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The first train on the subway's opening day careened under Broadway at a speed in excess of 40 mph. That was a three-fold improvement over the pace of the els
The cars of that first eight unit train (some say it only had 4 cars) were painted a deep wine color. Their undercarriages and frames were steel, but their exteriors were of white ash and the floors were maplewood. That wood and metal combination caused them to be called "Composite Cars." The IRT had bought 500 units. They were 51 foot long. The windows could be opened and each had a roll shade. The interior hardware, like window guards, locks and handles, were of bronze. Each car had 52 rattan seats arranged longitudinally near the ends and crosswise near the middle. Two rows of leather straps were suspended from the ceiling. Twenty six low wattage electric bulbs lit each car. When the IND set up for business in 1932 its stations and carriages were fitted for electric bulbs with left handed threads, to make stealing them, pointless.
A special "Director's Car" was crafted in 1904, by the Wason Mfg. Co of Massachusetts, for August Belmont. The appointments included mahogany inlay and cut glass vases. The Mineola had a kitchen and observation section. It cost $11,500.
Those early carriages had sliding doors at both ends. A conductor standing between two cars and leaning out to check in both directions, mechanically controlled the doors of only those two carriages. A four car train had two conductors, an eight car train required four. This system lasted into the 1920s when the IRT's president, Frank Hedley introduced automatic doors; one conductor opened and closed all the doors of even a 10 unit train.
As late as 1949 some old trains operating on the el lines yet required conductors for every two cars.
From the first the system relied on the innovations of Frank J. Sprague who had worked for Thomas Edison. His electrified railroad of 1888 was 80% less expensive than cable cars and 40% cheaper to operate than horse carriages. The concept of an electric train, where each car was moved by its own electric motors, but all were operated by one motorman in the front cab of the first car, was Sprague's idea.
The composites were followed by Gibbs style all steel cars with Van Dorn automatic couplers.
In 1914 the BMT introduced its "Standard" 10 foot wide, 67 foot all steel subway car with three sets of doors on each side. The front of the car had a window pane that could be lowered allowing for a breeze. There were large overhead fans. These cars operated into the 1960s.
In 1932, when the IND began operations, its 60 foot cars (R-1) had overhead fans and four sets of sliding doors on each side..Each double door was 3 feet, 10 inches wide. These permitted loading and unloading in about two-thirds the time of the older cars.
The subway cars built in 1907 for the H&M Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, the Tubes connecting New York and New Jersey (eventually the PATH), were 48 foot long, lightweight at 64,000 pounds and had curved windows.
In 1927 the BMT introduced articulated three car units which did not need doors between cars.
An experimental 1933 BMT stainless steel train, the Zephyr, had red leather upholstery and operated in Brooklyn until 1956.
Introduced in 1939 the Bluebird was a train that linked three sections of articulated units. They used trolley type wheels and brakes.The cars had mohair seats and mirrored end walls. They were scrapped in 1958.
The Green Hornet was an articulated aluminum train which, because of its light weight was able to run on both el and underground tracks. Its five sections, each with one center door, ran on 6 trucks. An aluminum shortage during WW 2 produced replacement problems and the train was taken out of service and scrapped.
The R-10 of 1946 was the first post WWII IND car. It had smaller fans and in the summer the subway was hotter than ever.
The R-15 had fluorescent lights, as the temperature increased the speed of the fans increased also. But the trains nevertheless remained very hot in the summer.
Early attempts at air-conditioning met failure. Tests in 1955 proved that four 1.5 ton units could not air-condition the R-15. In 1956 experiments with six 1.5 ton units and subsequently 2 ton units proved disappointing. The NY Transit Authority concluded that the open doors at the stations would inevitably overpower any air-conditioning making the goal of a cool subway hopeless and impossible.
In 1958 the PATH (at that time still the H&M) introduced 20 climate controlled cars from the St. Louis Car Company. Their air-conditioning worked. Those cares provided a cool ride even on the most sweltering days. When the Port Authority took over the Tubes another 260 air-conditioned cars were purchased.
Six years later, in 1964, New York bought 600 R-32 Brightliners. These were stainless steel and cost $69 million. They lacked air-conditioning.
In 1967 a ten car train of R-38 cars was successfully air-conditioned and introduced on the F line. In 1968 the city acquired 600 air-conditioned R-40 and R-42 cars.
The R-40 was the sloped front end Loewey design. It was stylish but proved unsatisfactory, with various shortcomings.
The R-44 and 46, introduced between 1971 and 73, were built by the St. Louis Car company. They were 75 feet long and cost $212,000 each. Over 1000 were acquired. The TA spent $400,000 checking and removing obstructions in the tunnel to accommodate these longer cars.
In 1965 a two-way radio system was introduced on Lexington Avenue trains, linking them to their control towers. In 1968 all motorman cabs began to be equipped with two way radios.
In the 1980s trains purchased from Japan came with sculpted seats. These proved too small for the bottoms of New Yorkers.
In 1992 the excellent R110A, produced by Kawasaki, was introduced .
Bombardier's R-110B cars were the first to make automatic station announcements, a feature common in Europe for 30 years.
To date the largest single order for cars was placed in 1997. It was for 1,080 R142's carriages. Bombardier produced 680, and Kawasaki 400. They entered service in 1999.
The system now has 5,800 rail cars that carry 3.7 million passengers per day. They draw power from the third rail which supplies 625 volts, DC.
The existing cars come in three dimensions.
A Division cars are 51' 4" long and 8' 9" wide and 11' 11" high. They weigh 75,000 lbs, seat 44 and have a design capacity for 110 passengers.
B Division cars are 60' 6" long and 10' wide and 12' 2" high. They weigh 74,000 lbs, seat 46 and have a capacity of 145 passengers.
B Division (Group II) are 75' long and 10 feet wide and 12' 2" high. They weigh 87,000 lbs and seat 72 with a capacity of 175 passengers.
What happens to the obsolete cars? One class, the Redbirds, as they retire are dumped into the ocean to constitute caverns that attract fish and create fishing grounds for anglers who come out on chartered boats from Sheepheads Bay in Brooklyn.
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