R-40 -- R-40M (St. Louis Car)
From nycsubway.org
R-40 car 4425 mid-consist on the "A" line at 190th Street/Overlook Terrace. Photo by David Pirmann, April 2009.
Roster
| Designation | Original Numbers | End Style | A/C as built? | Current Numbers | Manufacturer | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-40 | 4150-4249 | Slant | Fans | Same | St. Louis Car | 1967-69 |
| R-40A | 4250-4349 | Straight (Modified) | Air Cond | 4450-4549 | St. Louis Car | 1967-69 |
| R-40 | 4350-4449 | Slant | Fans | 4250-4349 | St. Louis Car | 1968-69 |
| R-40A | 4450-4549 | Slant | Air Cond | 4350-4449 | St. Louis Car | 1968-69 |
- Cab Arrangement: Half-width driving cab at "A" end, half-width conductor control cab at "B" end
- Coupling/Numbering Arrangement: All married pairs.
- Stainless steel
- 60' long, 10' wide
- Mismatched pairs: 4426 & 4429, 4258 & 4261, 4460 (R40M) & 4665 (R42)
 Slanted grab irons only (1968) |  Low handholds (1968) |  Low handholds and pantograph gates (1968) |  High handholds (1969) |
 High handholds and chains, but still relatively clean (1969) |  The low point (1981) |  R-40M as delivered (1969) |  R-40M after gates were installed (1981) |
Description
The futuristic front end of the R-40 cars, as delivered, was designed by Raymond Loewy. The slant front end soon proved to be impractical and dangerous for passengers to pass from car to car. Attempts to improve the safety of the slanted ends immediately resulted in disastrous changes to their appearance. Throughout 1968 and the course of the cars' delivery, the simple handholds were first augmented with larger protruding handhelds, pantograph gates, and finally, even larger (higher) handholds. (The metalwork and chains did not age well during the life of the R-40 car, turning the once futuristic cars into ugly ducklings.) By April 1968 it had already been decided that even such modifications were not a solution, and the 100 remaining cars on the order were redesigned. The modified ends were designed by the design firm of Sundberg-Ferar, which also designed the MTA "Metropolitan" (M1) cars for the MTA commuter railroads, and the R-44/R-46 front ends. The R-40 "M" cars retained their smooth front, blue belt rail paint, and large rollsigns until circa 1979-1980 when the signs were changed (to the MTA color bullets) and pantograph gates were installed. "R-40M" was not an official designation, although it is now in common use to distinguish the R-40 cars with the modified (non-slant) end design.
4150-4249, 4350-4449 (present numbers 4150-4349) were built under Contract R-40, and 4250-4349, 4450-4549 (present numbers 4350-4549) under Contract R-40A. The fleets were renumbered in January, 1970, such that all of the slant-end cars were numbered in order (with the side effect at the time of also numbering the cars without, and with, air conditioning in order too).
Cars rebuilt 1987-1989 by Sumitomo. During the overhaul, air conditioning was added to the slant-end cars that did not have it (4150-4249, 4250-4349).
Last Run of the R-40 Slant-front Cars: 6/12/2009, cars: N-4425-4424-4415-4414-4398-4399-4257-4256-4433-4432-S, on the "A" line.
Last Runs of the R-40 Modified-front Cars: All remaining R-40Ms were cut out of their mixed R-40M/R-42 consists the week of August 25th, 2009. The last cars in service were as follows: 4544/4545 (8/25 on V), 4546/4547 (8/26 on R), 4510/4511 (8/26 on R), 4530/4531 (8/26 on R), 4460/4665 (8/27 on V), 4540/4541 (8/27 on V), 4484/4485 (8/28 on V). Last revenue train containing R-40M cars was (N)-4752/4753-4660/4461-4485/4484-4720/4721-4763/4762-(S), on the V, Friday morning, August 28, 2009. Laid up at Jamaica Yard after the AM rush. Two R-40M pairs (4506/4507 and 4518/4519) were assigned to the Refuse Train (based 38th Street) on or about July 14, 2009 and remained active as non-revenue equipment through September 2, 2009, but were "reefed" 9/26/2009.
Datasheets
R-40 drawing from NYCT Revenue & Non-Revenue Car Drawings.
Photo Gallery
| Five Random Images | ||||
 Image 5236 (226k, 1024x646) Photo by: Ed McKernan Collection of: Joe Testagrose Location: Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue |  Image 39519 (103k, 640x480) Photo by: Oren H. Location: Queensborough Plaza |  Image 79937 (235k, 1044x788) Photo by: David-Paul Gerber Location: Neck Road |  Image 97684 (208k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 14th Street |  Image 145887 (573k, 1024x685) Photo by: Lee Winson Location: New York Transit Museum |
NOTE: Due to the R-40 and R-40M cars having been renumbered, the photos indicate the car number when the photo was taken. So some of the photos will show R-40 and R-40M cars with the same numbers, taken before and after the renumbering. Where known, the original number of the car is indicated in the photo caption.
Car Notes
| Green | Preserved, saved for preservation, or exists in some state |
Yellow | Converted to work service (and later scrapped or still in use) |
Red | Wrecked/Damaged in accident (and possibly repaired), or scrapped prior to the bulk of the type |
| Number | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4150-4249, 4350-4449 | Delivered with fans; air conditioning installed later.
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| 4162-4163 | Was East New York Yard school car. Scrapped in 2013.
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| 4200-4201 | Accident one of the Jamaica Bay bridges on the Rockaway Line, 1971.
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| 4248 | Involved in collision at Dyckman St in the 1980s. Repaired and returned to service. | |||||
| 4259 | Hit by "M" train outside 9th Avenue, 2/5/1995. Was worked on in Coney Island shops for years but never returned to service. Moved to SBK yard for scrapping, 7/20/2007.
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| 4260 | Derailed in tunnel near 9th Avenue, 8/15/1994. | |||||
| 4280-4281 | On display at New York Transit Museum, November 2009. Part of "Train of Many Metals" nostalgia fleet.
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| 4318-4333 | Temporarily renumbered CB-20 to CB-35 (in order) to reflect an ongoing Cobra brake shoe test. These cars could only run with like modified cars.
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| 4323 | Sustained fire damage at Pitkin Yard at some unknown time. Repaired and returned to service. | |||||
| 4351-0,4359-8,4352-3,4354-5 | First R-40 train in revenue service, on the "F", March 23, 1968. Slanted-end doors initially were unlocked but by April 5, the danger was obvious and they remained locked. By mid-April it was definite that the car ends would be redesigned.
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| 4384 | Was painted white along exterior indentation. | |||||
| 4392 | Used as school car in Rockaway Park Yard but ultimately scrapped.
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| 4416 | Experimental robin's egg blue interior. | |||||
| 4420-4421 | 4420 involved in accident with R-6 1236 in the Smith St. Tunnel lower level between 7th Ave. and Church Ave. on 2/12/1973. | |||||
| 4427-4428 | Collision at Bushwick/Aberdeen, 1/8/1996. Scrapped, 2001.
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| 4442-4443 | Concourse Yard School Car.
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| 4460 | Preserved for NYTM collection, mated with R-42 4665. Former mate of 4461, see below.
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| 4461 | Ran into "M" train on Williamsburg Bridge (R-42 4664), 6/5/1995. Rebuilt into a slant-front car and renumbered 4260, but never ran as such in service, as there was never a mate car available to unitize it with.
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| 4486 | Suffered severe damage at Sheepshead Bay in a collision with a crane. 4487 was temporarily mated with 4500 until both their mates were ultimately repaired and returned to service. | |||||
| 4501 | Collided with R-16 6304 on "GG" train nr. Roosevelt Ave., 5/20/1970. Two passengers were killed in the R-16 subway car on the GG line. Repaired & returned to service.
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| 4518-4533, 4534-4549 Modified | When delivered, were used for testing various different new brake shoes (renumbered AS-10 to AS-25, in order, during testing). During the testing, these cars could only run with the other modified cars. After the completion of the testing, they were renumbered, along with the rest of the R-40M fleet, to 4334-4349. As far as can be determined, these tests commenced upon delivery and the cars never ran with their original numbers.
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| 4524-4525 Modified | These two cars were experimentally tested with varying shades of brown and orange over the entire interior. This was ultimately used on some older equipment on both divisions.
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Detailed Roster
Other ways to view the above table: PDF
Other ways to view the above table: PDF
MDBF Data
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