Transportation Strides Made at New York's World's Fairs

A trolley in Flushing Meadows for the 1939 World’s Fair. Coming out from the Great Depression, the overarching themes for the fair were progress and hope. City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses used the fair to advance his plans to build parks, highways, and bridges throughout the region.

Here, new subway cars are being transported by barge to New York City.

City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and Walt Disney examine plans of the 1964 World’s Fair Grounds.

For the 1939 Fair, 27 railroads participated in an expansive, quarter-mile “Court of Railroads.” The Coronation Scot at the Long Island Railroad World's Fair Station was sent over by Great Britain.

The Unisphere in the Flushing Meadows and fountains during the 1964 fair. It was designed by landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke and explored that year's theme, "Peace Through Understanding."

The Unisphere lit up at night, 1964.

This free exhibit will be open to the public every day at the Grand Central Terminal. For more on the 1964 World’s Fair, learn how people are fighting to restore New York’s World’s Fair Pavilion, a modern architecture icon designed by Philip Johnson.