M1 car decommissioning: How long does it take?

Tom and all: I read the lists of decom'ed M1 cars and I wondered: How long from their last revenue run and retirement does the process take to when they are shipped out on flatcars bound for Mexico? I realize the LIRR strips them down for usable parts-how long does the cannibalization usually take? MACTRAXX

With M1 fleet getting smaller and smaller only usable parts to remove are basicly Radio/Cabsignal stuff/fire extinguisers/ and maybe some other small stuff.
There are not many parts common to M3 fleet.

what happens to them down in Mexico, are they scraped down there?

Mac,

The time varies. Decomming is a "back burner" item. The first priority, correctly, is to get PI's and busted cars back into service ASAP. Decomming is done on weekends and/or when there is manpower available for it. Sometimes they knock 'em right out...other times the cars may sit in the shop for two weeks.

RPM,

The cars are supposedly stripped for metal and other scrap value items in Mexico.

Tom

I personally seen them scrapped in as little as 4 days!!. I once climbed into a decom set at Fresh Pond to acquire 27 pin MU cables, which are the same as the ones uses on our engines. Out of curiosity I went into the cab to check the ASCDT-1 form to see when it was last certified. It was something like April 12, at Babylon yard, an early am time like 0300 on the form. The thing was on a flat in Pond waiting to be shipped out on the 16th!!. They did not waste time on that one.

RPM2Night wrote:what happens to them down in Mexico, are they scraped down there?

Under contract with Bombardier, the M-1s are sent to Mexico (don't know where exactly, any info?) and stripped for salvage/scrap and parts. This is due to asbestos liability concerns (if the salavge was done in the US).

As for the time between the last scheduled revenue run and being set out for final disposition, when the R36 cars were being phased out on the NYCT's IRT 7 Train in mid/late-2003, some cars would be in service one day and be en route to final deposition the next (or even that evening)!

Logistically, there doesn't appear to be an awful lot done to do a basic decommission job on a pair of M-1s.

The entire shoe beam assemblies are all removed, R-22 recovered from the A/C units, bathroom waste pumped out, and battery set disconnected and removed from the tray. If you have the manpower available, it could be done in one shift.
It gets a little more involved if they want to swap out relatively new trucks and/or A/C units for clunkers. That's gonna take more time and manpower, and is subject to hoist track availability.

We now have a stockpile of spare M-1 parts, so smaller parts are only taken off as needed.

The rest is paperwork.

Tom