R142A (New York City Subway car)

"R142A" redirects here. For the road, see Route 142. For the refrigerant "1-Chloro-1,2-difluoroethane", see List of refrigerants.

R142A (New York City Subway car)
An R142A train in service approaches Parkchester in the Bronx.
Interior of an R142A car.
In service	1999-present
Manufacturer	Kawasaki Rail Car Company
Built at	Yonkers, NY, USA Lincoln, NE, USA and Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan
Replaced	R26, R28, R29, R33, R33 WF, R36, R36 WF
Constructed	1999-2004
Refurbishment	7211-7230 (rebuilt as R188s)
Number built	600
Number in service	590 (480 in revenue service during rush hours)
Formation	5 car sets (2 A cars and 3 B cars)
Fleet numbers	7211-7810 (as built) 7221-7810 (currently)
Capacity	176 (A car) 188 (B car)
Operator	New York City Subway
Depot(s)	Mosholu Yard, Westchester Yard
Service(s) assigned
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless steel with fiberglass blind end bonnets
Car length	51.33 feet (15.65 m)
Width	8.60 feet (2,621 mm)
Height	11.89 feet (3,624 mm)
Platform height	3.6458 ft (1.11 m)
Doors	6 per car
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	73,300 lb (33,200 kg) (A car) 67,800 lb (30,800 kg) (B car)
Traction system	Bombardier MITRAC propulsion system, 3-Phase AC Traction Motors Model 1508C
Power output	150 hp (111.855 kW) per motor axle; 2,100 hp (1,565.970 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-96 tread brake system
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The R142A, along with the R142, are part of the fourth generation of somewhat similar cars for the A Division of the New York City Subway.

Background

The R142A cars were built by Kawasaki at Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan with final assembly performed at Kawasaki Railcar Corp.'s American Facilities located at Lincoln, NE, USA & Yonkers, NY, USA from 1999 through 2004, and have many of the same features as the R142, built by Bombardier. The 400 R142A cars of the main order are numbered 7211-7610; the 120 option cars are numbered 7611-7730. Eighty cars, built under contract R142S, were built by Kawasaki in 2003-04 to supplement the R142As. They are numbered as 7731-7810. They are mechanically and physically identical to all other R142As, and are considered part of the R142A fleet.

The first ten (10) R142As #'s 7211-7220 were delivered in December 1999. Regular service also began on the 6 train on July 10, 2000 after several months of testing.

As of 2012, cars 7231-7590 and 7596-7680 run on the 6 train and cars 7681-7810 run on the 4 train.

Cars 7211-7220 have been overhauled with Communications-based train control (CBTC) and are now R188s, with 7221-7230 currently undergoing same at Kawasaki Railcars facilities in Yonkers, NY. As of February 7, 2012, cars 7591-7595 have been taken out of service and are currently at Corona Yard.

Approximately 380 R142As are expected to be overhauled into R188's for Flushing Line CBTC service, more than half of the R142A fleet.

Differences between the R142 and R142As

• The R142As external speakers have a narrower rim around the edges than those on the R142.
• The interior speakers on the R142A are recessed into the curved portion of the ceiling while the R142s speakers are located in the middle of the ceiling.
• The R142As have differentAC traction motors than the R142. The R142s use Alstom AC traction motors, which are very similar to the ones used on the R160A cars and some of the R160B cars, while the R142A's use Bombardier (formerly Adtranz) AC traction motors which are identical to the ones used on the R143 cars.
• B cars have traction motors at the number one end.
• The R142A car ends consist of a single fiberglass piece, while the front consists of two separate portions, one fiberglass and one stainless on the R142.
• 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 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.
• The two cars have different HVAC systems. The R142s HVAC is noticeably louder.
• 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 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 R142As cars are in Akzidenz-Grotesk font while those on the R142 cars are in New York City's tradition Helvetica lettering.

Showing the difference between the motor and trailer trucks.

See also

• R142 (New York City Subway car) a similar car built by Bombardier in Plattsburgh, New York and Barre, Vermont
• R188 (New York City Subway car) a similar car equipped with CBTC built by Kawasaki Railcar Corp., most of which are to be rebuilt from R142As.

External links

• Kawasaki - R142A
• nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R142
• Educated » Blog Archive » Subway Sounds: R-142A
• Car Status/Assignment
• A Division Train Assignments 12-16-2012