Growing up in New York provided me with the best playground a child could have.

I rode the subway alone beginning at age 9 and began extensive explorations of the subway and entire city when I was 11. At that time there was a great mix of different types of equipment ranging from contemporary to trains built in the early 1920s.

The fare at the time was 15 cents which, to me, was a somewhat substantial amount of money. To fund my explorations I would scavenge deposit bottles, run errands for elderly folks, wash windows, or just loot change from my mom's purse.

Even now when I travel back to New York, I never take taxis. The subway is the only way to get around and is as much fun as it was in childhood.

It is a little less interesting these days though, with the homogenization of the equipment and the general dumbing-down of operating procedures.

The picture on the lower right is my childhood home.