air conditioning as standard equipment on all new cars, and older model cars were retrofitted with AC units to make life much more bearable throughout the subway system. The Stone-Safety Air Conditioning system was adopted from their standard railroad and commuter coach air conditioning systems, and it proved very successful. History In March 1965, the New York City Transit Authority, continuing its program of car replacement, ordered 200 additional cars for the B Division from the St. Louis Car Company. These cars were the first to replace cars for the IND since it started operation in 1932. They also supplied extra trains for the Chrystie Street Connection, which opened on November 27, 1967. St. Louis was chosen after the first three bids were deemed as too high, with the cost savings totalling $500,000. The first two trains of R38s were placed in service at Queens Plaza after a brief introductory ceremony attended by Mayor John V. Lindsay, NYCTA Chairman Joseph O'Grady, and NYCTA Commissioners Joseph Gilhooly and Daniel T. Scannell on the and on August 23, 1966. Though there were controversies about diverting these cars from their original assignment for the , it was decided to introduce the R38s on the IND Queens Boulevard Line, as the line was short of cars and the R1-R9s assigned to Jamaica Yard were in a bad state of disrepair. Overhaul and mishaps Cars 3990–3991 & 4000–4001 were involved in an incident on June 11, 1972, at the bumper blocks within the relay area east of the Jamaica–179 Street Terminal. These cars were stored in very heavily damaged condition at Coney Island Yard until they were scrapped in 1983. In 1987–1988, the 196 remaining R38s were rebuilt by General Electric at its Buffalo, New York facility. During the rebuilding process, the R38s were fully equipped with air conditioning systems. Prior to rebuilding, the R38s featured mylar curtain route signs on their bulkheads displaying the service bullet and destination, similar to past B-Division R-type cars. After rebuilding, they received Luminator flipdot signs that displayed the service letter only, since the air conditioning evaporators mounted on the interior car ends made it rather difficult to change the front route and destination rollsigns. The distinctive "EXP" (express) and "LOCAL" marker lights were also removed. Like the R32s, the rollsigns on the sides of the cars were updated and retained. The first ten R38s were sent to General