NEW YORK CITY HEAVY RAIL
Subway Train, Lower Manhattan

Subway cars quite naturally have evolved tremendously in the more than half-century in which I have been acquainted with the system.  This view of a lightly-patronized 6 Line southbound train shows one of the newer models, an R142A car built by Kawasaki.  Once upon a time only perhaps in one of my wilder childhood fantasies could I have contemplated the sleek bodies, anti-graffiti measures,  automated station announcements and snazzy destination signs of the future -- and air-conditioning, which didn't make its debut until 1967.

The former IRT division is built to a more confined tunnel design than the former BMT and IND, and thus its cars are over a foot narrower.  The two different specifications restrict the territories in which each model car can operate.   

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