The R16 was a New York City Subway car model built by the American Car and Foundry Company from 1954 to 1955 for the IND/BMT B Division. A total of 200 cars were built, arranged as single units. Two versions were manufactured: Westinghouse (WH)-powered cars and General Electric (GE)-powered cars. The first R16s entered service on January 10, 1955. Various modifications were made over the years to the R16 fleet. The GE-powered cars were found to be less reliable than the WH-powered cars, so the New York City Transit Authority planned to retire them early in 1977 with R46s. However, problems with R46 cars kept the GE-powered R16s in service until 1983. The WH-powered R16s were retired in 1987 with the delivery of the R68s. Some R16 cars were saved for various purposes, but most were scrapped. Description The R16s were numbered 6300–6499. When delivered, the R16s quickly became the new standard in car design for the New York City Transit Authority. Structurally and mechanically, they were the larger versions of the R15s and the R17s, and basically an improved version of the R10s, sharing the same exact dimensions. The only exception was that the R16s had electrically operated door motors while the R10s had air-powered door motors. When they were new, the R16s could give the R10 some competition when it came to speed – both cars were mechanically similar with four 100 horsepower motors and a balancing speed of 55 MPH. The R16s, like the older Arnines, R10s, and R11s, featured three sets of mid-car body passenger windows on each side. One set contained an illuminated rollsign box in lieu of a second window. This sign box had three readings arranged vertically – the top two being the train's terminals, and the bottom being the route. This window and signbox pattern became standard for later cars until the R40s in 1967. The R16 would also be the last car class delivered with crosswise seating until the R44 order in 1971. There were two versions of the R16: Westinghouse (WH)-powered cars (6300–6399) and General Electric (GE)-powered cars (6400–6499), the latter of which were delivered earlier. The GE-powered cars used forced air to cool the rheostatic resistors used for acceleration and dynamic braking. However, the low voltage rotary converter (motor-generator) used to provide the air proved to be problematic as the enclosure tended to trap dirt and rainwater within. In