| R30 | |
| Interiorimage: | MTA NYC Subway R30 8506 interior.JPG |
| Interiorcaption: | Interior view of R30 car 8506 |
| Service: | 1961–1993 |
| Manufacturer: | St. Louis Car Company |
| Yearconstruction: | 1961–1962 |
| Yearservice: | 1961 |
| Refurbishment: | 1985–1989 |
| Yearscrapped: | 1989–1993, 2013 |
| Numberbuilt: | 320 |
| Numberservice: | (2 in work service) |
| Numberpreserved: | 3 |
| Numberscrapped: | 315 |
| Successor: | R68A |
| Formation: | Married Pairs |
| Fleetnumbers: | 8250–8351, 8412–8567 (R30) 8352–8411 (R30A) |
| Capacity: | 56 (seated) |
| Operator: | New York City Subway |
| Carbody: | LAHT Carbon steel |
| Carlength: | 60feet |
| Width: | 10feet |
| Height: | 12.08feet |
| Platformheight: | 3.76feet |
| Doors: | 8 sets of 45 inch wide side doors per car |
| Maxspeed: | 550NaN0 |
| Weight: | 806000NaN0 |
| Traction: | General Electric (GE) 1257 |
| Traction Motors: | Westinghouse XCA248 and General Electric MCM 17KG192A |
| Transmission: | SCM propulsion system |
| Aux: | WH 1447 JR; GE 1257F1 |
| Electricsystem: | 600 V DC Third rail |
| Collectionmethod: | Contact shoe |
| Brakes: | WABCO ME42B SMEE |
The R30 was a New York City Subway car model built by St. Louis Car Company from 1961 to 1962. The cars were a "follow-up" or supplemental stock for the B Division's R27s and closely resembled them. A total of 320 cars were built, arranged in married pairs. Three versions were manufactured: Westinghouse (WH)-powered cars, General Electric (GE)-powered cars, and R30As.
The first R30s entered service in 1961. Various modifications were made over the years to the R30 fleet, and most of the fleet was refurbished in 1985–1989 with a "Redbird" paint scheme. The WH-powered cars were not rebuilt, being replaced by the R68A fleet, and the last train of WH-powered cars ran in passenger service on December 14, 1990. The overhauled R30s and the R30As were planned to run until 1997, but the cars were prematurely phased out starting in 1992 due to the difficulty of installing air-conditioning; the last overhauled R30s ran in passenger service on June 25, 1993. Some R30 cars were saved for various purposes, but most were scrapped.
The R30s were numbered 8250–8569.
The R30s were coupled together as pairs.[1] These cars, along with their identical R27 sister cars, replaced the oldest BMT A/B Standards (including all 50 of the trailer cars), the ME-1s purchased and transferred from the SIRT, the MS Multi-section cars, and the IRT Lo-Vs that were modified to be used on B-division shuttles. They helped to stabilize the BMT Division to a certain extent until the R32 cars were delivered to the BMT lines in 1965.
There were three versions of the R30: Westinghouse (WH) XCA248-powered equipped cars (8412–8569), General Electric (GE) MCM-powered cars (8250–8351), and R30As (8352–8411), which were equipped with newer solid-state GE SCM controllers instead.
The R30s were primarily BMT Southern Division cars, although they would appear in the Eastern Division from time to time.
Like the R27s, the R30s wore several paint schemes over the course of their career. The cars were delivered in a dark olive green paint scheme, and many were repainted bright red in the late 1960s before receiving the MTA corporate silver and blue scheme in 1970. Cars 8293, 8392 and 8521 were delivered with a rough surface paint.
The rebuilt R30s were finished in a fox red color and were called the BMT Redbirds. The unrebuilt R30s, which were Westinghouse cars numbered 8412–8569, were also painted red in the mid-1980s.
From 1985 until 1989, all GE-powered R30s and R30As were rebuilt and painted in the fox red paint scheme, similar to 27 select R27s and other Redbird trains in the subway system, as part of the Clean Car Program.
The WH-powered R30s, which were not rebuilt, were replaced by the R68As and the rebuilt R30s, which were transferred from the BMT Eastern Division. The last unrebuilt train ran on December 14, 1990.
In January 1990, the R30s were removed from passenger service due to a converter bracket failure. Just two years later, the MTA made a decision to retire the 162 overhauled cars. A risk assessment analysis was performed in 1991 to either put the cars in long-term storage or to retire them. The cars suffered from poor reliability; lack of air conditioning in the cars, as well as budget concerns and a decline in subway ridership, further exacerbated the decision to prematurely retire the cars. Installing air conditioning would have been a difficult procedure and would have added extra weight to the cars. In addition, when the cars were pulled from service in 1990, passenger service managed to continue uninterrupted without any cuts to service despite their absence. On May 30, 1993, the Electric Railroaders' Association sponsored a Farewell to the R30 fan trip. The last of the overhauled R30s were retired from passenger service on June 25, 1993, on the line after the last of the R46s were returned from Morrison–Knudsen undergoing overhaul. Despite the retirement of the cars, the spare factor in the B Division was only lowered by 12%, which did not cause an adverse effect on service.[2]
After retirement, most cars were sent to what is now Sims Metal Management's Newark facility to be scrapped and processed. Some cars were retained as movie props, but many were ultimately scrapped as well. The new parts used for the rebuilding of the cars (including cam control groups and braking systems) were salvaged and re-installed on GE-powered R36 cars 9558–9769 between 1992–1993 to improve their reliability.
Some R30 cars were saved for various purposes throughout the New York City Subway system. The full list includes:
Other R30s that had been retained or preserved before February 2019 included: