R10 (New York City Subway car)
Encyclopedia
The R10 is a New York City Subway
car class built by the American Car and Foundry Company
in 1948-1949. The cars were nicknamed Thunderbirds.
The R10 cars were numbered 1803–1852 (later renumbered 2950–2999 in 1970) and 3000–3349. They were initially assigned to the Eighth Avenue train, where they remained for 29 years and became synonymous with that route. Thirty cars were transferred to the BMT Eastern Division in late 1954 in order to familiarize crews with SMEE equipment in anticipation of the arrival of the R16 units.
While they may have been considered the worst operating revenue service car during the 1980s based on MDBF (Mean Distance Between Failures), many R10s outlasted the newer R16
s as well as a number of R27
s and R30
s. There was a light overhaul program between December 1984 and February 1986 which was an interim measure to get the entire fleet in a non-graffiti state. The rehabilitation of the 110 R10s was done in-house at a budgeted cost of $65,000 per car. http://talk.nycsubway.org/perl/read?subtalk=571464 The last run of the GE R10s and the non overhauled WH R10s was November 10, 1988 just ten days shy of the 40th anniversary of their debut. The rebuilt R10s would start being withdrawn by March of 1989. http://talk.nycsubway.org/perl/read?subtalk=561573
The bulk of the scrapping of the remaining R10s ended in June 1990. The last R10 car to be removed from MTA New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) property was 3081, which was the only surviving GE
-equipped unit in existence. It was scrapped sometime in 1993.
. Dynamic braking reduced wear and tear on brake shoes, reducing maintenance costs. Improved propulsion, in the form of four 100 hp traction motors instead of the traditional two 190 hp motors (the setup used in the R1-R9 car contracts) improved acceleration from 1.75 mph per second to the current 2.5 mph/s. R10s were also the last NYC subway cars ordered with air-operated door engines. Although they could, and occasionally did, operate in mixed consists of later SMEE cars, the R10s for the most part ran in solid consists throughout their careers.
For the first time, the car body was of an all-welded low-alloy high tensile (LAHT) steel construction. This gave the body great strength, as the body and underframe were welded together to form a single, durable and rigid car body which had strong structural integrity.
in years past.
3189 has been preserved by the Transit Museum.
These two cars are the only surviving R10s.
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
car class built by the American Car and Foundry Company
American Car and Foundry Company
American Car and Foundry is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches under the brand names of ACF and ACF-Brill. Today ACF is known as ACF Industries LLC and is based in St. Charles, Missouri...
in 1948-1949. The cars were nicknamed Thunderbirds.
Service History
- First Date of Revenue Service: November 20, 1948, on the route.
The R10 cars were numbered 1803–1852 (later renumbered 2950–2999 in 1970) and 3000–3349. They were initially assigned to the Eighth Avenue train, where they remained for 29 years and became synonymous with that route. Thirty cars were transferred to the BMT Eastern Division in late 1954 in order to familiarize crews with SMEE equipment in anticipation of the arrival of the R16 units.
- Last Regularly Scheduled Service: September 8, 1989, on the route. The R10s were replaced by the R68R68 (New York City Subway car)The R68 is a type of New York City Subway car for the "B" Division. The 425-car contract was a joint venture of Westinghouse AM-Rail Company, ANF Industrie of Paris, Jeumont Schneider, and Alstom. The cars were built in France from 1986 to 1988 and shipped to New York Harbor...
and R68AR68A (New York City Subway car)R68A is a class of New York City Subway cars that were built in Kobe, Japan by Kawasaki Rail Car Company.- History and Description:There were 200 R68A cars built from 1988–89. They first entered into service in April 1988 on the train...
car classes.
While they may have been considered the worst operating revenue service car during the 1980s based on MDBF (Mean Distance Between Failures), many R10s outlasted the newer R16
R16 (New York City Subway car)
The R16 was a New York City Subway car manufactured by American Car and Foundry Company. The R16s were assigned to the BMT Eastern Division, although they showed up on the IND Queens and BMT Southern divisions from time to time....
s as well as a number of R27
R27 (New York City Subway car)
The R27 was a New York City Subway car built by the St. Louis Car Company for the New York City Transit Authority in 1960–61. The R27s were a continuation of the R16 style....
s and R30
R30 (New York City Subway car)
The R30 was a New York City Subway car built by St. Louis Car Company for the New York City Transit Authority in 1960–62. It was a continuation of the R16 and R27 style. They were a "follow-up" or supplemental stock for the "B" Division's R27s and closely resemble them.The cars were...
s. There was a light overhaul program between December 1984 and February 1986 which was an interim measure to get the entire fleet in a non-graffiti state. The rehabilitation of the 110 R10s was done in-house at a budgeted cost of $65,000 per car. http://talk.nycsubway.org/perl/read?subtalk=571464 The last run of the GE R10s and the non overhauled WH R10s was November 10, 1988 just ten days shy of the 40th anniversary of their debut. The rebuilt R10s would start being withdrawn by March of 1989. http://talk.nycsubway.org/perl/read?subtalk=561573
The bulk of the scrapping of the remaining R10s ended in June 1990. The last R10 car to be removed from MTA New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) property was 3081, which was the only surviving GE
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
-equipped unit in existence. It was scrapped sometime in 1993.
- Final Farewell Excursion Run: October 29, 1989, with cars 3018-3203-3182-2974-3143-3045-3145-3216 on various IND-BMT Division routes, including the new IND 63rd Street LineIND 63rd Street LineThe IND 63rd Street Line is a rapid transit line of the IND division of the New York City Subway system. It runs from the IND Sixth Avenue Line at 57th Street east under 63rd Street and the East River through the 63rd Street Tunnel to the IND Queens Boulevard Line in Queens...
.
- Paint Schemes: The R10's various paint schemes were as follows: two-tone grey/orange (1948-circa 1967); tartar red (1962-circa 1966 on the following cars: 1822 (ren. 2969), 1850 (ren. 2997), 3099, 3101, 3137 and 3342); aqua blue/white with and without blue stripe (1965-circa 1970), silver/blue (circa 1970–1988) and dark green with silver roof and black front hood (1985–1989) on the GOH Westinghouse units only).
- Car 3189 had an experimental 3-passenger transverse fiberglass interior seating installed in 1969. The car was retired from revenue service in 1984, but was later repainted solid blue and used as a Road Car Inspector (R.C.I.) School Training Car at MTA NYC Transit Authority's (NYCTA) Pitkin Yard in Brooklyn. This car was on display at the New York Transit MuseumNew York Transit MuseumThe New York Transit Museum is a museum which displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, commuter rail, and bridge and tunnel systems; it is located in a decommissioned Court Street subway station in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City...
in Brooklyn, in place temporarily from July 19, 2007 for a one month period. It was preserved by the Transit Museum and will later be restored.
- Car 3192 had a new R42R42 (New York City Subway car)The R42 is a New York City Subway car built between 1969 and 1970 by the St. Louis Car Company in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the B Division. This fleet of cars were the first to be fully equipped with air conditioning. The R42 fleet is numbered 4550-4949...
type front installed on that car in early 1975 to be the prototype car for an overhaul complete rebuilding of the fleet to be done with modern interiors and air-conditioning. The unit was scrapped in 1980 inside Coney Island Yard and the rebuilding never took place.http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2485
Description
The R10 introduced many new innovations, including "SMEE" schedule braking, which introduced dynamic brakingDynamic braking
Dynamic braking is the use of the electric traction motors of a railroad vehicle as generators when slowing the Locomotive. It is termed rheostatic if the generated electrical power is dissipated as heat in brake grid resistors, and regenerative if the power is returned to the supply line...
. Dynamic braking reduced wear and tear on brake shoes, reducing maintenance costs. Improved propulsion, in the form of four 100 hp traction motors instead of the traditional two 190 hp motors (the setup used in the R1-R9 car contracts) improved acceleration from 1.75 mph per second to the current 2.5 mph/s. R10s were also the last NYC subway cars ordered with air-operated door engines. Although they could, and occasionally did, operate in mixed consists of later SMEE cars, the R10s for the most part ran in solid consists throughout their careers.
For the first time, the car body was of an all-welded low-alloy high tensile (LAHT) steel construction. This gave the body great strength, as the body and underframe were welded together to form a single, durable and rigid car body which had strong structural integrity.
Preservation
3184 has been preserved by Railway Preservation Corp. and displayed at the New York Transit MuseumNew York Transit Museum
The New York Transit Museum is a museum which displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, commuter rail, and bridge and tunnel systems; it is located in a decommissioned Court Street subway station in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City...
in years past.
3189 has been preserved by the Transit Museum.
These two cars are the only surviving R10s.
External links
- http://nycsubway.org/cars/r10.html
- http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/theymovedthemillions5.html