R1 (New York City Subway Car) - Service History and Preservation

Service History and Preservation

The first R1 cars to see passenger service were twenty individual cars to serve for two 8 car trains plus spares that were placed in revenue service on the BMT Sea Beach Line from July to November, 1931 for testing and then returned to the IND the same year. The BMT was to have been paid by the City of New York for the testing but since they were fairly extensively used in service (made up as two 8-car trains), the BMT and City called it even.

Most R1s were retired by 1969-1970. Some R1s remained later into the 1970s. Following their removal from service, the majority of the fleet was scrapped, aside from a few work cars, which were used until the 1980s. However, a few cars have been preserved and remain today.

  • Car 100 has been restored and is on display at the New York Transit Museum. It is the first car of the Arnine fleet, numerically.
  • Car 103 has been preserved by Railway Preservation Corp. and is currently undergoing restoration at 207th Street Yard.
  • Car 175 is at the Seashore Trolley Museum, where it is used for storage. It does not have trucks, and two of its side doors were donated to R4 401, which has been preserved by Railway Preservation Corp. and restored.
  • Car 381 has been preserved by Railway Preservation Corp. and has been restored. It is currently stored at 207th Street Yard.

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