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Discussion relating to the past and present operations of the NYC Subway, PATH, and Staten Island Railway (SIRT).

Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain

 #1529997  by Roadgeek Adam
 
ConstanceR46 wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2020 3:13 am Whelp. They're gone. Last R42s operated Monday the 30th.
Unfortunately when I was in Brooklyn last, they were just sitting at 111th Street since they were on emergency use only. The R179s ate them all up.

Image
 #1530173  by BuddR32
 
These cars originally had air conditioning. They also originally had backlit advertisement panels, like the R44/46 etc. After GOH they no loner had them (the backlit signs). Does anyone know why?

I understand why with the R32s as when they added the air conditioning the interior ceiling was lowered, but never understood why on the R42s
 #1530506  by MACTRAXX
 
Everyone: The R42 cars saw decades of service for the NYC Subway system.
These cars were the first full series that were of an MTA design - built in 1970-71.
With a full overhaul and rebuild they would literally reach 50 years of service until their retirement.

R32: The backlit panels required car cards that were made of thin opaque plastic as opposed to traditional
cardboard advertisements. These light boxes provided some of the interior lighting which would be blocked
if traditional ads were used. Car cards had to be produced using both types for the fleet with this distinction.

What I am not sure of is what subsequent cars had backlit advertising installed and when it was formally
discontinued. The use of plastic advertising cards was primarily during the 70s and 80s as I recall.

MACTRAXX
 #1530560  by R36 Combine Coach
 
After being "stored" in reserve, R42s returned in service 1/8/20.
MACTRAXX wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:14 am Everyone: The R42 cars saw decades of service for the NYC Subway system.
These cars were the first full series that were of an MTA design - built in 1970-71.
With a full overhaul and rebuild they would literally reach 50 years of service until their retirement.


What I am not sure of is what subsequent cars had backlit advertising installed and when it was formally
discontinued. The use of plastic advertising cards was primarily during the 70s and 80s as I recall.
The first cars under the MTA auspices were the last 100 R40s - "modified" or straight cars with a straight nose in response to the criticism of the slanted nose as designed by Raymond Loewy. They were basically slanted R40s with the new nose added on while on the assembly line - an afterthought by late MTA Chairman Ronan. The 100 "modified" R40s rolled out of St. Louis between early January and late March 1969, with the R42s following afterward. The 400 R42s were similar to the last 100 R40s, with different side sheetmetal, seating and end doors. They now had solid state converters with lighting inverters, which meant no blinking on power gaps. The 400 cars were delivered between April 1969 and early 1970.

R44, R46, R62, R62A, R68 and R68A also had backlit ads, to this date.
 #1530930  by Head-end View
 
I always thought the R44 cars were the first actual MTA designed cars. The R40M-R42 cars were traditional NYCTA design with a 60 ft. length and built as married-pairs with conventional controller and brake-handle mounts in the operator's corner-style cab.

The R44's were a noticeably different design. They were the first 75' long cars and had full-width cabs and I believe a permanently installed single controller handle. And were built as cab-cars and cab-less cars and run in sets of four. Again I thought these were the actual first MTA-spec cars, but if anyone knows different for sure, please correct me.
 #1530956  by BuddR32
 
MACTRAXX wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:14 am
R32: The backlit panels required car cards that were made of thin opaque plastic as opposed to traditional
cardboard advertisements. These light boxes provided some of the interior lighting which would be blocked
if traditional ads were used. Car cards had to be produced using both types for the fleet with this distinction.

What I am not sure of is what subsequent cars had backlit advertising installed and when it was formally
discontinued. The use of plastic advertising cards was primarily during the 70s and 80s as I recall.

MACTRAXX
Thank you. I guess they were quite expensive to make, much more so than standard paperboard signs.
 #1533221  by GojiMet86
 
https://new.mta.info/r42retirement

Final Run of the R-42
So long, and thanks for all the trips
The historic R-42 is making its final run on Wednesday, February 12, on the A line. See the approximate schedule below:

Leaves Euclid Avenue at 10:30 AM to go to Far Rockaway, making all A stops along the way
Leaves Far Rockaway at 11:30 AM to go to 207 St, making all A stops along the way
Leaves 207 St at 1:30 PM to go back to Euclid Av, making all A stops
About the Historic R-42
R-42s first rolled out in 1969, eventually totaling 400 cars in our fleet. The first cars were used on the BMT Broadway Line, known today as the N train.

1969 was a big year: Sesame Street debuted, the New York Mets won the World Series, Woodstock drew over 350,000 people to a farm in upstate New York, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon.

Along with the R-32, the R-42 is the only post-war car to reach the 50-year service mark. The R-32 still run on the A and C.

The R-42 were featured in the famous “car vs. subway chase” in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection. The two cars, #4572 and #4573 became part of New York Transit Museum’s collection.

Seated capacity on the R-42 is 44, and they were the first car type to arrive in service completely air-conditioned.

A majority of the fleet was retired between 2006 and 2009. About 50 cars remained in service on the J and Z lines. Some of the retired cars were sunk in the Atlantic Ocean as part of an artificial reef program.

The R-42 was the last car type to be designed as "married pairs," which means the two cars are semi-permanently linked together.
 #1533366  by Backshophoss
 
The "Movie Star" pair I'm aware of would like to see a 3 pair set as part of the museum fleet,the same for the R-44 class when they are retired.
About the same time a tri powered Work loco was built,Diesel-Battery-3rd rail powered.
 #1534632  by #5 - Dyre Ave
 
R36 Combine Coach wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 3:43 pm After being "stored" in reserve, R42s returned in service 1/8/20.
MACTRAXX wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:14 am Everyone: The R42 cars saw decades of service for the NYC Subway system.
These cars were the first full series that were of an MTA design - built in 1970-71.
With a full overhaul and rebuild they would literally reach 50 years of service until their retirement.


What I am not sure of is what subsequent cars had backlit advertising installed and when it was formally
discontinued. The use of plastic advertising cards was primarily during the 70s and 80s as I recall.
The first cars under the MTA auspices were the last 100 R40s - "modified" or straight cars with a straight nose in response to the criticism of the slanted nose as designed by Raymond Loewy. They were basically slanted R40s with the new nose added on while on the assembly line - an afterthought by late MTA Chairman Ronan. The 100 "modified" R40s rolled out of St. Louis between early January and late March 1969, with the R42s following afterward. The 400 R42s were similar to the last 100 R40s, with different side sheetmetal, seating and end doors. They now had solid state converters with lighting inverters, which meant no blinking on power gaps. The 400 cars were delivered between April 1969 and early 1970.

R44, R46, R62, R62A, R68 and R68A also had backlit ads, to this date.
The R38s built a few years earlier than the R42s had backlit ads too. And they kept them when they got GOH’ed in 1988.