Subway car designIn 1909, the first subway car with side doors in the U.S. was put into service in New York City. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company placed an 8-car train in service from Lenox Avenue to 148th Street. The side doors, positioned four feet from each end of the car, were opened and closed by a pneumatic-lever system. The cars cost $12,000 each. These doors were the invention of James McElroy of the Consolidated Car Heating Company. Although there had been prior instances of trains running underground, when the Interborough Rapid Transit Company opened on 27 Oct 1904, it was the first to establish a rapid transit subway in the U.S. |
