R32 3521

Location: 125th Street/St. Nicholas Avenue Station, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: December 23, 2018

There is to be no suggestion that a subway car is somehow a Covid-19 “victim.”  However, the retirement of New York City’s oldest subway cars and the oldest subway cars in operation anywhere in the United States came unexpectedly as a result of modified fleet requirements to provide essential service in response to the ongoing pandemic.  Due to needing fewer cars to maintain peak service right now and the arrival of the final R179 cars, the R32s were officially retired on April 27, 2020.  This photo, which I took in December 2018, was one of the last ones I would ever take of this car type in revenue service.  

A total of 600 R32 cars were built and delivered in 1964 and 1965.  These cars are actually older than the MTA itself, as New York City Transit was not a part of the former agency until 1968.  Over the course of their service lives, these cars operated on just about every B Division (lettered) line at one time or another.  In their final years, they could be found on the A, C, J, and Z lines.  They outlived the R38, R40, R42, and R44 cars, all of which were built after the R32. 

The retirement of the R32 sadly also marks the end of an era on the New York City Subway, as these were the last cars in service to have a true railfan window at the front of each train.  I have fond memories of standing at the front of the Redbirds and other New York City subway cars, feeling the dank breeze coming through the storm door and watching the signals and other trackside signage go by.  Unfortunately, that is is an experience that can only live on as a memory now.