Customer Reviews

New York Subways: An Illustrated History of New York City's Transit Cars

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When Evolution of New York Subways was published in 1997, I bought a copy immediately. Back then, I thought the book was an incredible tribute to the rolling stock of the New York City subway system. I also thought it would be a very long time before such a volume could be surpassed in any way. In 2004 (the centennial year for the original IRT subway)we have New York Subways: An Illustrated History of New York City's Transit Cars. This book is even better than its predecessor. It boasts a vertical format that is easier to handle and read. Many of the original photos have been improved, information is updated to reflect the latest subway rolling stock, and the color section has been expanded. Congratulations to Gene Sansone on an outstanding effort! Simply put, if you are a fan of the New York City Subway system, this is a must-have addition to your book collection.

I got a gift certificate for $25 from a relative in CA I only met once, and I bought it on this book! It's really cool! They have all the info about every subway car, they have pics and technical data, and they even have info abotu the soon-to-arrive R160! I can even use this to ask my brothers what kind of subway car they rode! As a railfan who knows all the makes and models of the subway cars, this book pwnz! So if you ride the NYC Subway, or your'e just into it, buying this book that has all the current info is a must!
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The title says it all! This an all-in-one encyclopedia for NYC Subway cars. There is a lot of emphasis on cars prior to the unification in the 30s, and the information is very much up to date.

The book has super great pictures of most El and Subway cars, going back into the 19'th century. Most pictures are connected well to the text, except for the earliest cars where one is uncertain which car is being pictured. More disappointing are the data appendices on most cars. These have inconsistent information and formatting. For some cars the balancing speed, accelerations and decelerations are given, but not the motors' horsepower. For other cars, the motor horsepower's are given, but not the other data. The most troubling inconsistency is the various values given for the balancing speed of the BMT Standards throughout the text.

Johns Hopkins University Press has published an updated "Centennial Edition" of Gene Sansone's landmark study of New York's rapid transit rolling stock. The initial version of the book was published in 1997 by the New York Transit Museum Press and was updated by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2002. To commemorate the centennial of the opening of the first section of the Interborough Rapid Transit [IRT] subway on October 27, 1904, the book has been updated to include the latest R143 cars that are now operating on the Canarsie line. This revised version is an improvement over its predecessor, correcting some problems that were identified in earlier editions.

The body of published literature covering the New York City subway system is reasonably extensive and incorporates traditional histories like "Under the Sidewalks of New York" by Brian Cudahy and more human-interest type books like "Subway Lives" by Jim Dwyer. Stan Fischler's "Uptown Downtown" falls somewhere in between. There is even an entire book by Mr. Cudahy devoted to the tragic Malbone Street wreck of 1918. But missing was an in-depth study of subway rolling stock from the 19th century to the present day.

Enter Gene Sansone. Hired by the New York City Transit Authority in 1973, Mr. Sansone rose through the agency's ranks and at the time the book was published was an Assistant Chief Mechanical Officer in New York City Transit's Car Equipment Department, in charge of Car Equipment Engineering and Technical Support. In his spare time, Mr. Sansone teaches a graduate class at Brooklyn's Polytechnic University, which this reviewer attended in the mid-1990s. A required paper for this class became an article about regional rail in Southern California, published in a national railroad publication.

Back in the late 1980s, Mr. Sansone recognized that a comprehensive review of New York City's rapid transit rolling stock had not been written, and decided to do something about it. The resulting volume is the result, providing a detailed look at the different types of cars operated on New York's rapid transit lines. After a brief forward by MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow and an explanation of abbreviations used, we start off with a introductory overview of the evolution of New York's rapid transit network, including a sidebar discussing Alfred Ely Beach's pneumatic experiment that was essentially a transit dead end. A wonderful photo on page 5 depicts the elevated terminal at South Ferry. In the upper left photo is the Battery Maritime Building, where the reviewer worked between 1988 and 2002.

The first chapter covers the steam locomotives that operated on the elevated lines. The first one, the Pioneer, was built in 1871 for the Greenwich Elevated line, later known as the 9th Avenue El. Several subsequent types of steam locomotives are described and illustrated. Information from this era is scarce so perhaps it is not surprising that the detailed roster summaries that come with each succeeding chapter are omitted here. However, it is frustrating that caption information is not available on the steam locomotive photos. For example, this reviewer would like to know were both photos on page 21 were taken.

The next chapter is dedicated to historic IRT cars. These include cars that operated on the Manhattan Elevated lines prior to the 1904 opening of the IRT subway. The list on page 26 provides the details and a general overview follows. Then there is a section briefly describing each class of car along with some vintage photos. Again, captions are missing but the photos provide a representative look at the cars being described.

A similar chapter covers the Brooklyn-based network, which ultimately solidified around Brooklyn Rapid Transit, which was reorganized into Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit after the tragic Malbone Street wreck. After a brief introduction which explains why some of the relevant information is lost, we get a description of the car types from the earliest elevated cars to the "modern" BMT Standards, D-Types and experimental "Bluebirds". Sansone explains how the IRT and BRT/BMT lines were built to different clearances, a distinction that persists to this day resulting in an "A Division" [former IRT] and a "B Division" [former BMT/IND].

A quick look through these chapters will allow the reader to realize how much rolling stock has evolved over the last century. We see both exterior and interior views, the latter being especially important because it depicts the passenger accommodation. Before subway cars were air-conditioned, ceiling fans and opening windows were the only source of ventilation and conditions could be a bit stifling in the humid New York summers.

A brief color interlude appears between pages 168 and 169, these pages are unnumbered. Color photos, some faded, depict some fan trips and publicity stills including the famous view at Hammels Wye on the Rockaway Peninsula with the R110-A and -B New Technology Test Trains posing with the preserved IRT Low-V cars.

The third subway system to open in New York was the Independent system, owned and operated by the City from the start, unlike the other two systems where the physical plant was owned by the city and leased to private operators. IND cars were identified by their contract designation, denoted by the prefix "R". This nomenclature persists to the present day, although there is little similarity to the classic dark green R1, with "City of New York" emblazoned across the sides and the modern stainless steel R142 and 143 cars now in service on the ex-IRT and BMT, respectively. Along the way we are treated to descriptions of the bland postwar equipment as well as 1970s lemons R44 and R46. Author Sansone makes a minor mistake on page 260 when he says that Pullman-Standard only built freight cars after the R46 order. In reality, Pullman-Standard built Amtrak's first Superliners after the R46s.

Starting in the mid-1980s, the car classes that were not replaced by R62/62A/68/68A cars were sent through General Overhaul [GOH] programs as part of the overall rebuilding of the subways after the collapse of the 1970s. Finally, we have the New Technology Test Train program in the early 1990s which led to today's R142 and R143s. This reviewer believes that the latter car classes provide a significantly better travel experience than their predecessors, especially the overrated R26/28/29/33/36 "Redbirds" which were mercifully sent to Davy Jones's locker, as we see in Appendix E. Other appendices include a description of how a subway car works, a list of museum cars, photos of special runs and the 1974 "State of the Art Car" project. After a glossary and car index, we have a page of technical data for each car, including side and end drawings.

Gene Sansone delivered the definitive work on New York Subway passenger cars, although the TA also has a sizable fleet of work equipment and locomotives that are beyond the scope of this book. Although some of the photo reproduction is less than optimal [see page 281], in the whole this book accomplishes its goal of providing a comprehensive look at New York's subway cars. This reviewer recommends that the reader start with a general history such as "Under the Sidewalks of New York" or "Uptown Downtown" before proceeding to Sansone's work because an understanding of the general history of the system will enhance the experience of this book.

This book was extremely well researched and offers an excellent overview of one of the world marvels, the New York City Subway.
A must have for any rail buff in the world.

New York Subways: An Illustrated History of New York City's Transit Cars Great book for the subway fan. It is a comprehensive history of the cars, well illustrated. Also includes a complete set of drawings and specifications, valuable for modelers. Writing style a little repetitious and awkward at times.