The Composite was a New York City Subway car class built from 1903 to 1904 by the Jewett, St. Louis, Wason, and John Stephenson companies for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and its successor, the New York City Board of Transportation.
The Composite derived its name from its build as a "protected wooden car". The car frame was made of steel, while the car body itself was made from wood encased in a layer of copper sheathing. The copper skin was intended to protect the car in the event of a fire in the subway. Therefore, the result was a body composed of several materials (as in a Composite material) and became known simply as a "Composite".
Background The first IRT subway in New York would prove to be the initial attempt at an underground heavy rail subway in America. For example, the underground portion of Boston's Green Line, which opened in 1897, had been light rail. Therefore, the IRT and its chief engineer George Gibbs felt compelled to develop a subway car that would be stronger and safer than any previously designed railway cars. This inevitably led them to the conclusion that it would be best to design an all-steel car to run in the new tunnels.
However, car manufacturers of the time were unwilling to undertake such an experimental proposition. Steel was deemed too heavy for any practical applications. The conventional wisdom of the day (since proven to be false) held that an all-steel car would vibrate itself to pieces, claiming wood was "necessary" for its damping effects on the car's vibration. It was also widely believed that a steel car would be very loud, and poorly insulated from temperature extremes such as heat and cold. With a large backlog of orders for wooden cars, manufacturers had no incentive to explore the new technology as there was still plenty of demand for wooden railcars. The IRT knew that the October 27, 1904 opening of the new subway route was fast approaching and that rolling stock had to be designed and built soon or the line would not be ready. With time running short to order rolling stock, a wood-based alternative had been proposed – a protected wooden car to be known as a Composite.
Prototype construction
Engineering work began on the protected wooden cars, and two Composite prototypes were ordered from Wason in 1902. They were originally numbered 1 and 2, and named the August Belmont (after the president of the IRT) and the John B. McDonald (after the first subway's contractor), respectively. Each was designed to sample different features and amenities – the Belmont explored the possibility of offering a "first class" service (which never materialized), while the McDonald tested a layout intended to be more standard. After thorough evaluation of all features of both prototype cars, it was time to decide on a design for the Composites to be ordered for the subway. All engineering work on the cars was finally completed during 1902, and orders were placed with four manufacturers for 500 cars shortly thereafter.
The IRT was not finished visiting the all-steel car idea, however. In 1903, George Gibbs used his influence to contract with the Pennsylvania Railroad's shops in Altoona to build an all-steel prototype for the new subway. The all-steel prototype would serve as the inspiration for the Gibbs Hi-V cars, so named after George Gibbs, who had done so much to see to their creation. Along with similar all-steel equipment that arrived later, the Gibbs cars would eventually phase the Composites out of subway service. Meanwhile, as the effort to design a steel car continued in 1903, the IRT awaited the arrival of the Composites.
Service history Prototypes The two Composite prototypes (cars 1 and 2 – the August Belmont and John B. McDonald) never saw passenger service in the tunnels of the IRT subway. They were renumbered 3340 and 3341 respectively, in 1903. August Belmont became an instruction car, while John B. McDonald was used to distribute payroll to employees until 1917. In 1917, one year after the production fleet of Composite cars had been converted for service on the elevated division, the prototype John B. McDonald was also converted and added to the elevated fleet where it ran alongside the rest of the Composite cars. Following retirement, both Composite prototypes were also scrapped.
Production cars
The mainline fleet of Composites began arriving in New York as early as 1903 and was tested on the IRT's elevated lines shortly thereafter as work continued on the IRT subway. They proved suitable for use. Along with the Gibbs Hi-Vs, the Composites were part of the original IRT fleet, which ran along New York City's first subway route (the IRT Manhattan Mainline) beginning October 27, 1904. The cars proved serviceable and continued onward in service from that point.
Not counting the two Composite prototypes, the IRT received 500 Composites: 340 motor cars and 160 trailers. Estimates by IRT engineers required a 3:1 ratio of motor cars to trailer cars. Therefore, when the 300 Gibbs Hi-V motors were added to these numbers, the new totals were 640 motor cars and 160 trailers. This was a surplus of motor cars. Shortly after delivery, therefore, the IRT began converting motor cars into trailers. As all Gibbs Hi-V cars were motors, the preference was to keep them that way while converting more Composite motors into trailers. By 1910, 208 of the 340 motorized Composite cars had been converted into trailers.
By 1909, it was determined that improvements needed to be made to the fleet. Since the design of the Composites was heavily influenced by both elevated equipment and railroad coaches of the time, the cars featured only two doors at the extreme ends of the subway car. It was determined that adding a center door for improved passenger flow would be a good idea. This required removing the transverse seats, which faced each other in the center of the car. After the modification, passenger seating would be in the longitudinal direction (along the sides of the car) only. This created more room for standees. This modification was completed on the cars by 1912.
Despite their copper sheathing, it was found that the subway cars were not that well "protected" from fire for service in the subway, as 23 Composites had been retired from service due to fire or minor accidents by 1916. They were outlawed from the subway by order of the Public Service Commission. In addition, since subsequent car orders for the IRT were all-steel, concerns had grown about the effects of running the wooden equipment alongside steel equipment, should a collision occur. Thankfully, one never did, save for a test done to see how the cars would fare. The Composite was badly crushed while the all-steel car suffered considerably less damage, proving the superior strength of the steel cars. As a result of these two fears – fire and collision – the 477 remaining Composites were transferred during 1916 to serve on the elevated division of the IRT. Doing so also meant modifying their weight accordingly so as to reduce the stress on the weaker elevated structures. On January 17, 1916, the first elevated trains of Composite cars were in service on the IRT Third Avenue and Second Avenue Lines, sharing tracks with the subway. Because of their added weight even with the lighter trucks, the Composites had to run without passengers in the anti-peak direction of their rush hour trips. The entire Composite car fleet had been transferred to the elevated lines in Manhattan by December 1916. The Composites remained on the elevated until their retirement in 1950.
Following their retirement, all of the Composite cars were scrapped by 1953.
Description
Design Because of the concerns over wooden construction, the Composites employed a number of vintage, turn-of-the-20th-century mechanisms to reduce the risk of fire. Most commonly, this involved the use of asbestos, electrobestos, or the asbestos-containing material transite. Since the adverse health effects of such were not yet fully known nor understood, asbestos was present in numerous locations throughout the car, most notably under the floors, and around any electrical wiring. All of the undercar electrical equipment was housed in steel boxes. Steel and wood were used to complement each other and give rigidity to the body by strengthening the frame. However, the side paneling of the car remained wood. But as an added fireproofing measure, the wood siding would be encased in a layer of copper sheathing that ran halfway up the side of the car.
Because of the Composites' copper sheathing, IRT crews and shop personnel coined the nickname for the cars: Copper Sides.
Interior
As originally delivered, the cars came only with two doors on each side of the car, located at the end vestibules. The original seating configuration was what was known as "Manhattan Style", a name given because the seating arrangement originated on the cars that ran on the Manhattan elevated lines during the 19th century. "Manhattan Style" seating featured eight transverse seats in the center of the car facing each other, and longitudinal benches down the sides of the remainder of the car. No seating was provided in end vestibules as they were primarily for entrance and exit, and to accommodate standees. Each end vestibule was accessible at all times except for the ones at the very front and very rear of a train, which were closed off by sliding vestibule doors to block entry. Because of this layout, crowd conditions were a true New York spectacle. IRT ridership and crowding conditions exceeded the expectations of the IRT's engineers. Exit was difficult, with riders needing to access the car's extremities for a pathway out of the car via the vestibule. Entering riders had to wait while exiting riders alighted from the train before they could begin a long boarding process. Consequently, the most prudent course of action was determined to be adding center doors to each Composite car. This modification took place from 1909 to 1912. Adding a center door to the car body, however, directly conflicted with the Manhattan style seating, so the center transverse seats had to be removed for these modifications. The car body had also not been designed with the strength necessary to support a center door, so when this modification was made, it was necessary to add fishbelly girders underneath the center doors to provide added strength for the car's frame.
The cars as delivered featured rattan seats and incandescent lighting, staples of most pre-WWII subway cars in New York City. All areas of the cars were lit, as bulbs were placed along the center roofline and down the sides of each car's interior. Additionally, pairs of bulbs on each end lit each end vestibule. As delivered, they did not come with fans, however, windows and clerestory vents along the upper roof could be opened for ventilation. All windows were drop sash type (rather than rising sash type) for improved safety and to reduce the amount of draught in moving cars. Floors were made of wood (maple), and grab holds were provided along the roof for standees. Originally, these grab holds were made of leather (as on elevated trains), and later replaced with the steel grab holds that were IRT standard for many years.
As originally delivered, the cars featured manual "Armstrong" doors, a reference to the "strong arm" that would be needed by trainmen to open them. Near each door, a large lever could be thrown by trainmen to open or close the doors. This meant that each train of Composites required a number of trainmen to operate doors at each station stop.