Bluebird Compartment Car (New York City Subway car)

The Bluebird, formally dubbed Compartment Car by its purchaser, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), was an advanced design PCC streetcar-derived subway and elevated railway car built by the Clark Equipment Company from 1938 to 1940[1] and used on the New York City Subway system from 1939 to 1955.

The car's lightweight body and running gear, combined with its short truckbase and segmented body, permitted it to operate on the oldest elevated structures, with their light loading tolerance and sharp curves, as well as in tunnel sections, where policy prohibited the use of the wooden cars typically used on elevated lines.

[2] The BMT expected the Bluebird to preserve its investment in its elevated railway lines without expensive upgrading for heavier subway equipment, while attracting passengers with its interior comforts.

Tests demonstrated that its greatly improved operating parameters could have cut significant time from existing elevated train schedules.

Bluebirds were the first PCC-derived rapid transit cars utilizing the advanced running gear originally created for new-design streetcars.

[3] The Bluebirds were built by Clark Equipment Company of Battle Creek, Michigan,[1] maker of PCC running gear.