Not Quite A Madeleine

Max Hubacher, April 9, 1954, has me reliving my childhood with “(Queens, N.Y.) Subway and Manhattan’s skyline.” That was the 7 train in 1954 and still is today, the IRT line running from (then) Times Square to Flushing. All of the line but the far west end is in Queens; all of the line but the Manhattan portion, the first two Queens stations, and the Flushing terminus is elevated. A chunk of the western part of the Queens portion runs over Queens Boulevard on a fancyish viaduct of concrete-encased steel. That stretch of the street is straight, and you see the result here: a wide street in two portions – eastbound and westbound – separated by the train. East of the straight run, the tracks curve a bit to follow Roosevelt Avenue; west of it, they curve to follow the boulevard to Queens Plaza, and then a big S curve into the tunnel heading to Manhattan. From Queens Plaza to Flushing, the line has three tracks, and express trains run on the center track only in the direction of the rush.…