The complete listing of contract numbers for cars in this group include: R1, R4, R6, R7/A, and R9. Also in the R1–9 family was the R8A, which was a revenue collection car, or Money train.
The R1–9s entered service between 1931 and 1940 and remained in service until they were replaced between 1968 and 1977 with R40, R42, R44, and R46 cars.[1][2] The last of the cars in this broad grouping were removed from passenger service in 1977. Many pieces of memorabilia, including rollsigns and car number plates, exist today in museums and private collections.
Preservation
Twenty of these cars are preserved by various museums, businesses, organizations, and private individuals.
R6 978 was used as a dining room at Golden's Deli in the Staten Island Mall until the deli closed in January 2012. The car was later sold to a private owner in Warwick, NY. This car is truckless with part of the car sliced away.[6][7][8][9]
R6 983 was on private property in Jacksonville, FL for over 35 years, after being purchased from the scrapyard in 1975 for use as a sidefront in a disco. It was purchased by the Craggy Mountain Line based in Asheville, NC in early 2013 and has been restored to operating service for their museum. The car uses trucks from scrapped R32s.[10]