What is your favorite nyc subway car model?

Question

name your favorite nyc subway car model from the R1 to the R160 and say why u like that model.

Answer 1

The Redbirds were my favorite.  I always made a point of riding them whenever I was younger and I would go into the city.  Now that they are not around, I try to ride the R32's as much as possible, since they are now the oldest equipment, and kinda cool as well.

Answer 2

Actually my favorite car is the IRT Lo-V followed by the R1 - R9 series.

My reason  - the Lo-Vs were the trains that were in main usage when I was growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s.  I like the sounds of the motors and the smells of the cars.  

The R1-R9s I rode when my grandparents would take me to Museums in Manhattan (they lived in Manhattan).  Also when I started working in 1969 I rode those cars on occasion going to and from work.

Answer 3

I liked riding the Redbirds, when I went to school in Brooklyn.  You were more likely to see them on the old IRT lines (which are the numbered lines now).  I used to ride in the front car, and stand next to the motorman's "closet" so I could look out the window.  Watching the tracks ascend to the elevated level from a tunnel was always a treat.

Sadly, the Redbirds are gone now, which makes the Silverbirds the "veterans."  They're OK, especially if they have corrugations on their sides, but you can't always look out the front window, like you could on the Redbirds.  

The new "full electronic" trains are also very cool--with automated station announcements and lighted route maps that tell you which station is next--but you can't look out the front window at all.  Progress isn't always so great.