On June 1, 1940, the City of New York acquired the two subway systems it didn't already own — the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit Co.) and the BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corp.) — and consolidated them with the city-owned IND (Independent Subway System). It was readily apparent that the city's fleet of aging subway cars was desperately in need of replacement, and immediately after World War II, management began to develop a new car that would be standard throughout the system and incorporate the latest advances in subway design. This effort was complicated by the fact that portions of the IRT had tighter clearances than the IND and BMT, so all future designs would incorporate a shorter, narrower IRT version.

Delivered in a maroon paint scheme, the R-17s were repainted in the MTA's new blue and silver colors in the 1970s. A less-than-successful white scheme, intended to discourage taggers, followed in the 1980s. And just a few years before their retirement in 1988, 16 cars were painted in the "fox red" used on the Redbird cars, although the R-17s were never officially part of the Redbird fleet.

Preservation and Movie Roles

You can still ride an R-17 today in New York and Connecticut. Both the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn and the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, Connecticut have a restored, operational R-17. In fact, the Shore Line's Car 6688 appears in the movie The Amazing Spider Man 2. Other film appearances by R-17s include The French Connection, Ron Howard's Night Shift, and an interior shot in the opening credits of Oliver Stone's Wall Street.

FEATURES

Set Features

• 4-Car Consist with (1) Powered Car, (3) Non-Powered Cars

  Powered Car Features

• Intricately Detailed ABS Body
• Metal Chassis
• Detailed Car Undercarriage
• Authentic Paint Scheme
• Metal Wheels and Axles
• RP25 Metal Wheels
• (2) #158 Scale Kadee Whisker Couplers
• Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting
• Directionally Controlled Constant Voltage LED Headlight
• Powerful 5-Pole Precision Flywheel Equipped Skew-Wound Balanced Motor
• Onboard DCC Receiver
• Locomotive Speed Control In Scale MPH Increments
• Operates On Code 70, 83 and 100 Track
• 1:87 Scale Proportions
• Equipped With Proto-Sound 3.0 Featuring Station Stop Proto-Effects

  Non-Powered Car Features

• Durable ABS Intricately Detailed Bodies
• Metal Wheels and Axles
• RP25 Metal Wheels
• Detailed 4-Wheel Trucks
• Overhead Constant Voltage LED Interior Lighting
• (2) #158 Scale Kadee Whisker Couplers
• Authentic Paint Scheme
• Detailed Car Interiors
• Metal Chassis
• Detailed Car Undercarriage

M.T.H. Show Schedule For Week of November 27, 2016

M.T.H. Electric Trains will be attending the OKC Train Show on December 3 - 4, 2016 at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

HO, S Scale, O Scale, One Gauge and tinplate model railroading fans attending the event will have an opportunity to meet and ask M.T.H. Representatives questions about the M.T.H. product line, company direction and future plans as well as see product demonstrations and pick up a copy of our latest catalogs.

• OKC Train Show

Saturday, December 3, 2016:
9:00am - 5:00pm

Sunday, December 4, 2016:
10:00am - 4:00pm

If you are interested in seeing a list of all the M.T.H. shows we will be attending over the next few months, CLICK HERE.

Check Out The MTH Smart Phone App

M.T.H. Electric Trains has published its first smartphone and tablet app for controlling a DCS layout wirelessly to the Apple App Store and Google Play stores.

The App provides access to the M.T.H. website allowing visitors to quickly find the latest news, search for products, watch product videos and much, much more.

The app can also control a DCS layout from any smartphone or tablet when paired with a DCS Wi-Fi Interface Unit and DCS Track Interface Unit. Both iOS and Android versions are FREE with an option for in-app purchase upgrades.

Learn more about the app by clicking HERE.