turn of the century footage shows life on New York City's first subway

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

When the New York City subway was barely seven months old, the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company mounted a camera on the front of a subway car following another train, and took footage of a ride through Manhattan.
The footage taken on May 21, 1905 begins at 14th St - Union Square and follows the train north to Grand Central Station, whereupon the passengers alight and men in smart suits with canes and women in long dresses and elaborate hats swarm around the station.

To film the subway car in front, engineers affixed the camera to a specially constructed work car fitted with lights to illuminate the dark tunne.

Historic times: Remarkable footage from 1905 shows what life was like when New York's subway was first installed

All aboard: People run to board the train as it pulls in to Central Station and divests itself of its passengers

Fair fare: The subway cost five cents a ride when it opened in 1904 and increased to 10 cents only in 1948

The subway of 108 years ago doesn't look too different from today's subway.
Delays, track work and the infamous G train may cause current New Yorkers to complain, but these inconveniences are trifling compared to the upheaval the construction of the original subway must have caused.
When it was being constructed more than 100 years ago, the subway's creators couldn't have known that in 2013, it would carry more than five million passengers daily along 842 miles of track.

 

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The subway, which is the most extensive public transport system in the world with 468 operational stations, is constantly under construction and evolving along with the city itself.

Missed train: Commuters ran for the train just as today's subway customers run to catch a departing subway train

Growth: The subway is now the biggest transit system in the world, but London's Tube is older at 150 years

As the MTA creates a new subway line on the east side of Manhattan, New Yorkers of today can get an idea of what the construction of the line must have been like more than a century ago.
The Second Avenue Subway is being built in phases. Ground was first broken in 2007 and excavation continues now for the city's newest subway tunnel 134 feet below the street. The line will not be completed until 2016. The Library of Congress said of the 1905 footage: 'At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today’s east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913.'

Out of the darkness: The first New York subway was hailed as a feat of engineering when it was opened in 1905

Rail trail: A second subway followed the first to film its journey from 14th Street to 42nd Street in 1905

Light at the end: A specially constructed work car with lighting attached lit the subway passage as the train made its way to 42nd St

Newly built: The New York subway was brand-new when the footage was taken but now it's a part of the city's identity

First subway: The New York subway was groundbreaking, both literally and figuratively, when it arrived and changed the city's transport system forever

How times have changed: An early subway map shows the route the first trains took under the New York streets

Modernized: The New York subway has been upgraded over the years but it runs essentially as its originators had planned

The Library of Congress said of the footage: 'At the time of filming, the subway was only seven months old, having opened on October 27, 1904. The ride begins at 14th Street (Union Square) following the route of today’s east side IRT, and ends at the old Grand Central Station, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1869. The Grand Central Station in use today was not completed until 1913.'
Before the first subway train made its historic journey in October 1904, engineers and electricians had planned the infrastructure and inner workings of the audacious public work. 

What they came up with more than 100 years ago has undergone upgrades and been modernized with new technologies, but the subway system is still working much as its originators had planned.