Which BRT/BMT Elevated Cars Were "BUs"?
The primary distinguishing feature of BU cars is that they were elevated cars built mostly or substantially of wood, with or without steel frames, where passenger access to the cars was provided by open platforms at both ends of each car. A trainman between each pair of cars manually opened and closed folding gates to admit or bar passengers from entering or leaving.
It is generally agreed that all gate cars used in BRT elevated service can be described as BUs. This excludes several classes of elevated equipment:
- Steam coaches of companies preceding the BUERR that were never converted to, and used in, regular BUERR or BRT elevated service;
- Steam excursion coaches of the former Sea Beach Railway that were acquired by the BRT ("3200 class") but not used in elevated service and numbered as part of the streetcar department;
- Former BU cars (the C-types and Q-types) that were converted into closed cars and the gates replaced by automatically operated subway-style sliding doors.
Read more about this topic: BU Cars (New York City Subway Car)
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