Here is a list of the subway cars built by and for the old BMT subway.
BMT stood for the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation which operated all of
the lines now called the BMT OR B1 Division of the NYCTA.
There were
two main types of cars ordered through the years by the BMT. Most of the cars
(950) came to be known as the BMT Standards. The remaining cars were
articulated, that is each two car bodies shared one truck at one end.
Like this:
Link to all of the BMT pre-WWII fleet from the New York Subways Resources Web pages.
CAR NUMBERS | COUNT | TYPE | MFGR | YEAR | PHOTO Click image to view |
|
As delivered | Converted (Year) | |||||
2000-2099 | 100 | A | B - (1922-3) | AC&F | 1914 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
2100-2199 | 100 | A | B - (1922-3) | AC&F | 1915 | |
2200-2299 | 100 | A | B - (1922-3) | AC&F | 1916 | |
2300-2398 | 99 | A | B - (1922-3) | AC&F | 1917 | |
2399 | 1 | A | ||||
2400-2467 | 68 | A | BX - (1924) B - (1959) |
AC&F | 1918 | |
2468-2489 | 22 | A | BX - (1924) BT - (1959) |
AC&F | 1918 | |
2490-2499 | 10 | A | BX - (1933) BT - (1959) |
AC&F | 1918 | |
2500 | 1 | A | AC&F | 1919 | ||
2501-2599 | 99 | A | B - (1924) | |||
2600-2699 | 100 | A | B - (1959) 2615-2630 & 2632-2648 replaced the 4000s in 2400-2467 making BT to B types |
PrSt | 1920 | |
2700-2749 | 50 | A | PrSt | 1921 | ||
2750-2799 | 50 | A | B - (1922-3) | |||
2800-2899 | 100 | A | B - (1922-3) | PrSt | 1922 | |
Total Standard motor cars: | 900 | |||||
4000-4044 | 45 | A | BX - (1924) | PrSt | 1924 | |
4045-4049 | 5 | AX | BX - (1933) | |||
Total Standard trailer cars: | 50 | |||||
Total Standard cars | 950 | |||||
6000-6003 ABC | 4 | D | PrSt | 1925 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
6004-6070 ABC | 67 | D | PrSt | 1927 | ||
6071-6120 ABC | 50 | D | PrSt | 1928 | ||
Total D-Types: | 121 | |||||
7004-7013 all with A,B,C,B1,A1 designations |
10 | MS Multi Section Multis |
StL | 1934 |
![]() ![]() |
|
7014-7028 | 15 | MS | PSCo | 1934 | ||
Total Multi types: | 25 | |||||
7003 A,B,C,B1,A1 | 1 | MS-Experimental Green Hornet |
PSCo | 1934 | ![]() ![]() |
|
7029 | 1 | MS-Experimental Zephyr |
Budd | 1934 | ![]() |
|
8000 A,B,A1 | 1 | CC-Experimental
Bluebirds Equipped with PCC controls, motors, and trucks. |
Clark | 1938 |
![]() ![]() |
|
8001-8005 A,B,A1 | 5 | 1940 | ||||
Total Clark Cars | 6 | |||||
Total Experimental | 3 types 8 units |
Green Hornet, Zephyr, & Bluebirds | ||||
2900-2924 | 25 | SIRT Motors | StStl | 1925 1953 (to BMT) |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
2925-2929 | 5 | SIRT Trailers | StStl | Trailers were never used in service | ||
Total SIRT Cars | 30 | |||||
Total BMT Cars | 1134 |
CODE | NAME | All Standrds | D TYPE | MULTI | EXPMTL | SIRT | TOTAL | ||
MOT | TRL | MOT | TRL | ||||||
AC&F | American Car and Foundry | 600 | 600 | ||||||
Budd | Budd Car Company | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Clark | Clark Equipment Company | 6 | 6 | ||||||
PrSt | Pressed Steel Car Company | 300 | 50 | 121 | 471 | ||||
PSCo | Pullman Standard Company | 15 | 1 | 16 | |||||
StL | St. Louis Car Company | 10 | 10 | ||||||
StStl | Standard Steel Car Company | 25 | 5 | 30 | |||||
Totals | 900 | 50 | 121 | 25 | 8 | 25 | 5 | 1134 |
BMT Standards Car Type key:
BMT Standards (AKA B-Types or 67' cars) were considered very inovative
in subway car design, with glass all around the car body including door pockets
and the offside front panel. Drop longitudinal benches could provide additional
seating by closing off door panels during off peak service and end doors could
be opened throughout the train from the conductors position.
Some
of the changes from single A cars to variations of the B-Types were done by the
BMT in the 1919-1924 time frame and later in 1933. Other changes were made by
the Board of Transportation and Transit Authority between the early 1950s and
1960.
As the original group were delivered, a conductor was required in
each car. As the cars were unitized, the conductor positions that were left
operational were able to control all of the doors in the train. Eight cars
trains retained two conductors until 1958.
It should be noted that two
cars were involved in an accident and were scrapped and replaced by two
additional cars in the last group built. This would have made the total number
of A motor cars 902, but the car numbers of the two scrapped cars are not
available and their numbers were probably reused on the replacement
cars.
An eight car train would be made of 2 B and /or BX sets and one BT
set or two A cars.
Some of the information below is taken from Evolution of the New York
City Subway Car.
Notes about other BMT subway cars:
- The JoeKorNer
All photos are from the MTA New York City Transit archives. These GIF files were scanned from offset press prints, thus the quality of the reproduction varies with your monitor and video card capabilities.