That was fun! Once-a-year the Metro Transit Authority, hooks as many as 11 vintage subway cars together and runs them for the four Saturdays between the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the one before Christmas, on a designated line. This Saturday it was running on the ‘M’ line as the ‘M’ line doesn’t run on weekends, but the train runs under the letter “S” for Special. It is truly taking a step back in time. This year’s assortment of cars were built during the 30’s and the 40’s. The set that was made in the 40’s are painted the color I know as army green. The insides of all the cars have more individual seats and benches like old trains, not the continual seating of today. They have old adverts on the walls: Viceroy cigarettes, Burma shave, Used cars, Tips to use the zip code, and best of all, a breakdown chart to explain how your 15 cent fare is spent. There is a motor man dressed in an old uniform, complete with gloves. Some of the would-be-passengers arrive on the platform in costume for the occasion: hats, gloves, fur collared coats, men in sweater vests and shoes with spats. One of the Metro officials on the train said what he likes about doing this is that passengers speak to each other. He said they would never meet each other on a train today like they do in sharing the experience on these old ones. One of the most amazing things I found was standing at the back window, watching the receding track. In the trains of today, there is no rear view. It was an entirely different world. And the men and women who work shifts on the daily trains as drivers, must feel akin at times to miners. Seeing what they see for the first time, it brought me up short about their eight hour days. I also took advantage of being able to walk between the cars while the train was moving. In the modern cars, the car you enter is the car you ride until the next stop. The ceiling fans were eye catching as they gave a porch feeling hanging above the beige and brown woven plastic seats. One little boy, whose parents were only going a short way on the train, said he didn’t want to get off, he wanted to stay and ride longer. They promised him another ride next weekend.