BMT PRE-WWII CARS

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 (as delivered or by 1923)	MFGR	YEAR	PHOTO Click image to view
2000-2099	100	A	AC&F	1914
2100-2199	100	A	AC&F	1915
2200-2299	100	A	AC&F	1916
2300-2399	100	A	AC&F	1917
2400-2499	100	BT	AC&F	1918
2500-2599	100	A	AC&F	1919
2600-2699	100	A	PrSt	1920
2700-2749	50	A	PrSt	1921
2750-2799	50	B
2800-2899	100	B	PrSt	1922
Total Standard motor cars:	900
4000-4044	45	B	PrSt	1924
4045-4049	5	AX
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	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

Manufacturers key and fleet subtotals:

Detailed notes about the various BMT pre-WWII fleet

BMT Standards Car Type key:

BMT Standards 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 conductor’s position.

Some of the changes were done by the BMT in the 1919-1924 time frame. 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 inormation below is taken from Evolution of the New York City Subway Car.

• A - Standard 67' long single cars. All had cabs at each end and conductor controls at the center door.
• A - Cars 4000-4044 were built as trailers with conductor controls at the center door.
• AX - Cars 4045-4049 were trailers, but also had controls at one end and were designated as AX.. These were briefly paired with an A motor, but were placed into the BX series with the 2490-2499 BT cars in 1933.
• B - A cars 2000-2398 were semi-permanently made into three car units with cabs at outer ends only with the interior cabs deactivated and made into "private seats" durning 1922-23. The conductor positions in the end cars were deactivated. The conductor position in the middle car was left operational. This required 399 cars or 133 units.
• B - A cars 2501-2599 were semi-permanently made into three car units with cabs at outer ends only with the interior cabs deactivated and made into "private seats" durning 1922-23. The conductor positions in the end cars were deactivated. The conductor position in the middle car was left operational. This required 99 cars or 33 units.
• A - Cars 2399 and 2500 were left out of the B fleet and remianed as A cars or were later placed into non-revenue status.
• A - Cars 2600-2749 were operated as A cars.
• B - Cars 2750-2899 were semi-permanently made into three car units with cabs at outer ends only with the interior cabs deactivated and made into "private seats" durning 1922-23. The conductor positions in the end cars were deactivated. The conductor position in the middle car was left operational. This required 150 cars or 50 units.
• BX - Motor-trailer-motor car set with cabs at outer ends only in 1924. These were made up with two 2400-2489 motor cars and one 4000 series trailer car. This was made up of 90 motor cars and 45 trailers. The five AX cars were the last to be inserted into the BX group in 1933.
• BX units were banned from single unit operation and were not to go over the Manhattan Bridge in a train. The bridge ban was lifted in 1955, when the 60th St connection was made between the 60th St line to Astoria and the IND at Queens Plaza.
• BT - Cars 2490-2499 left as pairs in 1924 but became BX units with 4045-4049 in 1933.
• BT - Cars 2468-2499, as motor-motor pairs in 1959 with the removal of the 4000 series trailers - 16 pairs.
• B - Cars 2400-2467 or 34 units of the BX units became B types with the replacement of the 4000 trailers with cars 2615-2630 and 2632-2648 (35 units) in 1959. The data sheets are inconsistant here: the page for the 2600s starts with 2615 or 35 cars, but the page for the 2400s start with 2617 or 33 cars. If the 2400-2467 group is correct, that would be 34 units.

Notes about other BMT subway cars:

• D - Three unit articulated 137' total length. Four of these sets were equivalent to eight A Types. These were also called TRIPLEX cars.
• SIRT - These cars were purchased by the B&O RR for the Staten Island Rapid Transit. The BMT purchased them in the 1953 when SIRT cut back service and the BMT was short cars. The motor cars were used on the Culver and Franklin shuttles as well as mani BMT services. The trailers were never used in revenue service.
• The following cars were lightweight for use on the unrebuilt BMT elevated lines. Those lines used wooden elevated cars, which were not permitted to carry passengers in tunnels. The lightweights would be able to run in subways because they were all metal construction.
• MS - Five unit articulated 179' total length. This was the only large fleet of lightweight cars.
• The following were experimental lightweight cars from three builders
• Pullman cars made of aluminum, painted green and named "GREEN HORNET".
• Budd cars made of stainless steel and named "ZEPHYR".
• CC - Clark Equipment Company train based upon PCC trolley car technology, named the "BLUEBIRD". Officially called the Compartment Cars (CC in the roster). There was a large order for these pending in 1940, but when the city took control of the BMT, the contract was canceled.

See information about Door controls at this page.

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.