They Moved the Millions

by Ed Davis, Sr.

A brief history of passenger cars of America's
most heavily travelled passenger railway, the
New York City Transit System.

This scene nearly duplicates the nostalgic memories of the author. Although High-V's were normally assigned to this line, this view of the restored Low-V's on a fantrip is like a spirit from the past reincarnated. Except for fluorescent lighting, this station on the IRT Broadway line is little changed over almost 80 years. Can't you hear the sounds of traction motors, clicking rail joints, etc., echoing in the brick arch station? Franklin B. Roberts photo.

Webmaster's Note: The photos presented in these articles were in many cases scanned from the original slides obtained from the author. Where the original slides weren't available, scans from the book are used. In a few cases, similar photos from the collection of nycsubway.org were used instead of the low-quality scans from the book. These are all noted as such in the captions.

Introduction
Prologue: About the Lines

Chapter I: The Elevated Lines
Section A: The Interborough Lines
Section B: The "Q" Cars
Section C: The Brooklyn Elevateds

Chapter II: The IRT Subway
Section A: The Composites
Section B: The First Steel Cars
Section C: The Deckroofs
Section D: A Standard Body Design
Section E: The Flivvers
Section F: Low Voltage Cars, A Milestone
Section G: Steinways, Trailers, and Conversions
Section H: The Last Cars Built For the Interborough

Chapter III: The BMT
Section A: Steel Equipment for the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
Section B: Articulated Cars For The Subway
Section C. More Articulated Rolling Stock To Close The Story On BMT Designs
Section D: Strangers On The BMT

Chapter IV: The Independent System
The R1-9 Cars

Chapter V: The Second Generation Appears
Section A: First of a New Generation
Section B: An Unhappy Stepchild
Section C: A Smaller Version of the R10
Section D: The First Arch Roof Cars
Section E: A Standard Body Type Evolves

Chapter VI: The Old IRT Passes Into History
Section A: First New Cars on the Mainline
Section B: New Trains on the West Side IRT
Section C: The Advent of "Married Pairs"
Section D: The IRT's New Face is Completed

Chapter VII: First of the Old BMT Cars Retired

Chapter VIII: Stainless Steel Cars Arrive

Chapter IX: New Cars for the Independent
Section A: The R38s
Section B: The R40s
Section C: The Last Chapter of the Postwar Car Saga

Chapter X: The Space Age on Rails
Section A: A New Breed; the R44
Section B: The Last of the Original Rolling Stock Goes to Heaven

Chapter XI: Another Renewal For the IRT

Chapter XII: Matters Related to the System
Section A: Work Equipment
Section B: The South Brooklyn Railway
Section C: PATH: The Other Subway
Section D: Suburban Systems All in the Family
Epilogue A: The Present State of the Transit System
1996 Updates And Corrections To Text

Author's Dedication/About the Author

They Moved the Millions

Table of Contents