I am abashed.  I should have thought that Billy Strayhorn wrote "Take 
the A Train" in 1941.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern 
Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.

----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 10:28 am
Subject: Underground Sidewalks of New York

> In a message dated 2/22/05 10:13:40 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
> [log in to unmask] writes:
> 
> > I don't think that the subway lines got alphabetic designations 
> until 
> > well after WWII.  
> 
> George, you're kiddin' me!   You still reading those darned 19th 
> century 
> newspapers?  Hey when you get up to 1932, when the IND opened, you 
> will find the 
> first letter designations, beginning with the first letter of the 
> alphabet, 
> associated with the IND.  Hence, the "A" train, the major express 
> route on the 
> line.  
> 
> sign me, your admirer,   Christopher Gray aka Billy Strayhorn  
>