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Check out these historical photos of NYC's subway cars and buses

Go for a ride back in time with these beautiful vintage photos of the MTA subway system, trolleys and more

Written by Tazi Phillips
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In a city as fast paced as New York, it's easy to get frustrated with the constant MTA delays, fare hikes, annoying commuters and dreadful line closures (we missed you, L train!). But once in a while it's important to remember how amazing our public transportation system really is. We've got one of the oldest, biggest, most expansive subway systems in the world, not to mention that it also runs 24 hours a day every day of the year. Rekindle your love of the MTA (however briefly) with our favorite historical and vintage photos of NYC's subway cars, trolleys and buses to remind you why NYC is the greatest city in the world.

RECOMMENDED: See more New York photo galleries

Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
36th Street Station/Union Depot circa 1890

Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
A Metropolitan Street Railway trolley navigates through construction on the first subway line at 17th Street and Fourth Avenue, 1902.
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Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Fifth Avenue circa 1910

Photograph: Courtesy Library of Congress
4th and Madison Avenue streetcar, 1910
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Photograph: Courtesy Library of Congress
Fifth Avenue bus, 1910

Photograph: Courtesy Library of Congress
Thomas Edison and two other men standing by a bus, 1913
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Photograph: Courtesy Library of Congress
Fifth Avenue bus, 1913

Photograph: Courtesy Library of Congress
Boarding a Broadway trolley circa 1920
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Photograph: Courtesy Library of Congress
Subway car, 1920

Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Car number 1064 on the Third Avenue Railway System's 42nd Street crosstown line, 1940
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Photograph: ClassicStock / Alamy
Buses outside Port Authority Bus Terminal, circa 1940s

Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Subway car circa 1940
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Photograph: ClassicStock / Alamy
Buses, taxis and cars outside New York Municipal Airport–LaGuardia Field circa 1940

Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Interior of World's Fair subway car, 1946
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Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Bus circa 1950

Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Trolley at Prospect Park West and 15th Street, 1951
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Photograph: Courtesy New York Transit Museum
Bus, 1961

Photograph: Courtesy Jack Stewart/New York Historical Society
Subway car circa 1970
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Photograph: Coutesy Creative Commons/Wikimedia Commons/ Guyspeakwell
Kingsway Theatre on Kings Highway in Brooklyn, 1977

Photograph: Courtesy Creative Commons/Flickr/Olivier Nade
Subway car interior circa 1980s
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