R10 (New York City Subway car)
The R10 was the first series of post-war New York City Subway cars. They were built by the American Car and Foundry Company from 1948 to 1949 for the IND/BMT B Division. A total of 400 cars were built, arranged as single units. Two versions were manufactured: Westinghouse (WH)-powered cars and General Electric (GE)-powered cars. The R10s introduced many innovations, including an all-welded low-alloy high tensile (LAHT) steel construction, dynamic braking, improved propulsion, and various cosmetic features. The first R10s entered service on November 20, 1948. Various modifications were made  over the years to the R10 fleet, and about 110 cars were lightly overhauled in 1984–1986. Some R10s were replaced by the R46s in the late 1970s; the remaining cars, despite having low reliability rates, outlasted several newer car classes. The remaining R10s were replaced by the R68s and R68As and last ran on October 29, 1989. Two cars have been preserved, while the rest were scrapped. Description. The R10s were originally numbered 1803–1852 and 3000–3349. Cars 1803–1852 were renumbered 2950–2999 in 1970. The R10s introduced many innovations. 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. The R10s also featured a new type of braking system known as the "SMEE" schedule braking, which introduced dynamic braking. Dynamic braking reduced wear and tear on brake shoes, reducing maintenance costs. Improved propulsion, in the form of four traction motors design, instead of the traditional two motors (the setup used in the Arnines), improved acceleration from 1.75 mph per second to the current 2.5  mph/s. They also featured roofline side destination signs, an arrangement that drew criticism. The R10s were also the first subway cars to incorporate roller bearings, instead of the standard friction bearings found on all older railway stock, as well as being the last subway cars ordered with air-operated door engines. Additionally, the R10s were the first subway cars to be equipped with air horns, as opposed to the air whistles that were found on all pre-war subway cars. Finally, the cars introduced the General Steel Industries cast steel truck frame design also used on many passenger cars  and coaches up until the R68As in 1988. Sealed beam headlights were installed on all cars of this class starting in 1956. These cars were nicknamed Thunderbirds by their operating personnel and railfans because of the cars' high speeds. Although the R10s could operate in mixed consists of later SMEE cars, the R10s, for the most part, ran in solid consists throughout their careers. They were briefly mixed with the R16s in the late 1950s when fifty R16s cars were assigned to the A, and the R42s assigned to the A line during 1969–1970. The R10s bore several paint schemes  during their service lives. The cars were delivered in two-tone grey with orange stripes. In 1964, 9 of these cars were painted red with black roofs and black skirts (1822, 1825, 1850, 3099, 3101, 3137, 3234, 3334, 3342). During the following year, two versions of the original paint scheme were tested, with 3037 in a lighter gray and 3218 in a darker gray. On car 3133, the orange painted-on stripe was replaced by an attached orange plastic strip along the sides of the car. Beginning in 1966, they were repainted into an aqua blue/white scheme, directly replicating  that of the WF R33s and R36s. The first car to be so painted, 3331, additionally sported a TA seal on the end. The following year, the fleet was redone in this scheme on this occasion without the extra aqua blue stripe. These cars variously had aqua blue roofs or white roofs; 19 of these cars received gray roofs and gray skirts. Beginning in 1970, they were repainted into the MTA's silver with blue stripe scheme. Toward the end of their lives, 110 Westinghouse units that went under the GOH program were painted with a green body, a silver  roof, and a black front hood. The original interior paint scheme was blue and gray, conducted with various experiments of this nature. While 1848 was all blue inside, 3219 was painted with bright orange and blue around 1964. When the cars were painted with silver and blue outside, the interiors received a light gray and pale green paint scheme (on car 1806, which was 2953 by this time, a dark gray was used). At a later date, the original blue and gray scheme resumed being used once again. The rattan seats also received treatment on certain cars, with 3050 in  green coloring, whereas 3210 in a bright blue color. Other features to be noted were a pair of stainless steel doors that were tested on car 3119, ventilation louvres that were inserted into the side doors on car 3138, and three cross seats that were extended to permit seating by three people on car 3189. These were done during the 1970s; as a result of this modification, car 3189 was held to be used as a classroom after it was retired from service and survives to this day. The R10 was the last B-Division car to have seats that  had thick strand woven cloths covering the entire seat. History. Pre-introduction. In 1947, following an accident in 1946, R7A car 1575 was rebuilt from its original appearance by ACF and became the prototype for the R10. The car was designed to test new interior and cosmetic features. After it was rebuilt, 1575 re-entered service on June 30, 1947; however, while it cosmetically resembled an R10, mechanically and electrically, it was still an R7A and could only operate with other pre-war IND Arnines. Delivery and revenue service. The R10s first ran in service on the route on November  20, 1948. They were initially the mainstay, and were exclusively assigned to this train, where they remained for almost 30 years, and became synonymous with that route for more than 20 years. During these early years, they made occasional appearances on the service (especially on weekends) and the rush hour service. Thirty cars #s 3320–3349 were transferred to the BMT Eastern Division in 1954, primarily used on Broadway–Jamaica service to help familiarize crews with SMEE equipment in anticipation of the arrival of the R16 cars, whereupon they were returned to normal IND service. Then, some R10s were finally displaced  from the beginning in 1969, when brand new R42 cars, R44 cars, and displaced R40 cars were transferred from Jamaica Yard beginning on September 13, 1977 (which was, in turn, receiving brand new R46s were directly assigned to the (so that the train could be equipped with some air-conditioned cars). Many of these displaced R10s were then often used on the and later, the rush hours-only (now the and ). During 1978–1979, 2950–2999 were also transferred to Jamaica Yard for use on the (now the Brooklyn/Queens Crosstown Local). Ultimately, the fleet was essentially assigned to the and service ; however, during the R46 truck crisis, they needed to be placed back into regular service as its R44s were moved to Jamaica Yard for service on the , , , and . Many R10s were used for a few weeks on the , then for a slightly longer period on the and , until the truck crisis was resolved and the R10s were once again, for the most part back, on the and with only occasional usage on the until April 1983. In 1975, car 3192 had a new R40A/R42 type front installed; it was a prototype car for a complete rebuilding of the fleet , which would add modern interiors and air-conditioning. The unit was scrapped in 1980 inside Coney Island Yard and the rebuilding program never took place with the other cars because of the higher cost of rebuilding the cars as opposed to purchasing new cars. There was a light overhaul program for 110 of the WH-powered cars between December 1984 and February 1986 in an effort to get the entire fleet in a non-graffiti state. The rehabilitation of the select R10s was done in-house at a budgeted cost of $65,000 per car. Retirement. Approximately 53 R10s were  replaced by the R46s in 1977–8. While the remaining cars may have been considered the second worst operating revenue service car during the 1980s based on MDBF (Mean Distance Between Failures), doing better than only the R46s, many R10s outlasted the newer R11s and R16s. The remaining R10s were replaced by the R68s and R68As. The last train of GE-powered R10s and non-overhauled WH-powered R10s ran on November 10, 1988, ten days short of the 40th anniversary of their debut. This was an official date; some were still operating in service as late as February 1989. The  rebuilt WH-powered R10s were withdrawn from March 1989 to September 8, 1989, when the last revenue service train ran on the . On October 29, 1989, a train of R10s (3018-3203-3182-2974-3143-3045-3145-3216) led one final farewell excursion run on various IND-BMT Division routes, including the then-new IND 63rd Street Line. After retirement, most cars were sent to what is now Sims Metal Management's Newark facility to be scrapped and processed. Most R10s were scrapped by June 1990; the last R10 to be taken off property was 3081, the last GE-powered  car in existence. It was scrapped sometime in 1993. Two cars have been preserved: