Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From the piston effect of 1904 to fully air conditioned cars by 1993, the NYC subway's 89-year journey to cool its trains is a story of persistence through failure.
Early attempts, like the 1955 retrofit, promised relief until doors opened and humidity flooded back in. It wasn't until 1967 that a genuine breakthrough emerged: the R38 cars on the F line proved that functioning air conditioning could work underground, convincing the city to order 600 more. Yet this hard-won victory for riders only solved half the problem. While every subway car now keeps passengers cool, the platforms where millions wait remain unbearably hot, presenting an engineering challenge that decades of innovation in train cooling have yet to fully overcome.
We explored the next solutions the NYC subway system needs to implement for platform cooling. Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel!
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From the piston effect of 1904 to fully air conditioned cars by 1993, the NYC subway's 89-year journey to cool its trains is a story of persistence through failure.
Early attempts, like the 1955 retrofit, promised relief until doors opened and humidity flooded back in. It wasn't until 1967 that a genuine breakthrough emerged: the R38 cars on the F line proved that functioning air conditioning could work underground, convincing the city to order 600 more. Yet this hard-won victory for riders only solved half the problem. While every subway car now keeps passengers cool, the platforms where millions wait remain unbearably hot, presenting an engineering challenge that decades of innovation in train cooling have yet to fully overcome.
We explored the next solutions the NYC subway system needs to implement for platform cooling. Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel!
Connect with Cheddar!
On Facebook: facebook.com/cheddar
On Instagram: instagram.com/cheddar
On the web: cheddar.com
In your inbox: need2know.cheddar.com/subscribe
