R32 (New York City Subway car)

R32 (New York City Subway car)
R32 train at its northern terminal of 168th Street
Interior of an R32 car.
Manufacturer	Budd Company
Built at	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Constructed	1964-1965
Refurbishment	GOH: 1988–1990, SMS: 2011-2012
Number built	600 (many retired)
Number in service	222 (144 in revenue service during rush hours)
Number preserved	4 (2 used for police training)
Number scrapped	362 (10 in work service)
Fleet numbers	3350–3949 (3659 renumbered to 3348)
Capacity	56 (seated)
Operator	New York City Subway
Depot(s)	207th Street Yard
Line(s) served
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel
Car length	over coupler faces: 60 ft 3 in (18.4 m)
Width	10 ft (3.0 m)
Height	12.08 ft (3.7 m)
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.1 m)
Doors	8
Maximum speed	55 miles per hour (89 km/h)
Weight	79,930 lb (36,260 kg) (post-rebuild) (70,000 lb (32,000 kg) when delivered)
Traction system	General Electric SCM 17KG192E3, DC propulsion system using GE 1257E1 motors or Westinghouse 1447JR (115 hp per axle) (retired R32GE cars used 100 hp 1257F motors, all cars originally had Westinghouse 1447JR motors, as do all remaining cars in service)
Braking system(s)	WABCO RT2 SMEE braking system, A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake
Gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The R32 is a New York City Subway car model built in 1964-65 by the Budd Company in Philadelphia for the IND/BMT B Division. These cars were the first mass-produced stainless steel cars built for the New York City Subway. The two previous Budd orders, the BMT Zephyr and the R11 contract, were limited production orders. Their horizontally ribbed, shiny, and unpainted stainless exteriors earned the cars the nickname Brightliners.

They are the oldest subway cars in passenger service in New York City today at 47 years old, well past the average service life of 35 years, and often cited for their superior durability and craftsmanship. They are also the only subway cars currently in service that were built for the New York City Transit Authority prior to its merger with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968. Five other car types built after them have been mostly or completely retired.

In August 2011, the New York Times called the R32s "a dreary reminder to passengers of an earlier subterranean era," and said that "time has taken a toll" on the cars. A Straphangers Campaign survey found that the C train, where the R32s are assigned to, breaks down the most frequently of all trains in the system.

Background

The designation R32 is derived from the contract number under which the cars were purchased. They were originally assigned to the BMT Southern Division service only, initially on the Brighton Line express service (Q train) and the Sea Beach Line (N train), later seeing service on the West End Line (T and TT trains).

History

The R32 contract was divided into two subcontracts of 300 cars each: the R32s and R32As. The R32As were funded through the proceeds of a revenue bond while the R32s were paid for out of the 1963-64 New York City capital budget. The two subcontracts differed only in interior lighting (R-32 Interior Lighting:, R-32A Interior Lighting featuring backlit ad-signs ).

In 1964, the New York City Transit Authority contracted with Budd for 600 IND/BMT cars (300 pairs) to replace older equipment, including the BMT D-type (Triplex) articulated cars. Budd had bid on previous contracts with the NYCTA, but had never won a City contract for a production run of cars until the R32s, as Budd built only stainless-steel equipment and the TA refused to allow a differential in competitive bids for this higher-quality construction.

Budd won the contract by offering the lowest bid of $117,000 per car. Budd low-balled the price to win the contract and introduce stainless steel equipment to the modern New York City subway system, a plan that was met with limited success. NYCTA allowed a premium for subsequent stainless steel contracts, and all subsequent subway equipment was at least partly constructed of stainless steel. However, the Budd Company never benefited from the change, as Budd failed to win further contracts from the NYCTA and the company has since halted production of railroad cars.

The last four of these cars (3946-3949) were delivered with Pioneer trucks with disc brakes in 1966. The trucks were later replaced with standard trucks in 1976.

From 1988 to 1990, the R32 cars were rebuilt by Morrison Knudsen at its shops in Hornell, New York. Ten R32 cars, which have since been retired, were rebuilt by General Electric in its Buffalo, New York facility. During the rebuilding process, the route and destination rollsigns located above the storm doors were removed and replaced with flipdot electronic route signs. The distinctive marker lights were also removed.

The R32s are numbered 3350-3949. One car, originally numbered 3659, lost its even-numbered mate in an accident, so it was rebuilt as an even-numbered car and renumbered to 3348. 3348 was reefed in 2009.

After their refurbishment, R32 and R32A cars were renamed R32 Phase I, R32 Phase II and R32 GE. The R32 Phase I cars (re-built by Morrison Knudsen) have WABCO Air Brake packages, GE Master Controllers, and Thermo King HVAC units. The R32 Phase II cars (also re-built by Morrison Knudsen) have NY Air Brake equipment, Westinghouse Master Controllers, and Stone Safety HVAC units. Since the cars were sent out to be overhauled based on how poorly they were performing (worst first), there are R32s and R32As in both Phase I and Phase II. There are also about a dozen or more pairs which are composed of R32 and R32A mixes. The R32 GEs are slightly different from their Phase I and II brothers as they still retain their original traction motors, feature backlit ad signs, and somewhat different bulkhead designs.

The cars are maintained at the 207th Street Yard and run on the C train. Ten cars are maintained at the 36th-38th Street Yard and used for work service.

The R160 order was intended to replace all of the R32 fleet, but this was halted due to structural issues found on the R44s that led to their retirement. The 10 GE and all Phase II R32s have been retired as well as some Phase I cars. After retirement, most cars were stripped and sunk as artificial reefs. As of July 2008, pair 3352-3353 is at the New York City Transit Museum. These cars were the lead set on the R32s premiere trip on September 9, 1964. Cars 3350-3351 have also been set aside for preservation by the Railway Preservation Corp, while cars 3594-3595 have been moved to Floyd Bennet Field and set aside for anti-terrorism training.

The remaining cars are currently undergoing SMS (Scheduled Maintenance Service), at a cost of $24 million, to extend their useful lives through 2017.

References

• Sansone, Gene. Evolution of New York City subways: An illustrated history of New York City's transit cars, 1867-1997. New York Transit Museum Press, New York, 1997 ISBN 978-0963749284

External links

• nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R32
• Train Set Assignments