Design
The articulated unit, 80 feet (24.38 m) long, 10 feet (3.05 m) wide and 12 feet (3.66 m) high, consisted of three compartments placed on four trucks, connected by fully enclosed, hinged passageways. The Bluebird was an example of Art Deco industrial design, presenting a clean and mildly streamlined appearance. The Bluebird was designed during the Great Depression as a fast, physically attractive and comfortable mass transit vehicle that would attract passengers, while instituting significant economies in production, operation, and maintenance.
The car's lightweight body and running gear, combined with its short truckbase and segmented body, permitted it to operate on the oldest elevated structures, with their light loading tolerance and sharp curves, as well as in tunnel sections, where policy prohibited the use of the wooden cars typically used on elevated lines.
A single Bluebird unit, numbered 8000, was purchased by the BMT as a prototype for a planned fleet of equipment that could operate universally on both standard subway lines and older elevated lines. The BMT expected the Bluebird to preserve its investment in its elevated railway lines without expensive upgrading for heavier subway equipment, while attracting passengers with its interior comforts. Tests demonstrated that its greatly improved operating parameters could have cut significant time from existing elevated train schedules.
Bluebirds were the first PCC rapid transit cars utilizing the advanced running gear originally created for new-design streetcars. In addition to quick acceleration and braking (4 mph/s or 6.4 km/(h·s)), use of PCC technology meant that Bluebirds could share a significant parts and maintenance base with the Brooklyn transit company's planned PCC trolley fleet, achieving economies of scale and efficiency.
The Bluebirds were built by Clark Equipment Company of Battle Creek, Michigan, maker of PCC running gear. They were the only rapid transit cars ever built by Clark, and the only passenger rail equipment ever built by the company, other than one PCC streetcar.
Read more about this topic: Bluebird Compartment Car (New York City Subway Car)
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