"R32s Over the Catskill Creek"
On the afternoon of March 16th, 2022, New York City Transit Budd R32 railcars 3879, 3878, 3929 and 3928 head over the Catskill Creek Trestle in Catckill, NY as they take a ride on CSX Q434 up the River Subdivision towards Selkirk. The four cars were de-trucked and loaded onto flat cars the week before to be transported to Frontier Metals in Ohio for scrapping. These pieces of equipment are just a few of many retired R32 railcars that will meet the torch in the upcoming months.
The R32 fleet entered service in 1964 and would run in service up until January of 2022, making them the oldest surviving subway cars in North America. About half of the fleet was retired in the late 2000s with the arrival of the R160 cars leaving the rest to cover services mainly on the Eighth Avenue Line routes (A & C) during the winter season and BMT Jamaica Line routes (J & Z) during the summer season. During the month of October, 2020, the rest of the fleet was finally placed into storage/ work service after 2 reactivations and the securement of the R179 fleet in revenue service. The R32s were officially retired on January 9th, 2022 with a farewell celebration that featured a special train making several trips throughout the day along the Brighton, Broadway and Second Avenue Lines.
