R42 (New York City Subway car)

R42 (New York City Subway car)
250px An R42 train on the at Broad Street.
250px Interior of an R42 car.
In service	1969-present
Manufacturer	St. Louis Car Company
Built at	St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Replaced	All remaining BMT Standards, and many R1s
Constructed	1969–1970
Refurbishment	1988–1989
Scrapped	2008-
Number built	400 (many retired)
Number in service	50
Number preserved	5
Number scrapped	345
Formation	Married Pairs
Fleet numbers	4550–4949
Capacity	44 (seated)
Operator(s)	New York City Subway
Depot(s)	East New York Yard
Service(s) assigned	– 40 cars
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless Steel with Carbon Steel chassis, roof and underbody, Fiberglass A-end bonnet and B-end top bonnet
Train length	2 car train: 120.4 feet (36.7 m) 4 car train: 240.8 feet (73.4 m) 6 car train: 361.2 feet (110.1 m) 8 car train: 481.6 feet (146.8 m) 10 car train: 602 feet (183 m)
Car length	60 ft (18.29 m)
Width	10 ft (3,048 mm)
Height	12.08 ft (3,682 mm)
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors	8
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	74,388.5 lb (33,742 kg)
Traction system	General Electric (GE) SCM propulsion system using Westinghouse 1447J motors 115 hp (85.8 kW) on all axles
Electric system(s)	600 V DC Third rail
Current collection method	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	CI Rebuilds: New York Air Brake SMEE/ Newtran (dynamic and friction), A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake MK Rebuilds: WABCO "SMEE" Braking System, A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake
Coupling system	Westinghouse H2C
Headlight type	halogen light bulbs
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The R42 is a New York City Subway car model built between 1969 and 1970 by the St. Louis Car Company in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the B Division (IND/BMT). This fleet was the first to be fully equipped with Stone Safety 10 ton air conditioning systems/units similarly found on the last ten (10) R38 and R40A cars. The R42 fleet is numbered 4550-4949. It was the last 60-foot (18.29 m) B Division car built for the New York City Subway until the R143 in 2001, and the last car model class to be built in married pairs.

Background

On May 9, 1969, cars 4554-4555 entered service on the N as part of a mixed consist with R40Ms. Although, there were some slight cosmetic differences, the R40Ms and R42s were for all practical purposes the same car type. As of January 5, 1970, all cars were in service.

The R42s were the first cars to use solid state converters in place of the motor-generators as standard equipment.

In 1974 twenty R42 cars 4650-4659 & 4760-4769 were sent to Garrett AiResearch's facilities in Los Angeles, California to have an Flywheel Energy Storage System equipment, and Energy Conservation machinery with batteries installed under each of the even numbered cars, while the odd numbered car's remains untouched. These cars were later tested at the UMTA, and US Department of Transportation's Testing Facilities in Pueblo, Colorado for evaluation before returning to the MTA-NYCTA in 1976 for in-service testing on all BMT/IND Lines to check-out its effectiveness. The even numbered cars had a amber-type digital readout indicating the amount of energy used on the even numbered cars with the Energy Conservation equipment installed, verses the odd numbered cars which did not receive the Energy conservation equipment.

Maintenance and Accidents

In 1977, pantograph gates, salvaged from retired R1s - R9s, were modified and then installed on the front ends of these cars, and baloney coiled spring type inter car safety barriers were installed on the blind ends of the married pairs, and also on the R40Ms as a safety measure. The R40Ms came factory equipped with the baloney coiled spring type inter car safety barriers on their blind ends, and did not require installation of same.

Between 1988 and 1989, R42s underwent overhaul as a result of deferred maintenance in the New York City Subway during the 1970s and the 1980s. 282 cars (4550–4839) were overhauled by Morrisen-Knudsen while the last 110 cars (4840–4949) were rebuilt in-house by the Coney Island Overhaul Shop in Brooklyn. The one minor difference in appearance between the two overhauls was that many cars of the Coney Island version featured the original blue door indicator lights at the ends of the cars, whereas these lights were removed from the Morrison-Knudsen rebuilds. Also, all cars became General Electric (GE) cars after rebuilding.

Cars 4680-4681, 4714-4715, and 4766-4767 were scrapped in 1988 due to various accidents in the 1980's. On June 6, 1995, cars 4664-4665 were involved in a collision on the Williamsburg Bridge. Car 4664 was scrapped in 2000 (with cars 4685 and 4726, which were not involved in the accident), while 4665 was mated with straight-ended R40A car #4460, which lost its mate in the same accident. On November 6, 2007, an M train of R42s was involved in an accident when the motorman attempted to relay it south of the Chambers Street station. As the R42 fleet was being retired at the time, the entire consist was hauled to 207th Street Yard for reefing instead of being repaired even though only the first two cars suffered major damage.

Retirement and Preservation

The R160s replaced most of the R42 fleet from 2007 to 2009. They were intended to replace the entire fleet, but this has been halted due to structural issues found on the R44s that led to a premature retirement of that fleet. The NYCTA-rebuilt R42s were retired and reefed first, from late 2007 to mid-2008. Subsequently, most of the Morrison-Knudsen-rebuilt cars followed starting in late 2008 until December 2009, when it was decided to retire the NYCT R44s instead. All but 50 cars were retired, and most were stripped and sunk as artificial reefs. However, since 2013, retired R42s have been trucked to Sims Metal Management's Newark facility to be scrapped and processed. These cars were sitting in storage since December 2009 and scrapped July-October 2013.

The 50 cars still in service, 4788-4817 and 4820-4839, are assigned to East New York Yard, operating on the J and Z. The remaining R42s were expected to be replaced by the R179 order starting at least in 2016. However, as of July 2015, no retirement date has been set due to numerous delays in the delivery of their R179 replacement cars, along with a previously unanticipated fleet expansion caused by increased ridership and the rebuilding of the 14th Street Tunnel.

Preservation

Cars 4572-4573 have been preserved, repainted, and set aside for the New York Transit Museum. This set was used in the famous chase scene in the film The French Connection. The pair is at the 207 Street Yard. It has been used on several fan trips recently, including the BMT 100th Anniversary special.

Car 4665 and its R40A mate 4460 have been preserved by the Railway Preservation Corp and are stored at Coney Island Yard.

Cars 4736-4737 were donated to East New York's Transit Tech High School on April 14, 2009, replacing R30 car 8337, which was reefed a few months later.

Further reading

• Sansone, Gene. Evolution of New York City subways: An illustrated history of New York City's transit cars, 1867-1997. New York Transit Museum Press, New York, 1997 ISBN 978-0-9637492-8-4

External links

• nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R42
• BMT-IND Car Assignments - December 6, 2015
• New York City Subway Car Fleet June 2010 through December 2015