My friend Julie spotted this mystery creature of the deep at the Park Place station, while awaiting an A train. She said it caused quite a stir on the platform and added, “Next up, a Bigfoot sighting.”

It may be that this train car has just not seen much action in the past six years. After a quick check of Wikipedia: H is the internal route designator for the Rockaway Park Shuttle. It was used publicly until 1993, when the public route emblem was changed to S. Since then, the shuttle has only been referred to as H in internal documents. It was last used publicly for a fare-free shuttle service in the Rockaways, started in November 2012 after damage caused by Hurricane Sandy rendered normal A train service in the area inoperable. This temporary service lasted until May 2013, when full A train service to the Rockaways was restored.

You can read up on the history on the H, originally the HH in the ’70s, at Forgotten New York, which has this summary:
“The H/HH designation, which has been used by the MTA off and on for over 50 years, has for the most part confined itself to the outer reaches of Queens between Ozone Park, Broad Channel, and the Rockaway peninsula. The first shuttle bearing the HH moniker began service in 1956, soon after the city refitted old LIRR tracks for subway service. The HH ran from Euclid Avenue to either Rockaway Park or Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway from 1956-1972. During that time, a double fare was actually in effect at Broad channel: you were nicked for a token on your way in and on your way out! A single fare policy was adopted in 1975.”

Here it is outdoors, in its natural habitat: