R42 (New York City Subway car)
The R42 was a New York City Subway car model built by the St. Louis Car Company between 1969 and 1970 for the IND/BMT B Division. There were 400 cars in the R42 fleet, numbered 4550–4949. It was the last B Division car built for the New York City Subway until the R143 in 2001, and the last car model class to be built in married pairs. The first R42 cars entered service on May 9, 1969. Various modifications were made over the years to the R42 fleet. In the late 1980s, the R42 cars were rebuilt by Morrison–Knudsen and the Coney Island Rapid Transit Car Overhaul Shop. The R160 order was to replace all R42s in the late 2000s, but 50 cars of the original fleet remained, when it was decided to retire the NYCT R44s instead. The R179 order replaced the remainder of the R42s in the late 2010s, and the final train of R42s ran in passenger service on February 12, 2020. After retirement, most of the cars were sunk as artificial reefs, scrapped, or placed into storage, but a handful have been preserved and others retained for various purposes. Description The R42s were numbered 4550–4949. They