R9 (New York City Subway car)

R9 (New York City Subway car)
250px R9 1802 in passenger service on the V train in December 2007 for nostalgia holiday service
In service	1940 – 1977
Manufacturer	American Car and Foundry (?), Pressed Steel Car Company (?)
Built at	Chicago, Illinois, USA
Replaced	Additional fleet for the IND Sixth Avenue Line and 3 additional cars replacing cars in a 1936 accident
Constructed	1940
Entered service	1940
Number built	153
Number preserved	3
Number scrapped	150
Fleet numbers	1650-1802 (motorized single units)
Capacity	56 (seated)
Operator(s)	New York City Subway
Specifications
Car body construction	Riveted steel
Car length
Width	10 feet (3.05 m)
Height
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors	8
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	~ 84,575.5 lb (38,362.8 kg)
Traction system	Westinghouse 570-D5 or General Electric 714-D4, 714-D5
Power output	190 hp (142 kW).
Electric system(s)	600 V DC Third rail
Current collection method	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	WABCO Schedule AMUE with UE-5 universal valve, ME-23 brake stand, and simplex clasp brake rigging. WABCO D-3-F air compressor
Coupling system	WABCO H2A
Headlight type	incandescent light bulbs
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The R9 was a New York City Subway car which was built in 1940 for the IND and its successors, which included the NYC Board of Transportation and the New York City Transit Authority. A total of 153 R9 (or "Arnine") cars were ordered from two different manufacturers. Cars 1650-1701 were built by American Car and Foundry, while cars 1702-1802 were built by Pressed Steel. 150 of the new cars were ordered for service on the new IND Sixth Avenue Line, which opened on December 15, 1940. The Sixth Avenue Line was the second IND Manhattan trunk line (joining the 1932 IND Eighth Avenue Line), and therefore the additional cars were needed for the new service. The remaining 3 cars in the R9 contract were ordered as replacements for 3 older IND cars that had been damaged beyond repair as a result of a 1936 collision.

The 153 R9 cars remained the newest part of the IND fleet until the arrival of the R10 cars in 1948. The R9s were also used for service on the IND exclusively until 1968, when they were displaced by the new R40 cars, and were transferred to the East New York Yard of the Eastern Division, and were used on the former BMT J, KK, LL, M, and QJ routes until 1977 when the R9's were retired, and replaced by the R46's.

Retirement and after service life

The fleet of R9 cars stayed intact and in service until being retired from service in 1976 and 1977. The last day of R9 cars in service was on March 31, 1977 as the cars made their final run on the J train.

Following their retirement, the majority of the cars were scrapped. However, three have been preserved.

• Car 1689 has been preserved by the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut and has been restored
• Car 1801 has been preserved by the New York State Museum in Albany, New York
• Car 1802 has been preserved by Railway Preservation Corp. and has been restored

Further reading

• 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 978-0-9637492-8-4

External links

• www.nycsubway.org R9 Page