Cowtown Underground: Exploring the old M&O subway tunnel

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  • čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
  • The Star-Telegram's Gordon Dickson delves deep into Fort Worth's history by taking a journey beneath downtown into the subway tunnel that use to transport residents and shoppers from a parking lot near the Trinity River to Leonards Department Store and later RadioShack headquarters downtown.
    By Gordon Dickson
    Video by Rick Press, Clif Bosler and David Kent.
    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Komentáře • 98

  • @Lee-kt9ww
    @Lee-kt9ww Před 3 lety +22

    And it was FREE to ride! And parking in the parking lots were free. Those were great times!

  • @cristianhernandez1045
    @cristianhernandez1045 Před 3 lety +36

    They need to bring this back, including the ice skating

    • @casey3713
      @casey3713 Před rokem

      Am I crazy or did I go ice skating there as a child? I was born in 88

    • @StumpyVanLife
      @StumpyVanLife Před měsícem

      @@casey3713 Tandy Center was in operation until around 2002. Not sure if the skating rink made it that long, but it might have. I was born in 73 and have many found memories of visiting the Tandy Center. We would go about once a month and ride the subway!

  • @Vee_3013
    @Vee_3013 Před rokem +9

    This place has such great memories. My parents went as kids and then we all went together. It was such a magical place, from the subway ride to the ice skating rink. We’d visit Santa every year. Looking at this makes me tear up a bit from pure nostalgia. I wish it still existed so I could take my son.

    • @jerriecarpenter4828
      @jerriecarpenter4828 Před 7 měsíci

      I agree. I wish we still had this. I loved riding the subway.

  • @asellers98
    @asellers98 Před 8 lety +29

    takes me back to when I use to ride it as a kid to go ice skating in the Tandy Building.

  • @gittemal
    @gittemal Před 5 lety +14

    Finally found information on this subway! My grandfather used to always take me here during the summer of 1969 as I was visiting from New Orleans. I was only 3 years old at the time. Don't know how I remember this!

  • @ghostrider2664
    @ghostrider2664 Před 2 lety +5

    I used to love taking the subway to Tandy center.used to meet girls there for dates. Good times. looks like it's long gone now.
    Wish this could've been preserved

  • @garyprather251
    @garyprather251 Před 4 lety +12

    I use to ride that subway from the parking lot to the Tandy Center when I was younger.

  • @yvonneovercast5864
    @yvonneovercast5864 Před 8 lety +23

    It takes me back to when i was a kid. My Dad drove these subway cars for Tandy and then retired. Its been along time. Thank you for publishing this video.

  • @edhall9656
    @edhall9656 Před 3 lety +5

    As a child Leonards at Christmas was magic

  • @deborahj4976
    @deborahj4976 Před 4 lety +7

    Great memories of growing up when life was so easy. There wasn’t a trip downtown unless you rode the subway if just for the turn around 👏🏻🤓

  • @trqP82wVeUMBcSCGDnv79m
    @trqP82wVeUMBcSCGDnv79m Před 9 lety +13

    I'm very happy that you guys covered this, I remember riding on the train just one time when I was young.

  • @RichardBinder-dx7fk
    @RichardBinder-dx7fk Před měsícem

    Im a proud TCC graduate. I took all my classes at Trinity River Campus, the old Radio Shack headquarters. Great place to attend .

  • @teriross3779
    @teriross3779 Před 4 lety +5

    I remember riding that subway. My grandparents lived in Burleson, and Grandma would go to Leonard's. Not very often, but it was definitely memorable for me as a kid.

  • @gunnyu.s.m.c8606
    @gunnyu.s.m.c8606 Před 5 lety +6

    I'm 55 and I remember my dad used to take me there on Saturdays my granny worked for the lenard Brothers, and oh yes subway ride🤗 we always parked the furthest so the ride would be longer, I can remember when they hung 🎅 and the raindeer we're hung on the walls of the tunnel you would see as the subway passed, then Tandy center was built with ice rink, I would go there just to ride the subway walk around watching people crash and burn trying to ice skate 😂 thanks for sharing, my compliments sir, the tunnel was longer of course because you couldn't see either end.

    • @michaelmartinez3674
      @michaelmartinez3674 Před 4 lety

      Say gunny I'm 55 also and I remember being allowed to ride up front with the conductor going in and out. The screeching echo always gave me an eerie feeling that we were going to be trapped. Then seeing the light at the end.

  • @smalldollars
    @smalldollars Před 5 měsíci +1

    I used to ride this as a child.. I went to the daycare/preschool there when mom worked at the Tandy center

  • @MichaelSmith-xo6li
    @MichaelSmith-xo6li Před 4 lety +5

    I used to ride these rail cars daily go to work. I used to work in the Tandy Center in the food court. I was that cute handsome guy. So if you remember me. LOL

  • @leisacooksey2281
    @leisacooksey2281 Před 3 lety +3

    I remember riding the Subway. I thought it was so fun! My Aunt would take me. I was 4 and it was 1969.

  • @TheMacGuy2
    @TheMacGuy2 Před 8 lety +6

    Thanks for producing this video. I live in the Metro DC area, where the cars came from, but was never able to get to Dallas-Ft. Worth and ride it. I only saw photos in Black and White. Hooray for CZcams and you!

  • @txxxvvvttt
    @txxxvvvttt Před 9 lety +3

    Thanks much for this video!
    Our family made good use of the subway from when it first opened.
    Pleasant memories.

  • @jetdoctn
    @jetdoctn Před 3 lety +1

    Rode this subway more times than I could count, it was a blast.

  • @robertsilva8097
    @robertsilva8097 Před 3 lety +1

    Hello to everyone from California USA

  • @michaelhansen4300
    @michaelhansen4300 Před 3 lety +1

    In mid 60s lived in Hurst,for a year, we took this subway several times to go into downtown to the dept.store complex and shopping from a almost out of town parking lot. Loved the trip it was fun loved it , great memories.

  • @jppalmer3434
    @jppalmer3434 Před 5 lety +7

    Wish they’d bring it back

  • @JimCowart-zo1hm
    @JimCowart-zo1hm Před 14 dny

    I rode on this subway several times as a child in the 60's when visiting my grandmother in Ft Worth. She would take us shopping at Leonard's downtown which occupied several buildings. I wonder what became of the subway car. I remember reading an article decades ago in The Dallas Morning News, I believe, that said where the subway car(s) originated from.

  • @timfarmer648
    @timfarmer648 Před 3 lety +2

    Lived in TEXAS my whole life. Road it on field trips, with my dad, with my grandparents. Damn thing was fast too. 🤠😂🤣😂

  • @thesilentworld9556
    @thesilentworld9556 Před 3 lety +3

    I loved to ride that subway from the parking lot to Leonard's then Tandy Center close to ice skating rink. No more free parking in downtown anymore due to Mayor Betsy PRICE smelled the money to tax everything from Will Roger parking lots and everything parking in downtown Fort Worth and 7th West St.

  • @MisterMikeTexas
    @MisterMikeTexas Před rokem +1

    I remember when Tandy Center partnered with the Tarrant County Justice Center across the street. In the 90s, and early 2000s, when I was called to jury duty, jurors got to park out in the Tandy Center lots, and ride the subway to the Tandy Center. Then, if there was time, grab some breakfast burritos and glazed cinnamon danishes in the food court with a cup of joe. Then it was a simple walk across the street to the Center. Most of my court assignments were in that building. It was a treat for jurors. I remember riding that subway to Leonard's as a 5 and 6 year old when my family went shopping downtown.

  • @bonniecastillo322
    @bonniecastillo322 Před 3 lety +2

    I used to ride that subway all the time to Leonards in the early 70’s back before Tandy center was even thought of.

  • @MidnightAspec
    @MidnightAspec Před 8 lety +1

    That's so fascinating. Thank you for sharing.

  • @subwaymark
    @subwaymark Před 9 lety +2

    Awesome Video, I would love to visit this subway!!

    • @Kihidokid
      @Kihidokid Před 7 lety

      subwaymark it's been sealed with concrete and grass

  • @d.b.2812
    @d.b.2812 Před 9 měsíci

    Rode it many times with my grandfather.

  • @johnclower945
    @johnclower945 Před 3 lety +1

    The M & O replaced the buses which used to transport people from the parking lot to Leonards.

  • @johnlynn3225
    @johnlynn3225 Před 4 lety +5

    Next question is whether the Tandy center is still intact

  • @robertsilva8097
    @robertsilva8097 Před 3 lety

    Thank you for the Great video

  • @smokegodnemo7984
    @smokegodnemo7984 Před 6 lety +4

    We had a subway system my generation will never know

  • @mssnip69
    @mssnip69 Před rokem

    Every time I went downtown, I rode the subway. It just made parking easier. My first time was for jury duty. Once you got off, you had signs you could follow to the court house.

  • @HipPocketMemories
    @HipPocketMemories Před 3 lety

    I remember waiting for the subway at one of those shelters with my mother and sister and riding it through the tunnel to Leonards in the mid 1960s.

  • @robertsilva8097
    @robertsilva8097 Před 3 lety

    Keep up the Great work

  • @nielspemberton59
    @nielspemberton59 Před 2 lety +1

    Extended at both ends and you have a new light rail line.

  • @christhevancura9113
    @christhevancura9113 Před 20 dny

    I used to ride this to go downtown free parking..❤

  • @SouthPadreMusicTv
    @SouthPadreMusicTv Před 7 lety +1

    That's awesome history!

  • @rwhitenight
    @rwhitenight Před 9 lety +2

    Boy, does that take me back :-)

  • @shanerogers2835
    @shanerogers2835 Před rokem

    I used to ride that subway every day when I was a kid . My mom worked for " Eds" bank I had to go to the " y.m.c.a." before school. That was back in 1980 through 1985

  • @kahunamedia9965
    @kahunamedia9965 Před 8 lety +2

    Thanks for making this! That must have been a pretty special opportunity to go into those spooky old tunnels.

  • @jacobmccaslin5140
    @jacobmccaslin5140 Před 4 lety

    I remember I used to go with my grandma when I was a kid and we use to walk around and go into the stores in the 2000s I forget when the shut it down

  • @johnjennings9023
    @johnjennings9023 Před 3 lety

    Amazing

  • @Bbg647
    @Bbg647 Před rokem

    I’m here because in my dream I ask where was I and the lady in my dream reply and I had to look it up in its true this place is real 😮

  • @robertsilva8097
    @robertsilva8097 Před 3 lety

    CZcams recommended your channel to me

  • @goldenstarmusic1689
    @goldenstarmusic1689 Před rokem

    They should totally bring this back as a campus shuttle!

  • @andyanderson8383
    @andyanderson8383 Před 3 lety

    Yep, rode that subway to Tandy Center to go next door to the Tarrant County courthouse.

  • @hopeodell859
    @hopeodell859 Před 3 lety +3

    Why did they shut it down

  • @victorbailey6233
    @victorbailey6233 Před 3 lety +1

    It's a shame that it's gone

  • @DarkStarPDX
    @DarkStarPDX Před 9 lety +7

    What happened to the vehicles?

  • @larrydixon-vi7ld
    @larrydixon-vi7ld Před 20 dny

    Road it hundreds of times when I was kid , before tandy bought Leonard's

  • @tomg1776
    @tomg1776 Před 3 lety

    Nice adventure - I road it before it was closed down . . You were very unprepared with proper portable flood lighting instead of four Radio Shack spot flashlights from 1980 - pun intended

  • @daveunknown3799
    @daveunknown3799 Před 4 lety

    rode that many times with my grandmother Leatha Cox Sisk.

  • @maxmullen6337
    @maxmullen6337 Před 7 lety +1

    I don't understand the comment the world's only privately ownly subway. The early London subways were all privately owned, in the sense they were owned by a private company. The first London subway opened in 1863.

    • @NessLow
      @NessLow Před 6 lety +2

      She meant to say only privately owned in the United States.

  • @davidcarper5411
    @davidcarper5411 Před rokem

    The space for Leonard's was huge unsure of where it was though

  • @Trollemharder
    @Trollemharder Před 3 lety

    love to see the history. too bad that can be brought back to life, even if only for historical usage

  • @GnonplussedGnome
    @GnonplussedGnome Před 3 lety

    We rode on it when it opened up.

  • @sambowz9077
    @sambowz9077 Před 27 dny

    Leonards was cool, I remember them selling guns and white chocolate polar bears!

  • @mike42ohio
    @mike42ohio Před 7 lety +4

    So what's beyond the concrete wall?

  • @dmanjones7946
    @dmanjones7946 Před 2 měsíci +1

    What I learned from this video: Urban exploring is fine, as long as rich hereditary oligarchs do it with the press filming.

  • @were2baby134
    @were2baby134 Před 3 lety

    It used to go all the way to the old Montgomery Wards

  • @LarryRobinsonintothefog
    @LarryRobinsonintothefog Před 6 měsíci

    Road the subway many a time when work for Radio Shack.

  • @North_Texas_Railfan
    @North_Texas_Railfan Před 6 lety +1

    (Please reply) is the Tandy Center still here? Not the subway, the building

    • @NessLow
      @NessLow Před 6 lety

      No its been long gone they took it down and replaced it now called City Place I remember going there like a couple times too when I was a little kid remember ice skating rink.

    • @North_Texas_Railfan
      @North_Texas_Railfan Před 6 lety

      Oh. Does City Place look like how the Tandy Center used to look like?

    • @NessLow
      @NessLow Před 6 lety

      TREFan120 no it looks all diffrent you can see how it looks like on a few websites.

    • @North_Texas_Railfan
      @North_Texas_Railfan Před 6 lety

      Just one more question: is the station the wasbinside the building still there (what there’s left)?

    • @NessLow
      @NessLow Před 6 lety +2

      What's left is the underground area and the two platforms where people would wait to get on the subway. I know if you do a google street view of City Place you can make it go back to 2007 when it was still there.

  • @michaelyork3198
    @michaelyork3198 Před 4 lety +1

    My dad worked for Tandy. I remember riding the Subway to "kidnap" him to take him to lunch. He was always surprised to see us. Then we would use it go to the Library. It was a sad day for us when it shut down. It was fun to ride

  • @Iam_Telesha
    @Iam_Telesha Před rokem

    I road on the at in the 80s and think part of early 90s

  • @stardog2779
    @stardog2779 Před 3 lety +1

    Is this the place that led to that inside mall

  • @ray817oneDEEP
    @ray817oneDEEP Před 3 lety

    Was it downstairs with the foodcourt?

  • @albertovasquez5772
    @albertovasquez5772 Před 6 lety +1

    why did they close it

  • @Wellch
    @Wellch Před 9 lety +1

    what if the place was haunted after all.

    • @MrSw9guy
      @MrSw9guy Před 9 lety +1

      I've never heard that it was haunted. Looks like it could be though ... LOL

  • @gradyfry4691
    @gradyfry4691 Před 2 lety

    😢

  • @return2sender791
    @return2sender791 Před 23 dny

    Well would you look at that. They did some graffiti in an old tunnel when they got to the end.

  • @lawsonryan24
    @lawsonryan24 Před rokem

    this is just raccoon city from resident evil

  • @istankimjong-unbutcantstan3398

    5:05 The Backroom into the tunnel.