Bosco

To be fair, the R160 cars went through an entire year of qualification testing. The other issue is that instead of jumping from pilot to production, we are making the pilot T cars, then pilot S cars, then production A and S cars.

Bottom line, the MTA should've learned its lesson during the R160 days when they got scrap-happy with the R32s. Maybe not all of the trains could've been kept in service, but some could've been kept as a reserve for emergencies or events when extra service is needed. The R211 project hasn't been delayed "officially," but I'd expect some sort of announcement soon as the subsystem suppliers have been impacted as well. The other challenge is that we don't know how long the shutdown will last. It could very well be extended if the situation doesn't improve, and it seems to be getting worse every day even with all the precautions we've been taking.

Parking brakes are applied only when there is low pressure in the main reservoir pipe, not necessarily the brake pipe. A loss of pressure in the brake pipe (represented on the duplex gauges by the black needle) will cause an emergency brake application.

No jinxing! Per the information that was provided in the staff summary in January 2018, we are not getting all three pilot trains at once. R211A 10-Car (30 months from NOA, or July 2020) R211T 10-Car (40 months from NOA, or May 2021) R211S 5-Car (47 months from NOA, or December 2021) The R211s are being designed for 4-, 5-, or 6-car configurations (similar to R160) but there are no plans for 4-car R211s, at least not yet. I don't know about the R160 pilot trains, but I want to say the first 8-car set 8313-8320 was not a pilot train because it has the knurled stainless steel on the car ends and window masks that the pilot R160 trains (8653-8662, 8713-8722) don't have.

No reason for that, considering the R188s are more than enough and run fine on there. Not confirmed, but having the remaining R142As upgraded to R188 in a similar manner would make sense. One of the reasons the conversion for R142/R142A was done at Kawasaki was because the conversion work was more extensive than originally thought. Remember, the R142s and R142As don't have the space for CBTC (only one TOD screen, and no CBTC locker). The R160s (and eventually R179s) can be converted in house by NYCT because the space and wiring for the equipment are already there. A bigger question (which is still unknown) is who will convert the R142s? Kawasaki won't have the resources to convert all those trains in the same time frame (with R211 and other projects at the same time), and are not familiar with the R142s at all, so that leaves Bombardier or CRRC as two possibilities.

On closer inspection, the latch handles are actually recessed into the cab door, which would explain why the window of the cab door is narrower. I wonder if that was changed to improve the ability of crew members to get on and off the train between A cars (which was a problem on the R179s), because the original renderings had the handles simply mounted on like on older fleets.

Nothing beats the Chevron trucks, especially for the tight curves of NYCT. I'm curious why Kawasaki didn't go with that design because they did for both the PA5 and WMATA 7Ks.

Good question, I’m not entirely sure about the answer, because it depends on the contract.

The mockup car does have some functional components, but it is not fully functional. The purpose of the mockup is to prove as many static tests/designs as possible, so HVAC, software, doors, etc. In addition to build quality and TS compliance, the MTA also looks for maintainability of certain components. The mockup does not have propulsion equipment included (no traction motor, no inverter). Only the boxes for where the components would go are included, to ensure everything fits together and can be accessed easily. Just wanted to clear that up in case anyone thinks that car will see service, or run on its own power.

I was actually mistaken, 9007-9008 is still at Yonkers frequently on the test track. 9017-9018 was delivered within the past two weeks, and 9019-9020 has also been on the test track. Generally, that test track (called the Function Test track) is the last step before the cars get sent out. I've seen up to 9038 (except 9035) at Yonkers at different stages, either inside the factory or out. Once the PA5 option order and R211 progress, it'll be a hell of a time to be fanning Yonkers station!

Case in point: R179 order. That went to Bombardier because they bid lower than Alskaw. Even if they prove to be reliable, I worry about the political implications of awarding this kind of contract to the Chinese... Especially considering that this is the first time they are announcing this order--and the R211s haven't even been tested, much less in revenue service--I would be surprised if this gets awarded before 2023. Also, who in the MTA is going to pay for these cars?

It's supposed to be within 5 years if Byford gets his way, but that doesn't seem likely. Has the supplier for the R179 CBTC carbon equipment been picked yet?

I'm not really up to speed on the R179 program so I don't know for sure, but it's likely they needed to do some sort of modification (most likely software) that was serious enough to warrant redoing the burn-in test. Remember, the original R179 trains (3010-3019, 3050-3057) had/have many more issues than the production cars.

This is actually the non-operational mockup, similar to the very first photos of the R179s that were leaked in 2014. So this particular car won't see service, it's just used to confirm maintainability, build quality, spec compliance, etc. Also, this is the first of three similar but functionally different mockups (this one is for the R211A, and there will be one for the S and T, since there are functional differences between the three classes). Mock-up review for the R211A is underway and continuing through next week. After that comes climate room testing in May. So far so good!

First production pair (9015-9016) was sent from Yonkers to Hillside last week. 9017-9018 (now the lowest pair at Yonkers) have been on the test track, and cars up to 9034 are at/outside Yonkers either undergoing or about to undergo final assembly.