Comments on: Metro-North’s newest Arts for Transit – a revisit to the Hudson Line

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 18:55:44 +0000

In reply to Emily.

Here are a few images of legacy art:

Pennsylvania Railroad:
–Statue to remember the fallen of World War II at 30th Street Station
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?100678

–Grillwork embedded with PRR logo at 30th Street Station
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?100677

–Decorative woodwork, Allen Lane station
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?113850

Newark City Subway–station murals (1930s WPA style)
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?27688

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?27690

By: therealguyfaux

therealguyfaux — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 17:46:20 +0000

Peekskill, with the Art Nouveau/Jugendstil-type ornamentation, is sort of reminiscent of the Paris Metro. You don’t see an awful lot of AN/J in the US, except perhaps for Louis Comfort Tiffany. And what LCT said about art in general goes for the decorative aspects of a public transportation structure:

“True art is ever progressive, and impatient of fixed rules. Because a thing has always been done in a certain way, is no reason why it should never be done in any other.”

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:30:08 +0000

In reply to Lee. I've covered the art on Minneapolis light rail a bit here, and will be doing a few future posts about Denver, but I haven't gotten a chance to do SEPTA. There are a lot of really cool transit art projects out there!

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:25:30 +0000

Have you ever viewed transit art in other systems?

SEPTA in Philadelphia has an arts program:
http://www.septa.org/art-in-transit/

On NJ Transit’s River Line, there is an artistic plaque at each station with an image portraying the neighborhood history.

Some legacy carriers installed artwork in their stations. On the Newark City Subway, there are tileworks describing life on the Morris Canal; these are done in a 1930s style. In Newark-Penn station there are bas relief of various transportation scenes.

On the PRR’s Levittown PA commuter station, built in the early 1950s, they used slanted pillars and roof, representative of the modern architecture of that era. Some old PRR stations on the Chestnut Hill West line have whimsical woodwork.

By: ray-e

ray-e — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 02:34:41 +0000

With Metro North considering revival of the East Bronx (formally known as the New Haven Harlem River Line, it might be interesting to see the remains of some of the old stations.
The New Haven stopped this local service in the mid ’30s. Some were quite decrepid in the Mid ’50s (Westchester Ave), still in use (Hunts Point), or barely recgonizable (Van Nest). Another station which served as a model train club in the ’50s was Pelham Manor (it may have been torn down when the New England Thruway was built)