R44 (New York City Subway Car) - History

History

The R44 was introduced for the B Division under the idea from New York City Transit that a train of eight 75-foot (22.86 m) cars would be more efficient than one of ten 60-foot (18.29 m) cars. Despite the increase in length, the R44s had eight pairs of doors per car (four on each side) like other B Division cars. As a result, eight 75-foot (22.86 m) car trains have only 64 (32 per side) pairs whereas ten 60-foot (18.29 m) car trains have 80 (40 per side).

To ensure the subway system could accommodate 75-foot (22.86 m) cars, two retired R1 cars (numbered 165 and 192; renumbered XC675 and XC575 respectively) were cut in half, lengthened to 75 feet (22.86 m) and sent to various places around the subway and the Staten Island Railway. It was determined that the BMT Eastern Division (the J/Z, L and M services) would be too difficult to convert to allow 75-foot (22.86 m) length cars, so this was not done.

The R44s were the last subway cars built by St. Louis Car Company, which in 1973 ceased operations after the order was completed.

The R44s came in singles which needed each other to run, much like the "married pairs" of the R26/27/28/30s. These were reassembled after overhaul into ABBA sets of four. A cars are evenly numbered with operator cabs while B cars have odd numbers and no cabs.

The interior design was very different from previous models. The R44s had orange and yellow plastic bucket seats, a feature which would be incorporated into the other 75 footers and the IRT R62/R62As. The seats were protected from the doorways by faux wood and glass panels. The walls were tan with "wallpaper" featuring the seals of New York State and New York City. This design continued onto the subsequent R46 cars.

The R44 was the first subway car since the BMT Green Hornet to incorporate a two-note warning tone that sounds immediately before the doors begin to close as the train prepares to leave the station. This has become the signature sound of the New York City subway and is used with later cars.

The R44 also set the world speed record for a subway car. On January 31, 1972, a consist reached a speed of 87.75 mph (141.22 km/h) on the Long Island Rail Road's main line between Woodside and Jamaica. With two motors per car disabled, the train still reached 77 mph (124 km/h). The cars were capable of reach higher speeds, but the length of the test track was insufficient to allow further acceleration.

During the General Overhaul Program (GOH) from 1991–93, all but nine R44s were rebuilt by NYCTA at 207 Street Overhaul Shop in Inwood, Manhattan, Coney Island Overhaul Shop in Brooklyn (cars 5342-5479 and all SIR cars), and Morrison-Knudsen (cars 5202-5341). All NYCT cars were given four-digit numbers (they previously had three-digit numbers) while the SIR cars retained their numbers. Several other improvements included the repainting of the carbon steel blue stripes into silver gray stripes, although NYCT cars 5228 and 5229 and all SIR cars had their carbon sections replaced with stainless steel panels. The rollsigns on the sides were also replaced with electronic LCD signs on the NYCT cars, and were completely removed on the SIR cars. The SIR R44s, however, retained their original two-note warning tone, unlike the NYCT R44s, which had their warning tones replaced with ones found in the R62/As and R68/As.

The Staten Island Railway R44 cars are also known as R44 SI, ME-2, or MUE-2. The SIR's 64 R44s are modified to FRA standards for passenger equipment running on a freight road. They are numbered 388-466, all single units with couplers (no permanent sets), with 436-466 even numbers only, and 388-399 being transfers from the subway system. Car 402 was scrapped after a derailment in December 2008, but the others were overhauled between 2009-2010 as a part of their SMS (Scheduled Maintenance System) improvement treatment that was designed to extend useful service life. Several improvements included the repainting of the bulkheads, rebuilt trucks, new dark floors and blue bucket seats, and updated logos (unlike the NYCT R44s their original blue "M" MTA decals were not replaced in the mid-1990s).

Throughout their service, many R44s were retired due to various reasons. Nine NYCT R44s were involved in accidents and fires that led to their premature retirements, so they were not rebuilt during the GOH program and were stored in the system until 2000, where they were taken off-property and scrapped. Several GOH-rebuilt NYCT R44s were also retired due to various reasons; 5248 was taken out of service due to severe frame damage, and cars 5319 and 5402 were involved in separate fire-related accident with car 5319 being scrapped and car 5402 being stored out of service. Trainset 5282-5285 was involved in an accident that led to 5282 being scrapped and the rest of the trainset being stored out of service, until 5284 was repaired in 2004. As a result, cars 5248, 5283, 5285 and 5402 are stored in the 207th St. Yard awaiting scrapping or repairs. SIR car 402 was involved in a derailment accident in 2008 that led to its retirement, so it did not receive any rebuilding like the other SIR R44s and was stored out of service in the 207th St. Yard as well.

The MTA was planning to replace all R44s with the R179s. However, in light of structural integrity issues found on the NYCT R44s, surveys were conducted which resulted in the decision to retire them with the rest of the R160s in place of the remaining R32s and R42s. The R44s running on the subway had experienced much higher levels of ware and vandalism than their counterparts on the SIR, and thus showed structural integrity issues not seen in the cars that had been running on the SIR since 1973 and the early 1990s, respectively. This retirement started in January 2010, and the last train (trainsets 5378-5381 and 5426-5429) made its final trip on September 18, 2010 on the A and C trains. After retirement, all cars except 5282 and 5319 (which were written off due to accidents) were stored out of service throughout the system, and starting in June 2012, several NYCT R44 were finally taken off property. However, cars 5244-5245 are slated to be preserved.

In addition, the R179 order for the R44s has been dropped. Thus, the SIR will operate the R44s until 2019, then will receive overhauled R46s from the main NYCT fleet when the R179s and R211s are delivered.