To the Editor,
Riding the vintage NYC Transit subway Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) train to Yankee Stadium for Opening Day was a great excursion. Back in the 1920s, fans rode these same trains to the ballpark. What a treat to see the old fashioned rattan seats, ceiling fans and vintage advertisements from the past. This generation of subway cars was so well built and maintained that they ran until the 1960s!
In 1967, NYC Transit introduced the first 10 air conditioned subway cars operating on the old IND system (Independent Subway System). It was not until 1975, that air conditioned subway cars were introduced on the old IRT (NYC private-franchised Independent Rapid Transit). Subsequently, this also included the old BMT (NYC private-franchised Brooklyn Manhattan Transit).
It took until 1982 to retrofit all the original IRT “Redbird” series subway cars. By 1993, 99% of the 6,000 NYC subway cars were air conditioned with the exception of a handful running on the #7 Flushing line.
Larry Penner
