Brooklyn - NYC Transit Museum: IRT R-15 Car Number 6239
IRT R-15 Car Number 6239 (1950)
Manufacturer: American Car and Foundry Company (Berwick, Pennsylvania), 1950
Service: 1950-1985
Routes: Flushing line (7), 1950-1964; IRT lines (Numbers 1/9, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), 1964-1985
Innovations in the subway system after World War II, including R-15 cars, continued even as increasing numbers of city residents moved to the suburbs and used automobiles for commuting. The R-15 order was small but significant. Although only 100 cars were produced, they combined the best features of other post-war orders with new and experimental features. The cars contained the propulsion and braking system of R-10 cars with design features of the R-11. The cars arrived painted a distinctive maroon with beige stripes. Porthole window design was adapted from earlier R-11cars.
This R-15 car, number 6239, is notable as the first car in the New York City subway system to be air-conditioned. The air-conditioning was installed 5 years after the car was put into service, but it failed after only 2 weeks of operation in the dusty subway environment. The cars were often damp, and water dripped on passengers. The costly and ineffectual air-conditioning was removed, but the New York City Transit Authority continued to work on the technology.
The New York Transit Museum, located in the decommissioned Court Street subway station at Boerum Place, was opened 1976 by the New York City Transit Authority and taken over in the mid-1990s by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The museum includes subway, bus, railway, bridge, and tunnel memorabilia; and other exhibits including vintage signage and in-vehicle advertisements; and models and dioramas of subway, bus, and other equipment.
Brooklyn - NYC Transit Museum: IRT R-15 Car Number 6239
IRT R-15 Car Number 6239 (1950)
Manufacturer: American Car and Foundry Company (Berwick, Pennsylvania), 1950
Service: 1950-1985
Routes: Flushing line (7), 1950-1964; IRT lines (Numbers 1/9, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), 1964-1985
Innovations in the subway system after World War II, including R-15 cars, continued even as increasing numbers of city residents moved to the suburbs and used automobiles for commuting. The R-15 order was small but significant. Although only 100 cars were produced, they combined the best features of other post-war orders with new and experimental features. The cars contained the propulsion and braking system of R-10 cars with design features of the R-11. The cars arrived painted a distinctive maroon with beige stripes. Porthole window design was adapted from earlier R-11cars.
This R-15 car, number 6239, is notable as the first car in the New York City subway system to be air-conditioned. The air-conditioning was installed 5 years after the car was put into service, but it failed after only 2 weeks of operation in the dusty subway environment. The cars were often damp, and water dripped on passengers. The costly and ineffectual air-conditioning was removed, but the New York City Transit Authority continued to work on the technology.
The New York Transit Museum, located in the decommissioned Court Street subway station at Boerum Place, was opened 1976 by the New York City Transit Authority and taken over in the mid-1990s by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The museum includes subway, bus, railway, bridge, and tunnel memorabilia; and other exhibits including vintage signage and in-vehicle advertisements; and models and dioramas of subway, bus, and other equipment.