Art Vandelay

The 7 was chosen because it is an isolated line. Isolated lines mean you have to convert fewer cars. The next line is Queens Boulevard. To get QB done, well over 1000 cars will need CBTC to be added- every train on the E F M and R. And the F alone has over 500 cars including spares. You can see why the 7 is easier... Nothing is wrong with the R62/As. They will continue to run on the 1 3 6 and S.

R32 SMS has been going on almost all year, so yes, they were doing it then too.

Money budgeted for the R42 fleet disappears long before the planned arrival of the R179.

Pitkin is big enough to house them for maintenance purposes. 207th would still be an active yard for B Division train storage, as well as providing overhaul shop services.

I could be misremembering- it has been a while since I have scrolled through some of the signs, but I don't believe any cars have diamond F bullets on their rollsigns.

There would be no cost savings. However, there would be a number of additional costs, as the L would still require some R143s, resulting in three fleets on the line, and the R179s assigned to the L would have to be outfitted with CBTC, while the CBTC equipment on the C's R143s would be a wasted investment. Such a swap never was, and never will be considered.

I will bet anybody here one million dollars that the total number of R179s assigned to ENY will not be 50.

To say that the R44 overhaul was anything but a wild success would be ignorant. They were some of the least reliable cars ever built prior to overhaul. While they did not stand out as high performers until the end of their careers post overhaul, you could not realistically call them lemons at any point after GOH. Also, some of the many structural issues were fixed during GOH. (As they were on other cars, most notably the R32s!) Asbestos had nothing to do with the retirement of the R44s. Every carfleet up to the R46 (Not sure about the R46s themselves) had asbestos.

R44s were retired for a reason. They won't be back.

R143s are not leaving ENY or the L. Such would never be seriously considered. ENY will have three car fleets- R143, R160, R179. Even if the C became 100% R143, you'd still be stuck with some on the L. It makes no sense whatsoever to split a small fleet like the R143 unless you had to. There is no reason you have to.

There are not enough R179s to bump the R46s over to SI. Therefore, you can feel safe that such will not happen. The R46s are running fine now. No need to retire them early. Don't expect any to go anywhere soon. (for that matter, the R32s have not been performing too badly either.)

Why are people expecting that the traction motors would be changed? AC Traction motors are not cheap by any means.

Catenary is not on par with either third rail at all. It is far superior as it allows for higher speeds, and is MUCH cheaper to install and maintain. If you are going to replace third rail with another system, there is absolutely no chance whatsoever that the new system would be another type of third rail.

The R40s and R44s were never assigned to 207 in recent history. The R38 is the only fleet assigned there to be retired recently. R32s were retired out of Jamaica, with a few retired from Coney Island, Pitkin, and 207. The R40Ss were retired from Pitkin and Coney Island. The R40Ms were retired from Pitkin and Jamaica (perhaps a few were pulled when assigned to Coney Island, but I do not recall such occurring), and the R42s were directly retired from damn near everywhere, with the exception of concourse. The R44s were entirely based out of Pitkin. 207th street shop which provides the A/C with 222 R32s has absolutely NOTHING to do with the retirement of subway cars. IINM it isn't even the actual location cars were stripped prior to reefing. I believe all that was done by the overhaul shop, but I could be mistaken as I have not been there in many years.

The probability of R143s ending up on the C is almost less than zero. Also, the R68s will not leave the D anytime soon. There is absolutely no reason for them to do so. Concourse will be fine with the R68 fleet until the time comes that a portion of the D is converted to CBTC.

By next summer all R32s will have undergone SMS. No such changes should be needed.

They have been sending trains to and from ENY for maintenance since the start of the summer. ENY is where R42s are maintained. Also- I do not expect things to change back immediately after Labor day- It is usually still hot for much of September.

If I had to guess, 160-180 in 4 car sets to 207/Pitkin for the C, 80-100 in 4 car sets for ENY and 40 in 5 car sets to 207/Pitkin for the A, allowing 4 trains of R46s to shift out of Pitkin for SAS expansion. The C does not need 200 cars.

The R179 order is not large enough to allow for transfer of R46s to SIRT. Also, I would not assume that the R179s on the J/Z will be anything close to rush hour only cars.

The Bombardier press release linked as the source for that post has no such statement. Things have changed a great deal since 2010.

There is no reason the A could not use 10 car trains of R179s. I actually rather expect the A to use all such trains. But that is just 40 of the 300 cars. The other 260 cars will not be on the A as the A will not use 8 car trains of R179s outside of a major equipment catastrophe. I don't see anywhere else for those 260 cars to operate outside of the C and the Eastern division. (The only other POSSIBLE but highly unlikely place I could see them ending up is the W if ridership levels show that the C needs 10 cars more than the W does once SAS opens, but the W requires fewer trains than the C, so I think you'd still be stuck with some 8 car C trains anyway. )

The A will not run 8 car trains of 60 foot cars. Therefore, they will not be on the A in any large quantity.

The C is getting R179s. There is really nowhere else for most of them to go outside of the Eastern Division (which will of course get some too)

At least two R42 consists are running on the A this week, as assigned. Not sure if a spare is still here.

Just a nitpick- Although I have not seen them up close and personal, I am near certain that the R32 motors are not new. Just refurbished.