Saved for One Man. In the New York Transit Museum collection, there is a set of cars that was saved by the act of a non-transportation person, and that is R-42s 4572-4573 (St. Louis Car, 1969-1970). The pair made an appearance in the 1971 movie "The French Connection" as part of a famous chase scene featuring Gene Hackman, who passed away on Thursday, February 27, 2025. The cars were brand new at the time, and thus likely were just a good choice for a film shoot because they were clean, but perhaps the numerical selection was not at random as Brooklyn Rapid Transit trolley car 4573 is also a survivor, preserved at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Branford, Connecticut. The pair are seen on the South Channel Subway Bridge crossing Jamaica Bay near Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York on an excursion on August 3, 2014 as part of the "Train Of Many Metals" behind a pair of R-40S cars. Another legacy of the movie - Alvin C. Copeland, founder of the Popeyes Chicken chain, reportedly named the restaurant after Gene Hackman's character in "The French Connection" Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle. Rest in peace Gene.
