R142 (New York City Subway car)

R142 (New York City Subway car)
An R142 train on the at East 180th Street.
Interior of an R142 car.
In service	2000–present
Manufacturer	Bombardier Transportation
Built at	Plattsburgh, New York
Family name	NTT (new technology train)
Replaced	R26, R28, R29, R33, R33 WF, R36, R36 WF
Constructed	1999–2003
Number built	1,030
Number in service	1,030 (900 in revenue service during rush hours)
Formation	5-car sets (2 A cars and 3 B cars)
Fleet numbers	6301–7180 (R142) 1101–1250 (R142S)
Capacity	176 (A car) 188 (B car)
Operator(s)	New York City Subway
Depot(s)	East 180th Street Yard, 239th Street Yard, Jerome Yard[1]
Service(s) assigned	– 340 cars  – 220 cars  – 340 cars
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel with fiberglass top end bonnets
Train length	513.3 feet (156.5 m)
Car length	51.33 feet (15.65 m)
Width	8.60 feet (2,621 mm)
Height	11.89 feet (3,624 mm)
Floor height	3.6458 ft (1.11 m)
Platform height	3.6458 ft (1.11 m)
Doors	6 per car
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h) Service 70 mph (110 km/h) Design
Weight	72,000 pounds (33,000 kg) (A car) 66,300 pounds (30,100 kg) (B car)
Traction system	Alstom ONIX propulsion system AC Traction Motors model: 4LCA1640A
Power output	147.5 hp (110.0 kW) per motor axle; 2,065 hp (1,539.87 kW) per 5-car set
Acceleration	2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h·s))
Deceleration	2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h·s)) (full service), 3.2 mph/s or 5.1 km/(h·s) (emergency)
Auxiliaries	SAFT 195 AH battery (B car)
Electric system(s)	625 V DC Third rail
Current collection method	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	Dynamic braking propulsion system; WABCO RT-5 tread brake system
Safety system(s)	dead man's switch, tripcock, emergency brakes
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The R142 is the first model class of the newest generation or new technology (NTT) IRT cars for the New York City Subway. Built by Bombardier in La Pocatiere, Quebec and Barre, Vermont with final assembly performed at Plattsburgh, New York, from 1999 to 2003.^[2]

Background

The 1,030 R142 cars have Alstom ONIX AC propulsion, electronic braking, automatic climate control, electronic strip maps, and an on-board intercom system. The R142 and the R142A was partly designed by Antenna Design.^[3][4]

The first 10 R142s numbered 6301–6310 were delivered on November 16, 1999. Regular service began on the 2 train on July 10, 2000, after several months of testing and troubleshooting of all bugs. The R142s and R142As replaced all of the Redbirds—the R26, R28, R29, R33, R33 WF, R36 and R36 WF IRT cars by late 2003.

There are two types of cars: "A" (cab at one end) and "B" (no cabs). "A" cars are powered with four traction motors each, with the passenger doors opposite each other. The "B" cars are powered by two traction motors at the number-two end, and the passenger doors are staggered (car ends are numbered on the lower body just above the truck).^[5][6][7] The trains are linked up in A-B-B-B-A sets, but also can be linked in sets of 4, 6, 9, or 11 cars.

The R142/A cars are similar to the R110A cars, with 54-inch side doors (about 9 inches narrower than the R110A doors, which were 63 inches, and 4 inches wider than the doors on the R62/As, which were 50 inches). All car ends have windows, allowing passengers to see through to the next car, except unit ends, where the cab walls prevent such visibility. R142 car bodies are stainless steel.

Recorded announcements

The R142 and R142As were the first fleets to feature recorded announcements.

The recorded announcements are by:

• Jessica Ettinger-Gottesman, 1010 WINS Anchor: Announcements on Lexington Avenue Line 4, 5, and 6 trains
• Melissa Kliner: original announcements on the 4, 5, and 6 trains outside of Manhattan; these have since been re-recorded by Ettinger-Gottesman
• Diane Thompson: announcements on the 2 train as well as the other IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line (1 and 3) trains when the R142s run on them in rare occasions.
• Charlie Pellett: "Stand clear of the closing doors, please" and various public announcements, such as safety announcements, announcements about a delay, and on the IRT trains, transfer announcements at most stations. The female announcers' voices are utilized for transfer announcements on the R143 and R160 cars.

These people were news anchors with Bloomberg Radio at the time the announcements were recorded. Since then, Ettinger-Gottesman and Pellett are now at 1010 WINS-AM and Sirius Satellite Radio working with Howard Stern and his Howard 100 news team.^[8]

Differences between the R142s and R142As

The R142s and R142As look similar to each other, but there are numerous differences between the two car types.

• Kawasaki built the R142As, while Bombardier built the R142s.
• The R142A's external speakers have a narrower rim around the edges than those on the R142.
• The interior speakers on the R142As are recessed into the curved portion of the ceiling while the R142s speakers are located in the middle of the ceiling.
• The R142As have different AC traction motors than the R142s. The R142s use Alstom AC traction motors, which are very similar to the ones used on the R160A cars and many R160B cars, while the R142A's use Bombardier (formerly Adtranz) AC traction motors which are identical to the ones used on the R143 cars.^[9][10][11]
• B cars on the R142As have traction motors at the number-one end.^[12][13]
• The R142A car ends consist of a single fiberglass piece, while the front consists of two separate portions on the R142, one fiberglass and one stainless.
• The LCD destination signs and LED interior passenger information signs on the R142 "turn off" when changing, while the ones on the R142A switch without turning off.
• R142 cars have a dot-matrix LCD route number display and mosaic LCD destination on the side destination signs, while R142A cars have a mosaic LCD for both the route and destination on the side destination signs.
• The interior red door indicator lights on R142s are directly above the doors near its corners and point downwards towards the floor while the R142A's interior red door indicator lights are located just to the left and right of the doors and point towards the opposite wall.
• The flashing orange closing door lights on the R142As are slightly larger on the R142s.
• The car end lexan glass windows open through a few tiny screws on R142s compared to the keyhole on the R142As.
• The R142 and R142A utilize different truck designs. The R142 utilizes Bombardier trucks while the R142A utilizes Kawasaki trucks.^[14][15][16]
• The two cars have different HVAC systems. The R142s HVAC is noticeably louder than the R142As.
• R142A cars contain two more advertising panels than R142 cars.
• The front windows on the R142s are less abruptly curved than the R142As.
• The windows on the sides of the operator's compartment have wider rims on the R142As compared to those on the R142s.
• The windows on the front doors of the R142As are smaller than those on the front doors of the R142s.
• The door handles on the car end doors leading from one car to another are different on the R142s and R142As.
• The numbers on the R142A cars are in Akzidenz-Grotesk font while those on the R142 cars are in Helvetica lettering.
• R142s have a propulsion sound described as a stepping propulsion sound, while R142As have a rolling propulsion sound.

Gallery

• 

  Yankees R142 car at East 180th Street station. This train was wrapped for the first two games of the 2000 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

• 

  Showing the difference between the motor and trailer trucks.

See also

• R142A (New York City Subway car) a similar car built by Kawasaki Railcar Corp. of Kobe, Japan.
• R188 (New York City Subway car) a similar car built and converted by Kawasaki Railcar Corp. of Kobe, Japan.

References

1. New York Subway Barn Assignments. December 2014
2. "Some New Subway Cars Put Into Service Monday" NY1 - 10 July 2000. Retrieved on 24 April 2008
3. Chan, Sewell (2005-11-30). "New Subway Cars Promise All Kinds of Information". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
4. "Antenna: News". antennadesign.com.
5. "Showing Image 3427". nycsubway.org.
6. YouTube. youtube.com.
7. "Showing Image 100281". nycsubway.org.
8. "www.nycsubway.org". www.nycsubway.org.
9. IRT 5 Train to Manhattan, at 238th Street. YouTube. 2 November 2008.
10. YouTube. youtube.com.
11. YouTube. youtube.com.
12. "Showing Image 74505". nycsubway.org.
13. YouTube. youtube.com.
14. "Showing Image 47237". nycsubway.org.
15. "Showing Image 47211". nycsubway.org.
16. "Showing Image 130320". nycsubway.org.

External links

• Bombardier - R142 (click on "Metro R142")
• nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R142
• R142 Traction Motor
• Bombardier/Kawasaki Truck Comparison (Bomb on top and Kawasaki underneath)
• Car Status/Assignment
• IRT Car Assignments - December 6, 2015
• New York City Subway Car Fleet June 2010 through December 2015