The annual "Holiday Nostalgia Train" rolls out in New York City - just in time for the holidays. It give passengers a chance to be a part of the past - on vintage trains and buses. Our correspondent - and self-described history fanatic - Liling Tan takes us on a ride.

The vintage "Holiday Nostalgia Train" rolls in on the 2nd avenue line. Like the scene from an old Hollywood film, but it is present day, December 2017.

LILING TAN NEW YORK  Part of the tradition is for New Yorkers to get dressed up and fully immerse themselves into the occasion. And you see I've done the same here so that I can take you with me, as we step back in time.

Inside, eight original carriages from a bygone era. "Let's go where the band is, follow me!" Swing bands and jazz musicians, and old-school photographers add an air of old-school glamour.

"I'm getting ready for my close up now." 

"It gives me an opportunity to take the photos I would normally take but have a little bit of a different environment around us. It certainly has a novelty about it, doesn't it?"

"This is a really magical, special annual event that happens and it always draws a lot of enthusiasm."

The onboard advertisements are authentic, as are the rattan seats, the light bulbs, the hand straps and the ventilation system. The New York Transit Museum is behind the whole affair, and the carriages part of its fleet of some 20 different vintage cars, some more than a hundred years old.

CONCETTA BENCIVENGA, DIRECTOR NEW YORK TRANSIT MUSEUM "The best thing you can do for those train cars is actually move them on occasion. They need to kind of hit the rails. They need to work out the kinks in order to remain functional. And so for the sake of the trains, we need a venue to take them out every once in a while and the holidays provide a perfect opportunity to really kind of give a gift back to the city of New York and the people who are visiting."

The Holiday Nostalgia Train has been chugging for more than a decade, and runs every Sunday through December. Liling Tan, CGTN, New York.