181 Street Station

New York City Subway Vaktrak Vacuum Train On The 1 Line. During the early morning hours of May 1, 2026, the Vaktrak Vacuum Train made a round trip on the northern portion of the 1 Line from 96 Street to Dyckman Street. On an average night, a pair of these trains is out cleaning tracks on the MTA MYCT Subway, 1 each on the A and B Division. Details below.

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/c2gjSsBu0sc

Full resolution pics and prints:
MTA NYCT Subway Division C: https://www.riverrailphoto.com/nyctsubwaydivisionc
MTA NYCT Subway: https://www.riverrailphoto.com/nycsubway

Vak Trak:
MTA NYCT Subway's NEU Railways/SOCOFER Vaktrak train travels at 2-8 mph, collecting debris from the track. Although originally planned to be self-powered, the unit is paired with an MPI MP-8-AC/R-156, which allows for the rotation of power in between maintenance cycles for the Vaktrain. The train travels various routes after rush hour service ends before returning to the yard to dump its contents.

R255 locomotive:
The Wabtec WAB6HYB/R-255 is a 675hp hybrid work locomotive designed for the demands and clearances of the New York City Subway system. The diesel engine charges the batteries, which will allow the locomotive to operate for 8 hours. This will allow a new generation of locos to pull work trains through the subway with a much lower level of emissions. MTA NYCT Subway presently rosters 90 diesel engines that operate on non-revenue work trains, and is adding this 25-unit order of R-255s, as well as the 10 R-77Es under conversion to R-257s by CAD Railway Industries, to increase the size and flexibility of the fleet.