NYC Subway: First Retired R46 Cars Being Towed to 38 St Yard for Scrap

[@mauricewells5327]

The R46 subway cars have served the subway system well.. They have operated many years over the system. I loved working on th R46 subway cars . I am a retired subway train conductor .

[@ericschwartz3559]

And I thought the R32 scrapping was sad, but this is three times sadder, because these are the last trains to make it to 50+ years of passenger operation as well as one of the last train cars to have yellow and orange seats and one of the last cars to be 75-feet (23 m) long. They were also the last cars built by Pullman before their went out of business in 1981. The 752-car R46 order was the largest single order for rolling stock in United States railroad history at the point of the fleet’s completion. I remember riding the R46’s on the A, C, F and R trains when I was little and I’ll miss it very much. I remember riding the F train to Coney Island and I was about 4 or 5 years old at the time and to my pleasure and luck, we rode an R46 all the way there from Manhattan, that’s an experience I’ll never forget, so lucky I was able to ride an R46 all the way to Coney Island. People who were alive in the late 1970s and maybe teenagers, or young adults, when they saw the R1/9s being retired by the R46s and now, they’re old, senior citizens or grandparents and seeing these cars now being taken out of service for the R211s they’re probably saying, “Wow, I remember when these were being phased in and now they’re being phased out and I love how history repeats itself. I was a young adult and I didn’t know 50+ years later that they are being retired and I’m now a senior citizen”.

[@transitcity]

seems like the R211s started taking action…

[@railfannerjs6308]

Nooo don’t rub it in!!!! 😭😭🙏 what are you doing! 😂

[@KingofGamingAndTrains456]

Looks like one of your IRL MTA memes videos is becoming a reality…

[@mrmta9796]

It’s happening..

[@alexcampos0623]

NOOOOOOOOO! 😢

[@seem823]

Yes sir

[@TheAnabelleshow]

Nooooo😭

[@146_ChinoMexicano]

*sighs* I don't know man.... I don't think the subway never gonna be the same without R46 anymore. Goodbye forever R46.

[@railfannerjs6308]

😭😭

[@agentrgwx8529]

Wow finally, will miss them but damn they are old

[@haroldalexis4200]

They're not that old !

[@agentrgwx8529]

It’s gotten to the point where they just have to go tbh

[@jaydenphilbertmunipals9089]

dang... I wonder if theyre gonna leave the 46's thats running on the Broadway line until the next order of R211A's get delivered

[@alexcampos0623]

@jaydenphilbertmunipals9089 they might send to the NY Transit Museum.

[@jaydenphilbertmunipals9089]

@alexcampos0623 well they can only take one set due to limited space

[@railfannerjs6308]

Or excursions like R32, no way R32s are more special for Brighton tours than R46, they’re saving some! Gotta be. Otherwise I’ll weep until R211s retire

[@TheAnabelleshow]

Goodbye R46 we will never forget you

[@oldipodee]

I can safely say I rode an R46 before they got retired. Rode one on a day trip from Philly back in August during the NJT fare holiday

[@railfannerjs6308]

I DIDNT 😭🙏 Bro by the time I go to NYC again it’s all new tech. Wasn’t like how it was for me in 2004 :(

[@monkeystuff661]

The old A C and F trains 🥲

[@ratuldeoun7228]

Didn’t the R46s also run on the R line at one point?! 🥲

[@brendan8976]

@@ratuldeoun7228they did

[@aaronthefriendlyroblox5733]

And so the scrapping of R46s begins…. Ima miss these R46 cars

[@redsox1935]

The r46 needed to retire. You could see rust on the train and it was a making a squeaky sound. It was time.

[@GelaisaWilliams-nc5om]

Oh Wow I Going To Miss R46s Train Cars Fleets So Much That Leaving N,Q,W Train Platforms 🎈🎈🎈🎈

[@yassinermidi4893]

No Not The R46s 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@SuperheroJunior]

Everything that has a beginning has an end. Nothing lasts forever 😢

[@ericschwartz3559]

No, scrapping of the R46’s has officially began. They’ll be missed. Rest in Peace 1975-2025. They have rust on the exterior, various door problems, motors dying in the middle of runs or mechanical issues, duct tape being used to keep together the bulkheads so they wouldn’t fall apart as well as the fleet showing serious signs of deterioration in the later years of their service lives. As sad as it is, it’s time for them to go and make way for modern, state-of-the-art, clean, safe and accessible subway cars. I’m so happy they lasted this long, but unfortunately suffering greatly from heavy passenger use in a big, populated and crowded city, transporting millions of New Yorkers and straphangers around the city for half a century, absolutely incredible if you ask me. 😮 Wear, tear and heavy passenger use have all “taken their toll”big time on these cars. I have to ride on the R46’s before the R211’s fully take over, just one last time and before they’re all gone forever. 😢😪😭💔💔💔💔💔💔 The R44s on the SIR are even older, being built in 1971-1973, so they are 52-54 years old. Those are already being trucked away for scrap, with the process beginning in October 2024. The first of the R211S cars entered service on October 8, 2024, with cars No. 100-104, a five-car set. I’ll be ten times sadder when the R68s start being towed away for scrap. A second option order of 435 R211s with 80 R211T “open-gangway”cars, announced in December 2024, will allow the replacement of some R68s and a handful of R62s and R62As, thus retiring the last yellow and orange seat subway cars in the fleet and the last 75-foot long cars as well. These will start being delivered to NYC in 2027. 60 R46’s are retired, with the fleet gradually being phased out starting in the spring of 2024 and by July of that year, 48 of the cars had been retired, stripped and decommissioned, prior to scrapping. Almost 690 still remain in service as of January 2025, but their days are certainly numbered big time. The last train is scheduled to run in either late 2025 or early 2026.

[@kevinb8881]

In the words of Michael Jackson, "This Is It, I Mean This Is Really It!!!"

[@zj777722]

Now we have to wait for the official announcement of their retirement. Hope we will hear something soon

[@elizabethbobbio2601]

A fairwell run world come next year or so

[@KingofGamingAndTrains456]

If we’re talking retirement and farewell runs, maybe they can keep one of the married pairs so that they can dress it up to look the way it did when it was brand-new in the 1970’s. And since the R46’s first debuted on the (F) and (N) lines, the final farewell run could be on the (N) because of QBL CBTC on the (F).

[@J.Z777-s8h]

Bye bye R46 we miss you

[@mahliekbenjamin174]

Miss The R32

[@redsox1935]

Those R32’s could have ran at least another 5 additional years. They were in good shape. Just like the r62 and r62A they have at least a good 5-8 more years of life in them.

[@brendan8976]

Goodbye R46, it’s been a fun one, we’ll miss you 😢

[@railfannerjs6308]

No it won’t end this way! This storyline is too powerful, some for excursion and Brighton tours, and give the rest to SIRR (/j btw, ik that’s the point of R211S), but the story SHALL NOT END WITH Such sadness!

[@railfannerjs6308]

Aww who am I kidding it’s over 😭🙏 I can’t stop this… 🥺

[@victorpike8918]

Definitely an end of an era.

[@TJThat1Person]

goodbye R46's

[@Mr.PixelsPixelV]

Noooooo😭😭😭

[@Hotters7060]

The R62 together with the R62A, R68 and R68A trains will be next to be scrapped 😭

[@ahrenlopez]

Thanks for everything r46 🫡🫡🫡🫡 r46 is good train and thanks for everything