Well, I recall photographing #3081 on a storage track at the BMT 36th Street Yard while on the E.R.A.'s Red GOH R-30 fantrip on May 30, 1993 (about one month before that fleet's retirement from service). It was the last R-10 car I had pictured to date, as well as the then unrestored #3184 at Coney Island Yard from the same fantrip. In case anyone wonders, the very first R-10 car I ever photographed was a broadside view of #3141 (then graffitied) from the street level towards the Lefferts Boulevard station's elevated structure in February 1973.
As for the side roll sign situation, it is correct about their route and destination boxes (done by Hunter Illuminated Sign Company of Flushing) and their original positions. NYC Transit's Bergen Street Sign shop did create a new batch of mylar curtains during the time the 110 Westinghouse cars were being done in the green paint scheme, but just with listed terminals and routes for the "C", "G" and "H" lines only.
A vendor named Harlem Silk Screening made new side roll signs in 1985 for the R-10's that had all IND-BMT terminals combined into full northbound and southbound distinct units, as well new separate ones for the R-12/14/15's with their needed IRT terminals. Oddly, I had not seen any new ones featuring routes though.
I personally seen one of those newer Harlem Silk Screening IND-BMT R-10 side roll signs on GE car #3317, and that was all. The R-12/14/15 signs turned out to be a bad purchase, because they were all gone from service in 1984, thus NYC Transit had to sell them off at their infamous Transit Museum Garage Sale a few years ago. I own two complete sets of the IRT side roll signs in my collection, which had separate northbound and southbound terminals, but one downtown designation as a mistake saying "135th Street-Lexington Avenue" (instead of Lenox).
The final R-10 side roll sign contracts came in the fall of 1988, with all the terminals printed by Multiple Products of Toronto, Canada, and the routes done by Translite (or Transign) of Milford, Connecticut. This time, the new mylar rollers, even seen to this day on restored museum car #3184, only listed the terminals and routes for the "A", "C", "H" and "D" lines plus Shuttle and Special.
As for the lighting of the R-10 side roll signs, I do remember being them green back in the 1960's, but then of course that stopped being the case for the reason given in Grounded Shoe Beam's post. However, the last time I had seen a lighted R-10 side box was on, and of all things, green car #3037 in 1989 on an uptown "C" line run to the Bronx, but it was unusually white instead of being green.
-William A. Padron
["Fulton-Lefferts Blvd."]