One Size Fits All

Hello Bobby

At the start of time in NYC Transit in the late 1870's, -- the Manhattan Railway Company  and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company Elevated Line "EL" Gate cars - were basically the same  size...  invariably just a couple of inches under 9 feet wide,  about variously 12 3/4 to 13 feet high, and variously 46 to 49 feet long,  depending upon car class and construction date. 

This size factor carried on to the first Interborough Rapid Transit Subway line (IRT)  opened in October 1904 -- its brand new subway cars were about 12 feet high (one foot lower than the M.R.C. "EL" gate Cars),  and also just under 9 feet wide,  and 51 feet long.  Even the Long Island railroad's FIRST MU Electric commuter cars of 1906 were GIBBS Cars --- the same body style, look  and size as the first IRT Steel subway GIBBS cars of 1904 which replaced the wooden 1903 built same body style versions.  The IRT subway cars and the LIRR Gibbs cars were designed to operate on each others' lines.  However, it never happened in revenue service.  Tho the LIRR Gibbs cars did operate on the BMT (then the "BRT") Broadway EL to Chambers St, Manhattan for a short time !

Therefore,  until about 1913-15,  those three companies could and in some cases did -- run on each other's tracks and lines,  and could clear ALL station platforms designed to fit and platform 9' wide transit cars.

The BRT when planning their first full length subway system in 1910, first dabbled with producing steel cars built similar to an enclosed end vestibules with sliding doors version and body style  of their 1200-1400 series EL Gate cars of 1902-1908.  Even BRT Instruction Car 999 was originally as built designed to be the prototype for the new subway system cars, but as it was of all wood construction, it was early on dismissed. Thus that one prototype pilot-carbody was retrofitted as a BMT Motorman Instruction Car # 999.  The BMT then took the bold move to make their new subway cars ALL STEEL and of mainline railroad car basic dimensions and widths.

Therefore became the design of the BMT "Standard" car -- a 67 foot long X 10 foot wide by about 12 foot high steel subway car.  And from that point onward,  all their further built subway car classes were 10 foot wide and of various lengths  - ie: The D Type Articulateds, the Multi Section Fleets, and the 3 experimental lightweight articulated section consists designed to be light enough to operate on the ancient 1880's era BRT FULTON STREET EL lines which had platforms cut back 6" to clear those 10' wide lightweight consists..

When the City of NY designed their new INDEPENDENT (IND) subway system in the mid to late 1920's, they used the BMT  ("BMT" being  the company  the BRT was re-organized into 1919 due to the Nov. 1918 Malbone Street Fulton-Brighton EL train wreck)  mentality and design ideas,  to design their R-1 thru R-9 Class Steel IND Subway cars of 60 feet long,  10 feet wide,  and 12 feet high.  Along with some mechanical and electrical system ideas from the IRT system cars.

So, between the BMT Subway (and EL Extensions built new or modified to and for subway route trains)  and the IND Subway Lines,  a new SEPARATE system was created that basically orphaned the IRT and its ONE FOOT NARROWER cars,  to its own system and narrower fleet size solely

ALL "system wide use" WORK EQUIPMENT used on the 1940 consolidated NYC Transit system was cobbled from ("A" Division) IRT 9' wide work cars which could operate safely on all 3 systems and clear platforms on all 3 systems.  The original IND and BMT subway work equipment of 10' widths, built new for their then original private  companies,  were kept STRICTLY and SOLELY on the BMT and IND lines (the "B" division)  ONLY  (and used interchangeably on both "BMT" and IND" divisions routes after City of NY consolidation of the IRT, BMT and IND in June 1940)

Eventually as the older original work equipment of the IRT, and wider BMT and IND divisions,  wore out and was replaced with newer M-o-W stock, the newer built work equipment was all built to the 9' wide IRT car-width  dimensions, so as to be used freely and handle all clearances anywhere on the 3 (IRT, BMT, IND) divisions of the system.

So,  the ONLY WAY the NYC Transit could economically be rid of its two separate width car fleets,  would ONLY be to  convert ALL its BMT Subway and EL station platforms to fit 9' wide cars by extending them 6 inches towards the trackways with platform-edge steel gap filler plates.   And then order only IRT sized rolling stock. On the reverse, it would be very expensive and problematic to convert all IRT subway tunnel (and other) clearances and subway platforms to BMT-IND division car TEN FOOT car widths.  Especially on curved sections of the lines.

The northern part of the IRT Lexington Ave (East Side) Subway Line the  E.42nd Street- Grand Central Station, north to the Woodlawn EL and Pelham Bay EL Bronx extension lines,  was as built new by the City, made to clear BMT Width 10' wide subway cars to operate on it under the "DUAL SYSTEM CONTRACTS" .  When the BMT later declined to accept and operate those two routes,  they were given to the IRT Company and thus had to have 6" steel plate "platform edge" gap fillers  installed, attached,  to bring the station platforms to a closer fit to the 9' wide IRT stock.  These "steel plates" were clearly visible on all the IRT Lexington Ave.  Line station platforms thru the decades !!   The wood plank station platforms of those 2 Bronx EL extensions were installed sometime AFTER the BMT declined to take those two routes,  so they were built at the onset to fit IRT sized cars.

This "platform gap filler plates" method was also after 1940 later done to the ex-NYW&B Railway northern Bronx Stations which, like all the NYW&B Railway stations,  cleared its own 10' wide NYW&B Railroad (and NHRR) commuter MU cars.  When the City bought the Bronx Portion of that line in 1940 for operation from E. 180 St to the Dyre Ave Station "new" terminal of that route, a few blocks below the Bronx border line,  it was to be initially operated "temporarily" by 9' wide IRT EL gate cars.  The original City plans were to connect that short "then shuttle" line to  its forever planned (and never built) IND  2nd Ave Subway Line, to the "Dyre Avenue" line, at E.174th Street, Bronx, NYCTA-NHRR Junction and operate it as a division of the IND subway, whereupon, the "temporary" platform extenders would be removed.  This never came to be and by 1957b the line was permanently connect to the parallel adjacent IRT EL line at E. 180th Street Station.

A lot of history, and much of it required,  but I hope this answers your questions.

regards - Joe F

Joe,

Thanks for the great info about the history of NYC subway cars. From your explanation, I understand the big problem with one car design fits all is the variations in station platform distances from the track.

Hello Bobby

Glad you enjoyed the mini trip in history per your question.  And I see some others "liked" the reply also.   The reason why the NYCTA System retains the wider cars for the BMT and IND divisions,  is because those systems can handle up to a 75 foot car (some of the BMT-IND tunnels)  lengths X 10 foot wide.  That means they can use shorter trains (and thus order less new cars) for station platform lengths.    IRT Platform lengths can handle up to 10 cars, except the FLUSHING IRT Line built to handle 11 car trains at stations.  So IRT Station platforms generally are around 530 feet or so long   (and approx 575 feet long on Flushing Line)

BMT Platforms for original BMT Standards 67 feet long cars were made for 6 car trains at 410 - 420 feet long platforms.  When the 60 foot R Type (SMEE) cars replaced the BMT Standards and D-Type Articulated  in 1969-70,  platforms were extended to about 490 feet long to handle up to  8  cars of 60 feet each,  as most cars after the R-16 single units of 1955 , were made as married pairs.  The IND System platforms were made to handle 8 foot cars also as new.

Bottom line,  the longer and wider BMT (and IND) subway cars could handle more passengers as "packed in during rush hours" in 8 car trains than the shorter and narrower  IRT trains of 10 cars length.

However,  for just my personal observation and opinion,  for system wide equipment inter-operational-unification, for ALL passenger and work trains,  the system should in the future,  revert to IRT sized cars - which would allow ANY class of subway car to run on ANY line or route of the system.  But this likely will never happen.

regards - Joe F