Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Friday Video

Friday Video: Meet the Subway’s Straphanger-Free Trains

We've all seen them. Now, thanks to YouTube's "Half as Interesting," we can tell you the purpose of each one.

An MTA pump train, photographed in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy.

|MTA New York City Transit / Leonard Wiggins

We've all seen them — those mysterious, empty trains filled with equipment that run through New York City's subway system.

Fortunately, thanks to YouTube show Half as Interesting, we can now tell you the purpose of each one: The track geometry car! The rail grinder! The ballast regulator! The crane car! The (water) pump train! The snow throwers, blowers and deicers! The materials transport cars! The (retired) money car! The VakTrak!

We've all seen these non-passenger trains. Yet Half as Interesting scoured the city and somehow couldn't find a single one. And the MTA declined to help out. Instead, the show asked its viewers to send in their own videos, which they did. In large numbers.

Watch the full eight-minute rundown here:

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

MTA Demands Albany Deal With Toll Evasion Already

A new analysis of toll evasion found that the amount of money owed by drivers who don't pay paper toll invoices has more than doubled since 2022, from $147 million in unpaid tolls to nearly $350 million.

March 12, 2026

Hochul’s Car Insurance Plan Blows Fraud Way Out Of Proportion: Stats

Gov. Hochul's proposal to lower car insurance premiums is built on suspected fraud. But a body of evidence reveals that there really is very little.

March 12, 2026

Memo to Mamdani: Make This Summer’s World Cup A Car-Free Paradise

Mayor Mamdani should bring the city's joyful, global football culture out onto the streets.

March 12, 2026

Thursday’s Headlines: Another Outlet Heard From Edition

We're not so full of ourselves that we can't praise other outlets. Plus other news.

March 12, 2026

Trump’s Funding Freeze Has Derailed Transit, Undermining Growth and Economic Opportunity For All Americans: Report

American cities used to have some of the longest per-capita rail networks in the world. Not anymore.

March 11, 2026
See all posts