NEW R-211 subway cars have arrived on the 8th Avenue line, currently serving the A express line. Since I moved to Queens and take the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station, I have my choice of subways, the 7th Avenue IRT (1, 2, 3 trains) or the 8th Avenue IND (A, C, E). Until very recently the A train, one of the lengthiest lines in the system, running from Inwood to South Jamaica, Far Rockaway or Rockaway Park, oddly was stocked with some of the oldest cars in the system, the R-32s introduced in 1964, and the R-46, introduced in 1974.
I remember when the R-46s were brand new, and I seem to recall very thin carpeting at first, an experiment soon done away with in favor of black rubber flooring and then linoleum. They were the first cars with the “bing-bong” sounder when the doors closed, and introduced the bright orange-yellow color palette that was continued in the R-62 series on the IRT and R-68b series for the IND/BMT. For many years R-46s were employed on the F and R lines as well as the A and C. The R-46 can be differentiated from the R-62 and R-68 by the wallpaper with faint renderings of the New York State emblem.
The R-46 days are numbered. It will take a few years, but the remaining trainsets on the A and C lines are being replaced by the new technology R-211 cars; all new trainsets for the past couple of decades have had a relentless light and dark blue scheme, instead of the warmer orange and yellow.
For me, what will miss most are the perpendicular window seats. Instead of facing glowering fellow passengers, I could look out the window. In the subway, most of the time, there isn’t much of a view in the tunnel, but I’m an aficionado of subway station design and architecture, and I especially liked riding elevateds in the R-46 and watching the city go by. I haven’t done it for a few years but the A train’s run across Jamaica Bay to the Rockaway Peninsula in an R-46 is especially rewarding.
No doubt there will be special fan trip rides when the end is nigh, but catch the R-46 in regular service while you still can. The R-68, which also features perpendicular window seating, will last awhile longer, but the man with the scythe awaits them as he awaits us all.
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3/24/23