Subway System Videos, Collected

May 6, 2016 2:16 PM

I'm looking for videos that are a) about subway/commuter train/trolley systems or b) show rides on these systems (ideally from the driver's POV) for my four year old (whom I made the mistake of showing a San Francisco trolley video). IDEALLY there is a YouTube channel or playlist out there that already collects all these videos into a curated list so I don't have to make a playlist myself.

Really a couple of child-friend transit channels on YouTube that have several of these videos would be awesome; I have already spent more hours of my life looking for cool transit stuff for my kids than I would care to count, so pre-curated is the goal here! I will accept cool single videos if I must and make a playlist myself, but I really just want to use someone else's playlist or great transit channel.

I'm aware of single-system video collections (like NYC transit has some good videos) but I'd like to find a bunch of different places. He's not super-interested in historic subway videos or development-of-the-system subway videos, which are my favorite, so not so much that.

posted by Eyebrows McGee to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

This is actually a whole genre of Youtube, though I'm more familiar with the people who post bus rides. Here are a couple that might fit the bill:
Schony747 has trolleys and many other modes from Australia.
Transitdrum18 has lots of rail stuff around Toronto.
posted by kendrak at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2016

The CTA in Chicago has 22 lengthy videos covering the entire L system with front-facing views and in-video links to allow you to virtually transfer between lines. They also have speed up versions in case you don't want hour+ rides. The sections showing the switches around the Loop are particularly interesting.
posted by zachlipton at 3:01 PM on May 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here's a gigantic list of YouTube Railfan Channels. Any kind of train videos you can think of and then some.
posted by SisterHavana at 3:58 PM on May 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here are some in Japan. When he gets older, he can try out driving them with these simulation games.
posted by xo at 4:21 PM on May 6, 2016

Oh! RTD in Denver just opened the new A-Line going to the airport. It's only one video that I know of, but it was a good 25 minutes long. Check it out!
posted by spbb at 5:18 PM on May 6, 2016

Be sure to show them the Shonan Monorail- it's an overhead one and I love watching it snake through buildings (and go single-track in spots!).
posted by AaronRaphael at 7:21 PM on May 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

These are train cab videos.

This guy has some metro and tram cab videos.
posted by humboldt32 at 11:12 PM on May 6, 2016

My go-to site for searches like this is the kid should see this. They've got a about a dozen subway videos here, and they often then have links to related videos & branching searches. Example: time-lapse video of the 7 train in NYC, with links to more NYC stuff below it.

I've also had really good luck with this site's curated collections on space stuff, robots, how-stuff-is-made industrial videos, etc. It's like kottke for tots.
posted by miles per flower at 4:34 AM on May 7, 2016 [2 favorites]