Intercom, Volume 17, Number 2, August 1983 Page: 5 of 85
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Tandy Subway offers easy answer to parKing woes
Infrequent visitors to Tandy Cor-
poration headquarters in Fort
Worth, Texas often comment on
how the downtown skyline is con-
stantly changing with the addition
of new office buildings and glass
skyscrapers. Downtown Fort
Worth is growing at a remarkable
pace. Over the past two years, four
modern skyscrapers have been
constructed, bringing more and
more commuters to the already
congested downtown area. Availa-
ble parking space is at a premium
and the call goes out, "Where can
a downtrodden downtown worker
find a place to park?"
The answer lies on the banks of
the Trinity River at the sprawling
27-acre Tandy Center Parking Lot.
The parking is free and the lot is
lighted and regularly monitored
and patrolled by Tandy Center Se-
curity personnel during operating
hours. And, to top it all off, you can
be delivered to the lot absolutely
free in air conditioned comfort
aboard the world's only privately
owned subway system. Sound
great? For literally thousands of
downtown workers and shoppers,
it is just that!
The Tandy Subway System cele-
brated its twentieth anniversary
this year. The system was origi-
nally built in the early 1960s by a
Fort Worth department store. The
store and subway were purchasedin 1967 by Tandy Corporation. By
1974, plans were underway for the
development of the Tandy Center
complex and it was decided to
modernize the subway and make it
an integral part of the new center,
then under construction.
Bernard A. Grae, manager of In-
dustrial Design for Tandy Systems
Design, was called upon to rede-
sign the cars (old-timers may re-
member the "streamlined,"
bullet-nosed cars that were used
then). Construction was done by
the Tandy Corporation Subway Di-
vision under the supervision of
Purvis D. Scott.
Under Grae's direction, the cars
were redesigned and rebuilt from
the chassis up. The bullet look was
replaced by a sleek "glass and
steel" exterior and interiors featur-
ing carpeted floors, overhead fluo-
rescent lighting, air conditioning
and color coordinated velour
bench seats. Each car seats 55
with a total capacity of 125 per-
sons.
On October 5, 1977, the first of
the new cars was rolled into ser-
vice. By the end of that same
month, Radio Shack employees
began riding the subway to and
from their new offices in One
Tandy Center, the first completed
tower of the Tandy Center
complex.
Today, the Tandy Subway Divi-sion operates and maintains a total
of eight subway cars. They run
from 7 a.m. until 10:30 p.m., Mon-
day through Saturday. "While the
cars have been completely refur-
bished, we do have a continual re-
furbishing program in effect,
replacing light fixtures, floor cov-
erings, etc. as they are needed,"
said Ike Glass, director of Tandy
Center. "Two of the cars have been
recently redone." Glass states
that the average daily ridership av-
erages around 6,500 persons on
weekdays and approximately
(continued on next page)
R
The Tandy Subway car makes a routine
stop at the number one station during its
mile-long trek across the 27-acre Tandy
Center Parking Lot.fA
4
Passengers disembark onto the Tandy Center subway platform
during morning "rush hour." Each subway car accommodates a
maximum of 125 persons. The system can transport approximately
4,000 people an hour from the Tandy Center Parking Lot to the
Tandy Center.
INTERCOM, AUGUST 1983The newest rebuilt car on the Tandy Subway line is red car number
six and these are the Subway Division employees who completed
the actual refurbishing. They are (from left): Shop Foreman W.T.
Huskey, David Franklin, Jim Lincecum, Bobby Tillman and Wendell
Delly.
3Il
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Tandy Corporation. Radio Shack Division. Intercom, Volume 17, Number 2, August 1983, periodical, August 1983; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1764447/m1/5/: accessed February 17, 2025), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.