Синие Птицы: История вагонов нью-йоркского метрополитена

Retired class of New York City Subway car

The Bluebird, formally dubbed Compartment Car by its purchaser, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), was an advanced design PCC streetcar derived subway and elevated railway car built by the Clark Equipment Company from 1938 to 1940 and used on the New York City Subway system from 1939 to 1955. A total of six units were built, with one prototype and five production units. They were among the last cars to be ordered by the BMT before the city takeover in 1940. The cars were designed to operate on both elevated and subway lines; its lightweight design allowed it to run on the oldest elevated lines without the need to upgrade them to handle heavier cars, while its aluminum alloy body also allowed it to run in the newer subway tunnels, where wooden cars were strictly prohibited. The prototype Bluebird entered service in 1939. While the BMT ordered 50 production Bluebirds, only five were built, due to the New York City Board of Transportation cancelling the order when it took over operations of the BMT in 1940. The cars were in service until being retired in 1955. None were preserved.

Satisfied with tests on unit 8000, the BMT placed an order for an additional 50 units, which could replace 80 old elevated cars. However, the order was cancelled after the city government purchased the BMT in June 1940. The New York City Board of Transportation, already the operator of the Independent Subway System, was one of the most conservative transit operators in the United States, and had no interest in the former BMT's aggressive technology planning. Five more Bluebirds were in the process of construction at the time of cancellation, and the City decided to accept these, numbering them 8001–8005A/B/A1. They could not interoperate with unit 8000, which had no couplers or multiple unit trainline connections. Unit 8000 spent much of its service life on the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, home of many pieces of orphaned equipment, while units 8001–8005 operated regularly on the 14th St.–Canarsie Line. On occasion, they also operated in Brighton–Franklin Avenue Local service and on the Fourth Avenue Local. In those instances, it typically operated as an extra behind a regular interval. After delivery of the Bluebirds, New York City never again purchased any lightweight or PCC technology rail equipment, nor did it purchase equipment to sustain the elevated lines incapable of operating heavier subway cars. Most of the elevated lines were dismantled between 1938 and 1990. The single unit Bluebird 8000 was withdrawn from service for lack of available parts in 1945. The Bluebird train 8001–8005 continued in service until March 1955, replaced by the R16s. All of the Bluebird units, the single unit and the 5 unit train, were scrapped in 1957.