Metro Jacksonville

Springfield Subway Car Mystery Solved

(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/767020094_eAPRj-M.jpg)

In February of 2008, Metro Jacksonville discovered a NYC subway car in the Springfield, just north of Downtown Jacksonville. It was unclear how or why it was brought to Jacksonville, until now...

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-jan-springfield-subway-car-mystery-solved

Wow!  How did you come across this info Ock?

Do you know where the "club" was located?

Not mine y'all, this is Hap and Ron's baby, great stuff though.  Apparently it didn't stay in Orange Park very long... (months?) because I first came across it where it sits today around 1982-4.

OCKLAWAHA

OCK, I wonder if they would be willing to sell it?

I'm Mark's son.  It is my understanding that the plan for the subway car was for it to be made into a transit museum.  It was to be located where Lakeside Estates currently is on Moody Rd in Orange Park.  The Juniors woman club was going to renovate it and they thought the location would be great for students of the nearby elementary and pre-schools.  As the article states, neighbors raised all kind of fits about it and even started getting some lawyers involved.  It's sad, cause it was a great idea. 

My parents had to move it back to the property that they owned in downtown and it remained there when they eventually sold the property. 

Wow, it's all coming back now. I cut my disco feet at Nichols Alley. Also celebrated my 18th birthday there (you were legal to drink at 18 back then). I had forgotten about the subway car.

BTW Sigma, the club was located at Beach and University in the shopping plaza next to K-Mart. I think it had been a bowling alley prior, still had game room in the rear.

Fantastic story!

This is so cool!   I'm very interested in playing a part to purchase/relocate it in the future.

Thanks for your input Bridges and shelly!  Any more tidbits you can add are appreciated!

Welcome to MetroJax BTW!! :)

Wow, I hadnt thought of Nichols Alley for years, I have such great memories of that place, only if I had just turned 18 and so afterwards it went out of business...
Great Memories of the disco era that is for sure

I have some GREAT pictures of this car at home.  I'll see if I can dig them up and post a few pictures.  I took them standing on my car in the middle of the street. 

Great photos and information! Only a few of these ever left New York, apparently. This one's even listed in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnines)

'Arnines'
:D
I learn something new everyday on these forums.

Sad...

The other cars are located at the following locations:

R1: 175 is at Seashore Trolley Museum.
R4: 800 is at Seashore Trolley Museum, 825 is at the Trolley Museum of New York.
R6: 978 is at Golden's Deli, in the Staten Island Mall, 983 is on private property in Jacksonville, FL. It is being used as a storage shed. 1144 is at Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, England, United Kingdom.
R7: 1440 is at Seashore Trolley Museum.
R9: 1689 is at Shore Line Trolley Museum and is in operable condition, and 1801 is at New York State Museum.

Oh, so it's an Arsix then.

Someone on here knows the address of the property in discussion - it's probably still zoned as retail property if it was a store once - if we can contact the current owner, how and what would we even say?

http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r6.html (http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/r6.html)

I would love to see some pics from its days as part of the disco... :)

Disco recolections at this place and others have to be a future thread....

Old Hippie Advice...

DISCO?

RUN LIKE HELL WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

http://www.youtube.com/v/zrwNqf8ujtk&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca&border=1


OCKLAWAHA

That was such a wonderful insight to the history of this subway car. Thanks Hap!

fun read

I remember going to Nichols Alley a few times. It was the hottest spot in Jax for young people for awhile.  That story and pix brought it all back as I had forgotten all about it.  Yes, it was next to K-mart at Beach and University.

Don't forget AnnieTiques at Regency Square.  Before the mall was doubled in size, there was a strip center on the property with a Colonial grocery store on one end and Annie Tiques restaurant and night club on the other end.  Another classic Jax hot spot.

There used to be a Neisner's Five-and-Dime department store in The Arlington Shopping Center during the 1960's.   Sometime around 1970 it turned into a night club.  Kinda pre-disco but hard charging Southern Rock-N-Roll.   Anybody remember the name?
I remember the lines outside when some live acts were booked.   Having a senior moment :-)

The former Walgreens (next to Winn Dixie) in Lakewood was briefly a concert venue.

All the ABC Liquor stores were originally Jax Liquors.  Many of them featured "Happy Jax" lounges/clubs in the early to mid 70's.  The one in Lakewood is where Cruisers and the Fitness Club are now.  I think the bid one was on Baymeadows.

Does anyone remember the Big Daddy's nightclub chain that came to Jax for awhile?  Maybe that was the one in Arlington.

Major, their was a Neisner's store chain out of Rochester, NY at one time.  Was this store related to them?  I went to college with one of the family members but never knew of a store in Jax.

Jax Liquor's lounge at the corner of Atlantic Blvd and University was "The Spectrum."  In the late 1960's and 1970's it was the happening place.   A couple of friends and I "invented" a little dance step that was real "cheesy" that we called the Spectrum Hop. You had to have a cocktail-drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other.  It was a spoof on Dean Martin and you kinda' did it when you knew you had no chance of picking up the lady.  It was definitely the ultimate lounge-lizard move.  (I told you it was cheesy!)

STJR.    Neisner's. Yes it was the same store.   It was a lot like Grants.   I remember it had a great record bin and we bought all the first Beatles'  Albums there when they came out.   Dave Clark Five, too!

Quote from: MajorCordite on February 08, 2010, 12:55:21 PM
There used to be a Neisner's Five-and-Dime department store in The Arlington Shopping Center during the 1960's.   Sometime around 1970 it turned into a night club.  Kinda pre-disco but hard charging Southern Rock-N-Roll.   Anybody remember the name?
I remember the lines outside when some live acts were booked.   Having a senior moment :-)

Do you mean "The Other Place"?

Quote from: MajorCordite on February 09, 2010, 05:50:54 PM
STJR.    Neisner's. Yes it was the same store.   It was a lot like Grants.   I remember it had a great record bin and we bought all the first Beatles'  Albums there when they came out.   Dave Clark Five, too!

Neat. Went to college with the owner's son but I believe that store must have been closed by then.

I am thinking now that Big Daddy's was in front of the Regency shopping center to the southeast of the intersection of the Arlington Expressway and Southside Blvd.

Urban, I remember The Other Place although I am not sure I ever went there.  How about Cork and Cleaver that (are you listening Ock) was in a real caboose and box car (as I recall) on rails along the Arlington Expressway.

Ock, now you have me thinking I confused Cork n Cleaver with Victoria Station!  Well, we did have one or the other with rail cars  ;D !

Hi STJR.   You are correct.  You were thinking of Victoria Station.   Cork and Cleaver was on Atlantic Blvd and near the side entrance to Corporate Square, the office park built in the sand dunes. The restaurant was very similar to a Steak and Ale type place.   It was a popular spot for business lunches.  I ate their a lot from 1972 till the late 1970's. 

Quote: " Before the mall was doubled in size, there was a strip center on the property with a Colonial grocery store on one end..."   

My first job during high school was at this Colonial Store.  I worked there from 1969 to 1971.   It was on the west end of the mall across the parking lot from May Cohens.  Most of the guys who worked there went to Englewood High, and I went to Terry Parker.   I remember two brothers there who built muscle cars and later went on to NASCAR fame.  Like everything else in Jacksonville, the store was later torn down.  I think Jacksonville definitely holds the record for the most changes in a city. 

I remember eating at Victoria Station on several occasions. The Gateway Model Railroad Club met there for our Christmas party at least once.
Another establishment featuring a railroad car was Pullman Pie down on Hendricks near Emerson. It had a larger than life fiberglass (?) conductor out front, with his arm up as if calling "All aboard!" An old steel coach served as the dining room, an attached building with kitchen and restrooms. This was early  1970s: The advent of Amtrak freed a lot of older passenger cars for such uses. The place closed, the car disappeared, and the conductor stood in front for a while longer, now just appearing to wave people in to the shop there. He's gone now.
Over by the stadium a number of old freight and passenger cars were set up as rental units for the Super Bowl. They're still there, but I don't know if they're in use at the present.

Hawkins Fruit Packing on Philips Highway between Emerson and University had an opened caboose car out front kids could play in for many years in at least the 1960's.

I used to go to Nichols Alley quite a bit in the 70"s. Nickle night was one of the highlights of my week. I had forgotten about the Subway car to get into the bar until I went to this site. Thanks for the memories...

Real shame they did away with the Victoria Station Restaurant.  There was one also in Casselberry, if I am not mistaken.

One should be re-created... a great use for some of these old cars. 

Ock... I remember the little locomotive at NAS  as a kid...funny that it ended up in my home town :)

Nichols Alley was located in the K-Mart Shopping plaza on the corner of Beach and University.  I was about 18-20 when that placed opened.  Sheesh - great times in that place.  Came in second in one of the dance contests.

Does anyone remember the place called LUM's?  It was about a mile before Nichols Alley headed east towards the beach on the right - immediately after South Gate Plaza  It was was a train car as well and fashioned in  Victorian style  I remember every thing was red inside.  They specialized in hot dogs cooked in beer!

Sheesh - what a flashback - i think that was long before Nichols Alley.

Remember the Bierstube?

I do remember the Lums. There was one on Blanding Blvd but I do think it was around before Nichols Alley but I did drink a lot of nickel beer back then so I could be mistaken!!

There was a  Lum's chain of hot dog restaurants , famed for steaming their hot dogs in beer.  There was one out this way on Atlantic Beach, in front of what is now The Fish Co  There was an Ollie's Trolley Chain, one of the buildings is left on 3rd st at Jax beach, now serves slurpy's or something. Stand and Snacks were here for many years. Milligan's hamburges sort of a home grown Krystal chain were around for a while. Patti's on beach blvd, was never a chain, but the pizza was so good. Lubi's is a good local chain, with great cherry limeades. but Uncle Joes on Atlantic and the Texas on San Marco Blv, are gone. And the Saki Shop, great bar on San Jose, history. The chef at the Palm out on Hecksher, Art, is now a Checkers on Old St. Augustine Road, great place to eat, and the city cannot seem to get its act together so the Palm can be reopened.

I'm almost certain I've asked this before, somewhere on these forums. Where's this located at?

Quote from: deathstar on October 14, 2013, 01:10:34 AM
I'm almost certain I've asked this before, somewhere on these forums. Where's this located at?

If you mean the Subway Car, it was on Ionia Street between East 8th and 9th Street. I think it has been moved but I am not sure. I will ride around there this morning on my way out to work.

If you Google "8th street and ionia st 32206", and go into Google Street, then move down about middle of the block on the west side you can still see it behind a fence with a blue tarp.

I don't know if it's been posted yet or not but this car is now in Asheville, NC on the Craggy Mountain Line in restoration.

http://craggymountainline.com/news/2013/car-no-983/

very cool.

She's back on her feet (wheels), painted, and will be back in operation shortly. As we've preached ad infitm, these things are SIMPLE, nearly indestructible, and easy to maintain. Much simpler then any bus in JTA's stable.

I wonder where they got the trucks? 

I was a regular at Nichols Alley from 1978 until.... There was a cool bartender named Donnie (long hair, looked like he could have been in Rush). He was the guy who played "Karn Evil" at the beginning of every evening. Anyone know what happened to Donnie?

I went there a few times in 1978-79...and I remember a bartender as you described, with the long hair.  No clue where he is, tho since I was not a regular.  GOOD times/nickel beer/State of The Art dance floor (Sat Nite Fever with the lights underneath it). Ahhhhh, sweet youth.