Goodbye to an Old Friend

A Queens bound M-Train crosses over the J-Line to enter the Myrtle Avenue elevated line just east of the Broadway / Myrtle Avenue station in Brooklyn. This particular train was made up of R40 type subway cars. What made these cars unique was their fifteen degree slant on their operating ends. The reason for this was because the Mayor at that was sick and tired of a rehashed version of the same old "cattle car" design and refused to allocate any more money towards new subway cars until the Transit Authority came up with a completely new design. Because of it's futuristic design, they were nicknamed "Star Trek Cars", named after the popular television series at that time. They entered service on the F-Line on January, 1968 and it immediately became apparent that the slant became their biggest flaw. As passengers become accustomed to crossing from one car to the next, the slants created such a wide space between cars when the operating ends are coupled together that it was far too easy for someone to fall into the tracks between the cars. The T.A. immediately installed railings, chains and pantograph gates to address the safety concerns thus ruining the futuristic look of these cars. The last one hundred of these cars were built with a new nose design and that same design would ultimately be used for new subway cars built well into the 1980's. Another setback to these cars was even though the interior was more cleaner than the cars before it, the seating was not contoured unlike the cars before them and so they were uncomfortable. This was resolved with the R42 cars in 1969. After a thorough rebuilding in 1987 through 1989, some of them served the Eastern Division (J,L,M, and Z Lines), the West End Line (B-Line), and the Sea Beach Line (N-Line). They gave good service until their retirement in June of 2009. The R40's were designed by Raymond Loewy and Associates. If this name sounds familiar, it is because his name has been long tied to many successful railroad and transportation designs, most notably the famous Pennsylvania Railroad's GG-1 electric locomotive.

This was drawn completely by hand with common office ball point pens and highlighters.