are set to come to the subway system, according to Mashable.

This development is three years in the making, and now that some cash has been unearthed to make this project possible, New York will finally attain the standard set by Singapore, Berlin and Tokyo.

The effort, which was scheduled to take 10 years from 2007, will start with stations near Union Square in the next two years, with the remaining 271 platforms coming in the four to follow. While some of the tunnels will have access, most of the connectivity will be available on mezzanines and platforms.

This means that the bodegas at the tops of the stairs will need to add another item to their shelves, of course: ear plugs.

[photo by @mjassal]

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk 006: New York City, Engadget Show, Strikes & Protests!


GadlingTV’s Travel Talk, episode 6 – Click above to watch video after the jump

Ready for the City that Never Sleeps? This week we’re hitting the streets of Manhattan for a jam-packed episode that will take you through the Big Apple, behind the scenes of the Engadget Show, and show you how to get away from it all in a city like NYC.

This week we discuss the ongoing red-shirt protests in Thailand, the long awaited British Airways strike, significant new routes from Virgin America, a bus journey from D.C to Antarctica, and how NYC’s metro matches up against one of the most modern metros in the world.

Of course, there’s more Travel Tips with Bruce! and an epic Adventure that only left one of us curled up in a bathroom…

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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Hosts: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea
Special guests: Mike Barish, Joshua Topolsky, and Bruce!
Produced, Edited, and Directed by: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea
Special thanks: Chad Mumm & the Engadget Team

Music:

Camping with Mike
“Camp Walk”
Derek K Miller

Travel Tips with Bruce
“Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:49, III. Tempo di Minuet”
Mario Ajero

Engadget Show
“Le Conseil Militair pour la Justice”
Adhesion

Adventure of the Week
“New York City Heat”
Dead Heart Bloom

“Indian Funk”
Bloingo

all songs courtesy of Musicalley.com