New Hybrid Locomotives Move R46s To Scrap. In the early morning hours of Friday, May 2, 2025, MTA NYCT Subway C Division transported an 8-car train of Pullman-Standard R-46 subway cars from 38 Street Yard to the South Brooklyn Railway interchange to the NYNJ Rail Yard in Brooklyn, New York. The cars, which were built 1974-1978, saw mid-life General Overhaul at Morrison–Knudsen between 1990–1992. After being delayed by a strike at the Pullman-Standard plant in Chicago, they arrived in New York, but suffered from cracked trucks and other mechanical problems. At the end, they will have survived about 50 years in regular service, and for now can still be seen running alongside their replacements, the R211As, daily. At a later date, the cars will be transported by NYNJ Rail to their eventual scrap location. This was the first time that a pair of R-255 locomotives have been used for this purpose.
The Wabtec WAB6HYB/R-255 is a 675hp hybrid work locomotive designed for the demands and clearances of the New York City Subway system. The diesel engine charges the batteries, which will allow the locomotive to operate for 8 hours. This will allow a new generation of locos to pull work trains through the subway with a much lower level of emissions. MTA NYCT Subway presently rosters 90 diesel engines that operate on non-revenue work trains. The NYCT is adding this 25 unit order of R-255s, as well as 45 additional units under a contract option, and the 10 R-77Es under conversion to R-257s by CAD Railway Industries to increase the size and flexibility of the fleet.
