Subway Sightseeing Mon. 12/14/09

[Head-end View]

I did some subway sightseeing today. Staked out the platforms at W.4th St. (both levels) and 34th St. (6th Ave. and B'way lines). Saw R-160's exclusively on the E and one on the F. The only trains I saw older than R-44's were the R-32's still running the C-line. Ironic because 30 years ago I think the R-1-9's served their last days on that line too.

Having now seen several generations of NYC subway cars in my almost 60 years, I'm amused by how they've gone back & forth re: seating configurations on the IND/BMT Divisions. The pre-1956 cars (R-1 thru 16) had mixed transverse seating. Then in the late 1950's and 60's they had mostly straight seating. (R-27 thru 42) Then in the 1970's and 80's and 90's they go back to transverse, (R-44 thru 110)) and now in the 21st Century we're back to straight seating on the R-160's. Amazing how each generation of planners switches back and forth. I personally find the transverse set-up more interesting. Does anyone know which arrangement has the higher number of seats per car, or is it the same either way?

Anyway, quite an assortment of R-32-44-46-68-160's running on all those lines. I still can't believe the R-32 has outlasted the newer R-40-42's. What a rich history of rolling stock this city has!

[Fan Railer]

technically, longitudinal bench seating has the most capacity per car, but since there are no 60 foot cars with lateral bench or bucket seats, it's hard to tell, although i would think that bench seating would win out.
transverse seating in a modern day 60 foot car would be unfeasable though, considering the amount of space between doors, each individual bench would be able to seat no more than 1-2 people. current bench seating layout on the R160 has capacity of 42-44 people. my judgement with lateral seating would lower seating capacity to about 30 per car.

[R36 Combine Coach]

With the exception of the R110A, all postwar IRT cars have longitudinal seating.