BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Dozens of railfans hopped
aboard one last ride on the almost
58-year-old R32 subway
cars on their fi nal run Sunday,
Jan. 9, before the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority retires
the models for good.
The vintage trains dubbed
“Brightliners” for their shiny
corrugated stainless-steel
shells chugged along the Q
Line from Brighton Beach to
the Upper East Side for their
last celebratory passenger
service after fi rst hitting the
tracks nearly six decades ago.
“This is the end of an era,”
said rider Zorick Johnson,
who showed off a model-sized
R32 and donned a train conductor’s
hat. “It is an honor for
me to be here on this fi nal run
to say goodbye to a workhorse
of the MTA.”
The same year as the British
Invasion brought the Beatles
to America and the World’s
Fair opened in Queens, the
R32 debuted on Sept. 9, 1964 on
New York City’s subway with a
celebratory ride on commuter
railroad tracks from the Mott
Haven Yard to Grand Central.
The train was greeted by
“the Transit Authority band
of 20 pieces in green and gold
uniforms,” the New York
Times reported at the time.
Sunday included the original
two front cars from that
ride with blue-painted doors
and a front banner marking
the Transit Authority’s initial
order of 600 cars.
Built by the Budd Company
of Philadelphia, the R32s were
the fi rst mass-produced stainless
steel cars bought by the TA
and were around 4,000 pounds
lighter than other models at the
time, but it was the shiny exterior
that made them unique.
“They’re one of the coolest
looking cars, on the outside,
that we ever had,” said Jodi
Shapiro, a curator at the New
York Transit Museum. “Even
COURIER L 10 IFE, JANUARY 14-20, 2022
One of the last the R32 subway cars gets ready to pull out of Brighton Beach station in Brooklyn on Jan. 9.
Photo by Kevin Duggan
on a day like today when it’s
cloudy out and overcast they
still look fantastic.”
On the inside, the R32s
have a sleek minimal design,
with only rows of fi berglass
benches on either side, along
with analog rolling signs
showing the route. A front
window allows straphangers
a clear view out ahead of the
train, a popular feature that
newer cars don’t have.
“You just don’t see trains
like this anymore,” said rider
Sydney McGinn.
The trains began rolling out
on what is now the Q Line, and
MTA more recently deployed
them to the A, C, J, and Z lines.
They originally had a 35-year
lifespan, according to the
Times article, but surpassed
that deadline by two decades
at the time of their last regular
passenger service in 2020.
“They’ve been through
snowstorms, graffi ti, violence,
scratchiti from the glass, and
the cars are still going, they’re
still strong,” said Johnson,
banging on the door’s glass to
make his point.
The MTA — itself a year
younger than the R32s — twice
planned to retire the old trains
in 2010 and 2020 but brought
them back to fi ll in for malfunctioning
newer models.
The Transit Museum organized
four weekend retirement
runs starting in December,
with fi rst three on the D
Line and Sunday’s fi nal tour
on its original route.
Rolling on!
MTA’s oldest subway cars bid farewell
on fi nal run after almost 58 years
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