7. Original IRT sign
Long before the MTA existed, the Interborough Rapid Transit Subway (IRT) supported New Yorkers’ public transportation needs. The first IRT line opened almost exactly 117 years ago on October 27, 1904. Many of the IRT‘s historic signs, photos, and other physical remains have been lost. However, an IRT sign was recently restored and put under protective glass in Penn Station, built originally for an express station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The sign simply reads “PENN RR TRAINS” in red on a dark blue background with a red arrow.
The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line was built in conjunction with the Lexington Avenue Line, which made it easier to travel between Broadway and Park Avenue thanks to the 42nd Street Shuttle. According to our Chief Experience Officer Justin Rivers, who leads tours of the Remnants of Penn Station, the IRT sign was originally an Interborough Rapid Transit Sign, most likely from the 1920s or 1930s. It is the last of the hand-painted signs in Penn Station itself—there is one faded IRT Trains sign at the top of the stairs to the southbound 1 train, but technically that is not in Penn Station.