A Field Guide to the New York City Subway: Observations, Musings and Conversations on Subway Seats.

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY

THE SUBWAY

DISCUSSIONS, MUSINGS AND CONVERSATIONS ON SUBWAY SEATS. FEATURING UNLIKELY CONNECTIONS, PERSONAL ANECDOTES AND UNCONFIRMED HISTORIES OF SUBWAY SEATS IN NEW YORK CITY.

This guide book belongs to:

Kaeli Streeter

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THE SUBWAY

SEATS

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY DISCUSSIONS, MUSINGS AND CONVERSATIONS ON SUBWAY SEATS. FEATURING UNLIKELY CONNECTIONS, PERSONAL ANECDOTES AND UNCONFIRMED HISTORIES OF SUBWAY SEATS IN NEW YORK CITY.

INQUIRY 1. Orange and Yellow Seats 2. A Brief History 3. 70’s Sensibilities 4. Seat Configuration 5. The Pew Model 6. Car Culture 7. Thank God for No Cushions!

CONTRIBUTORS Rassi from Ohio; Davehoboken from Hoboken, New Jersey; Outoftheinkwell from NY NY; NYNeenz from New York City, NY; AudenHoggart from Portland, Maine; Fox11354 from Flushing, New York; Kaye_in_Astoria from Astoria, New York; bomania from NYC; queenieline from Londong, United Kingdom; Risa L from New York City, New York; springerandy from USA; NorthofDC from Olney, Maryland; nywhiz from New York City, New York; pando958 from Washington DC; mowhippet from Edmonton, Canada; Shoestring Jetsetter from New York City, New York; The Sushi Guy from Long Island; New York, Kaeli Streeter from New York

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ORANGE AND YELLOW SEATS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Most/all of the 70s and 80s era subway cars have orange and yellow seats.

That’s literally hundreds of trains. –Davehoboken I usually see those cars are along the Sixth Ave. line -- B, D, F –Outoftheinkwell

@Davehoboken is right. Those seats are everywhere. But the 4/5/6/L tend to be newer trains with blue seats. The A/C, B/D & F trains use these orange & yellow seat trains most often, but not always. –NYNeenz B, D, F, N, Q, R, W are the only lines where you’ll consistently see orange and yellow seats, with the express B and D being the best bets. Every day at rush hour, I see only orange and yellow seated B and D trains.

F tends to be a mix of older O&Y trains, as well as all newer blue/grey trains.

1, 2, 3 often had O&Y seats, but I’ve not been on those lines in a while.

J, M, Z A, C, E, 4, 5, 6, L, S almost never have O&Y seats. –bomania I regularly take the 4,5,6 and they always have orange seats. –nywhiz The subway cars with the orange and yellow seats are the R-46 cars from the 1970s. They are used on the IND lines (A, B, D, E, F, etc.). –pandc958 Some C and A trains also have the yellow and orange seats. Also F. So basically any of the lettered lines could have them. –Shoestring Jester Rode the Q and N the other day. Orange seats. –LizzieandIzzy Definitely the F. –The Sushi Guy The 1 and the F today orange seats. They don’t have a line map you can follow though. –BootsZoe

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A BRIEF HISTORY Cars on numbered lines are not interchangeable with cars on lettered lines. The lettered line cars are wider and would not fit in the tunnels and stations used by the numbered trains. This is an artifact of the development of the original subway system by two (and then three) separate entities. The track gauge is the same by the car widths are different. So numbered train cars could run on lettered lines, but there would be a large gap between car doors and station platforms.

–AudenHoggart B, D, F, N, Q, R, W are the only lines where you’ll consistently see orange and yellow seats, with the express B and D being the best bets. Every day at rush hour, I see only orange and yellow seated B and D trains.

F tends to be a mix of older O&Y trains, as well as all newer blue/grey trains. 1, 2, 3 often had O&Y seats, but I’ve not been on those lines in a while.

J, M, Z A, C, E, 4, 5, 6, L, S almost never have O&Y seats.

–bomania there are also R62 cars that can run on the narrower tracks of the numbered lines that have the same color seats - but they’re all along the walls - none of the forward/backward facing seats –Rassi

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SEATS

R62A(1984 - 87) BUILT BY: BOMBARDIER # 1651 - 2475 75,550 LBS TOTAL AVG. PRICE PER CAR: $798,770

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SEAT ARRANGEMENT & CAPACITY: LONGITUDINAL [44] SEAT MATERIAL: FIBERGLASS SEAT TYPE: INDIVIDUALLY CONTOOURED SEAT, MOTOR OPERATOR: BOMBARDIER SEAT, PASSENGER: BOMBARDIER & F.R. PLASTIC

CARBON-EFFICIENT MISSION: THE CLIMATE REGISTRY [ LAST UPDATED 2015] ANNUAL ENERGY SAVINGS: 30.8 MILLION kWh 45000 kW 36,900 GALLONS OF FUEL OIL 1.9 MILLION THERMS OF NATURAL GAS

SIGN: M. DENKI

AIR COMPRESSOR: WABCO, D4 AIR CONDITIONING: STONE SAFETY 12 TON HEATER: CHROMOLOX LIGHTING INVERTER: LUMINATOR HVAC CONTROL: STONE SAFETY LIGHTING SYSTEM: LUMINATOR, PLASTIC LENS, BACK LIGHTED 'AD' CARDS PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM: COMCO & MIDWEST

WINDOW: ELLCON NATIONAL WINDOW HARDWARE: J.L.HOWARD

SIGN: M.DEKI SIGNAL DEVICE: PNEUPHONIC HORN

FIBERGLASS END CAP

HEAD & TAIL LIGHTS: GULTON DOOR HANGER & PANEL: O.M. EDWARDS DOOR HARDWARE: J.L. HOWARD DOOR OPERATOR MOTOR: VAPOR: R.H., S8166495-20; L.H., 58166496-20 DOOR OBSTRUCTION SENSING DEVICE INSTALLED IN 1993

STAINLESS STEEL BODY (THE STANDARD SINCE THE R32) AS OF 2008, THE SHELLS ARE DISPERSED THROUGHOUT THE ATLANTIC OCEAN 48- 50 YEAR LIFESPLAN INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS

R62

R6

2A

1985

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2035

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THE SUBWAY

SPACE TO SKETCH

SEATS

SPACE TO WRITE

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70’s SENSIBILITIES COLOR SCHEME Don’t know what to attribute the color choices to - other than perhaps leftover 70’s/80’s design sensibilities. –Kaye_in_Astoria The subway cars with the orange and yellow seats are the R-46 cars from the 1970s. They are used on the IND lines (A, B, D, E, F, etc.). –pandc958

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SEAT CONFIGURATION They’re either R46 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R46_(New_York_City_Subway_car) or R68 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R68_(New_York_City_Subway_car) model train cars.

The R46 have some faux wood paneling right by the doors, the R68 do not - but the configuration of seats (with some forward/backward facing seats instead of seats only along the walls is similar. –Kaye_in_Astoria The subway cars with the orange and yellow seats are the R-46 cars from the 1970s. They are used on the IND lines (A, B, D, E, F, etc.). –pandc958 If you are really interested in subway cars, we have a transit museum that has examples of a number of cars. They also run a train composed of cars from several eras on weekends, often around holiday. Some of these have the old rattan seats. The schedule and route is below: https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/holidaynostalgiarides/ –Fox11354 there are also R62 cars that can run on the narrower tracks of the numbered lines that have the same color seats - but they’re all along the walls - none of the forward/backward facing seats –Kaye_in_Astoria

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THE PEW MODEL Prior to these, the subways had “pew” seating that had a uniform contour along their lengths. The orange and yellow seating was dished in for each place following Japanese examples. Unfortunately, Americans are wider and spill over the edges. Sometimes, you would have a place that had the edge in the middle and you would have to sit on this or stand. This seating was never popular with passengers and the pew type returned with newer models. –Fox11354

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CAR CULTURE NY TRANSIT MUSEUM I’ve been to the Transit Museum and highly recommend it! Coming from a car culture, I think the subway is so freeing. Thank you for all the interesting information. –Kaye_in_Astoria If you are really interested in subway cars, we have a transit museum that has examples of a number of cars. They also run a train composed of cars from several eras on weekends, often around holiday. Some of these have the old rattan seats. The schedule and route is below: https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/holidaynostalgiarides/ –Fox11354 << Coming from a car culture, I think the subway is so freeing. >> Well said, @Rassi. –mcwhippet

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THANK GOD FOR NO CUSHIONS! I don’t know about the colours, but I was surprised to find that the seats had no cushioning. So different from those on the London underground trains.

Ha, ha. –queenieline Thankfully they have no cushioning! Who needs cushioning that would absorb sweat, urine, bedbugs and whatever else gets carried onto or, um, deposited onto the subway seats. At least smooth, hard surfaces are cleaned easier. –Risa L. Upholstery would definitely not be a good idea on the NYC subways. (The system runs 24/7/365 and these days we’re just happy when they actually run properly) If you want to see older more well appointed subway trains visit the transit museum in Brooklyn https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/ –Kaye_in_Astoria ***Thankfully they have no cushioning! Who needs cushioning that would absorb sweat, urine, bedbugs and whatever else gets carried onto or, um, deposited onto the subway seats. At least smooth, hard surfaces are cleaned easier.*** Ain’t that the truth. –springerandy Admittedly, I could see the benefit of hard seating but it did not make for a comfortable ride. –queenieline Why hard seating? People with knives who used to cut the upholstered seating up for “fun.” Believe it or not, this was common 40-45 years ago.

Same with exact change on buses. There were so many robberies 40-45 years ago that every big US city started with exact change on buses. Now, thankfully there are transit debit cards (all called everything but “debit card”), so all of that has been, as the say, “overtaken by events.”

I do remember seeing the cotton innards of a number of upholstered seat when I was a teenager. In trains made before 1950, they seats were made of woven rattan. They weren’t ever cut up, but they sure were slippery; my best friend as a kid, slid right off when the train hit a sharp curve once. Ah,the good-and-bad old days. –NorthofDC

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CONTRIBUTORS

IMAGE GUIDE

From Trip Advisor Forum:

Interior Cover: Seat Proposal by

Rassi from Ohio; Davehoboken

Kaeli for GSAPP Core I 2019;

from Hoboken, New Jersey;

NYC Subway Map; History of

Outoftheinkwell from NY NY;

Subway names from NY Transit

NYNeenz from New York

Museum; Subway Poem by

City, NY; AudenHoggart from

Kaeli 2020; Carbon Footprint

Portland, Maine; Fox11354 from

of R62 train model by Kaeli

Flushing, New York; Kaye_in_

2019; Life- Cycle of R62 train

Astoria from Astoria, New York;

model by Kaeli 2019; Rainbow

bomania from NYC; queenieline

Color swatch 1970; “Life on

from Londong, United Kingdom;

the Subway” diagrams by Kaeli

Risa L from New Yora City,

2019; NY Transit Museum

New York; springerandy from

“Navigating New York” 2005;

USA; NorthofDC from Olney,

NYC Subway Map cont. Back

Maryland; nywhiz from New York

Cover: Seat Model by Kaeli for

City, New York; pando958 from

GSAPP Core I 2019.

Washington DC; mowhippet from Edmonton, Canada; Shoestring Jetsetter from New York City, New York; The Sushi Guy from Long Island, New York, Curation of comments: Kaeli Alika Streeter from New York

INFORMATION 1st Edition completed in 2022.

Completed for Spring 2022

Information collected in 2019.

GAP I taught by Yoonjai Choi at Columbia GSAPP.