Composite (New York City Subway Car)
The Composite is a New York City Subway car class built in 1903–04 for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and its successor, the NYC Board of Transportation.
The Composite derived its name from its build as a "protected wooden car." The car frame was made of steel, while the car body itself was made from wood encased in a layer of copper sheathing. The copper skin was intended to protect the car in the event of a fire in the subway. Therefore the result was a body composed of several materials (as in a Composite material) and became known simply as a "Composite."
Because of the Composites' copper sheathing, IRT crews and shop personnel coined the nickname for the cars: Copper Sides.
Read more about Composite (New York City Subway Car): Background Information, The Composite Prototypes, Final Notes
Famous quotes containing the words composite, york, city and/or subway:
“A positive learning climate in a school for young children is a composite of many things. It is an attitude that respects children. It is a place where children receive guidance and encouragement from the responsible adults around them. It is an environment where children can experiment and try out new ideas without fear of failure. It is an atmosphere that builds children’s self-confidence so they dare to take risks. It is an environment that nurtures a love of learning.”
—Carol B. Hillman (20th century)
“I haven’t seen so much tippy-toeing around since the last time I went to the ballet. When members of the arts community were asked this week about one of their biggest benefactors, Philip Morris, and its requests that they lobby the New York City Council on the company’s behalf, the pas de deux of self- justification was so painstakingly choreographed that it constituted a performance all by itself.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Union of the weakest develops strength
Not wisdom. Can all men, together, avenge
One of the leaves that have fallen in autumn?
But the wise man avenges by building his city in snow.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“In New York—whose subway trains in particular have been “tattooed” with a brio and an energy to put our own rude practitioners to shame—not an inch of free space is spared except that of advertisements.... Even the most chronically dispossessed appear prepared to endorse the legitimacy of the “haves.””
—Gilbert Adair, British author, critic. “Cleaning and Cleansing,” Myths and Memories (1986)