R142 (New York City Subway car)

"R142" redirects here. For the road, see Route 142. For the refrigerant "Chlorodifluoroethane", see List of refrigerants.

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
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
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	Service 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 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.

Background

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

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). 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 services
• Melissa Kliner: original announcements on the 4, 5, and 6 services outside of Manhattan; these have since been re-recorded by Ettinger-Gottesman
• Diane Thompson: announcements on the 2 service as well as the other IRT Seventh Avenue Line 1 and 3 services 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.

Strip map systems

The R142's were the first fleets to feature on board strip map systems. These strip maps, depending on what service it is assigned to, feature 64 built-in LEDs that light up along the lines stops so that passengers can tell where they are, see what transfers are at a stop, and so forth. These strip map systems also have the ability to display "ROUTE CHANGE, THIS MAP IS NOT IN USE" when a service is rerouted along another line. The strip maps are printed for the R142 fleet with a specific route based on what route the set is assigned to; for example, a R142 set assigned to the 4 route will get a 4 route's strip map. However, since the 2 and 5 lines share the same R142 fleet, strip maps are frequently incorrect and not used if these R142s are in service on the route that is not designated on the strip map; for example, a 2 train's strip map will not light up on a train in the 5 service.

Recently, a new strip map design is being tested on a R142 that combines both the 2 and 5 lines into one map. This new map also adds in new code to the R142 fleet, so now the 64 LEDS no longer light up all at once as they did before, but are now split lighting up the stops that the set is assigned to; for example, when a R142 is set to the 2 route, the map will now only light up the lights that corresponds with the 2 line.

Differences between the R142s 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 different AC 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 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.
• 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 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.

External links

• Bombardier - 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