SIR question

[Orion VII 4474]

What cars did the sir use before they had the r44's?

[theaveragejoe]

What cars did the sir use before they had the r44's?

 

http://nycsubway.org/perl/show?45579

[Joe]

I believe some MP54s from the LIRR also made their way over to the guido ghetto.

[Rutgers Tube]

the guido ghetto.

 

You also explained why Staten Italy is often referred to as "the forgotten borough." Recent news polls show that 93% of the local population expressed initial disapproval of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill being labelled as a "fallout." That percentage dropped to 58% when it was explained that "fallout" and "blowout" are not, in fact synonymous. When asked why the Gulf of Mexico oil spill sparked higher rates of interest amongst Richmond County residents than in the other four NYC boroughs, one local winemaker that it was "about time that all of these echologogists stopped worrying about amount of grease that polluted the South Beach shore every summer."

 

FYI: the majority of my family hails from The Boot, so I don't want to hear anything crap about being a racist.

 

FYI-squared: the former SIRT railway actually used a variation of the MP54 with porthole windows, known as the MP72. They were made during the late 1950's and early 1960's, though I'm unsure of how many SI actually had. And by the way, the MP54's ran all over the place for close to 60 years, most notably on then-PRR trackage. Talk about old-timers!

[Paul Uhland]

To kick off electrified service in 1925, SIRT, then owned by the B&O Railroad, bought 125 48-ton, 67-foot EMU cars from Standard Steel Company, patterned closely on contemporary BRT/BMT Standard B-Type cars, since there was a short-lived plan to connect both lines via a never-completed Narrows tunnel.

The SIRT equipment had to carry FRA Class 1 commuter-level equipment...proper grabs, stirrups, Pyle headlights, air whistles...since B&O used SIRT tracks to provide freight service to SI. Residents from Jefferson Avenue to Bay Terrace could always tell when tooting trains ran by until final city-mandated grade crossing elimination work was complete in the '60s.

The Pullman green cars, with gold RR Roman "STATEN ISLAND" lettering, featured Wabco H2A couplers; rattan, pullover seats for 71 riders since cars were not turned at run ends; standee capacity of 169; poured floors; door controls located at car ends; foldaway motorman cabs; pulldown shades, safety screens on raise-able windows; deck roof vents; no fans; ran as off-peak two-car trains on Tottenville line...single cars (except for two-car trains for Proctor & Gamble employees at now-gone Port Ivory) on shorter North Shore, South Beach lines til abandonment in 1953. IIRC, T-ville rush hour expresses were at least five cars long.

Post-WW II dwindling SI rail ridership, blamed on low city bus fares, started a years-long transition of ownership from the B&O to NYC's Transit Authority, first by subsidy, then outright sale in 1971. Shortly beforehand, the now equipment-short SIRT, down to 48 of their original cars due to NYC Transit purchase, fires and Brooklyn service, borrowed Long Island RR cars that were temporarily pressed into service, running until newly-ordered SIR R44 vehicles arrived. All original SIRT cars were gone by 1972. However, three were saved and are each currently at trolley museums in Kingston, NY, East Haven CT and Kennebunkport, ME.

 

Sources:

Evolution of New York Subways by Gene Sansone

SIRT Ridership, 1946-57

SI Advance Website Forums

[Paul Uhland]

SIRT actually bought 100 Standard EMU cars in 1925; lost 22 total in 1927, '46, '62 fires; sold 30 (5 unused) to NYCTA for 1953 BMT service; remaining 48 ran until R44 replacement in 1972.

[SI Subway]

:

I believe some MP54s from the LIRR also made their way over to the guido ghetto.

 

I take offense to that. :mad: