ME-1 | |
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![]() SIRT ME-1 Car 388 on display at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in 2010. | |
In service | 1925–1973 |
Manufacturer | Standard Steel Car Company |
Constructed | 1925–1926 |
Number built | 100 (90 Motors, 10 Trailers) |
Number preserved | 2 |
Number scrapped | 98 |
Successor | R44 |
Formation | Single units |
Fleet numbers | 300–389 (motors) 500–509 (trailers) Note: Trailers 502, 505–507, and 509 converted to motor cars 390–394 in 1928 |
Capacity | 240: 71 (seated) 169 (standing) |
Operators | Staten Island Railway New York City Transit Authority |
Specifications | |
Car body construction | Steel |
Car length | 67 ft 3 in (20.50 m) |
Width | 10 ft 0 in (3,048 mm) |
Height | 12 ft 1.125 in (3,686 mm) |
Floor height | 3 ft 9.125 in (1.15 m) |
Doors | 6 |
Maximum speed | 60 mph (97 km/h) |
Weight | Motor car: 95,750 lb (43,430 kg) Trailer car: N/A |
Traction system | Motor car: GE PC 10L using GE 282A motors (200 hp each). 2 motors per car (1 per truck). Trailer car: None |
Power output | 200 hp (149 kW) per traction motor |
Electric system(s) | 600 V DC Third rail |
Current collector(s) | Top running Contact shoe |
Braking system(s) | WABCO Schedule AMUE with UE-5 universal valve, ME-30 brake stand, and simplex clasp brake rigging |
Coupling system | WABCO H2A |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The ME-1 (also known as MU-1 or MUE-1) was an electric multiple unit subway car built from 1925 to 1926 by the Standard Steel Car Company for the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company and later also used in the New York City Subway. 100 cars were built, numbered 300–389 (motors), and 500–509 (trailers). They were the first electric cars to run in revenue service on the SIRT.[1]
The ME-1s entered service in 1925 and ran continuously on all three SIRT lines. Sometime between 1953 and 1954, 25 cars were purchased by the New York City Transit Authority to run on the subway. Numbered 2900–2924, these cars were nicknamed B-29s, a reference to a large aircraft of the same name, due to their large size (67 feet or 20.42 meters) and the fact that they had been renumbered for subway service into the 2900s. The NYCT cars continued to run until 1961, when they were replaced by the R27s and R30s. The SIRT cars lasted until 1973, when they were replaced by the R44s. Two cars were preserved, while the rest were scrapped.