The Curious World of the Last Stop

Andy Newman: At the end of the line, the subway creaks to a stop a few yards short of the yellow crash bumper. A few stragglers, or a lurch of homebound commuters, head for the street.

Train cleaners wielding worn-sided corn brooms and generic spray bottles marked "lemon" or "Windex" amble onto the cars, rousting any sleepers and drunks unmoved by the conductor's voice grating through speakers:

"This is the last stop on this train."