Motorman dies while operating on a G train

[Nature]

I read that the Willy B crash was cause the brakes on the R42 was crappy and could not stop in time and also never know dead mans switch is just a 1st layer of protection since if he had just leaned foward laying on the switch it would of kept going like in that movie The french connection if it was to be going in a straight line no hard curves.

[SubwayGuy]

I read that the Willy B crash was cause the brakes on the R42 was crappy and could not stop in time and also never know dead mans switch is just a 1st layer of protection since if he had just leaned foward laying on the switch it would of kept going like in that movie The french connection if it was to be going in a straight line no hard curves.

 

It wasn't that the brakes were "crappy", there were a series of modifications to the brake systems on all SMEE equipment prior to that which made the trains take longer to stop. The end result was their wasn't enough stopping distance between the first red and the back of the preceding train.

 

They made the modifications to the brake systems without rechecking the stopping distances in some locations, and the Williamsburgh bridge was one of those places.

 

And before anyone asks what the modifications were, on the equipment in question, the changes involved using composite shoes instead of cast iron, and replacing the J relay valve with either the J14 or J16 relay valve (which one escapes me at the moment)...which would apply air to the brake cylinders at 40 or 60 percent of the amount applied by a J. The composition shoes had higher friction, so the total braking effort was supposed to be more or less the same, but smoother over distance. However, the stopping distances did change slightly as a result.

 

As for the "first line of defense" case you gave about the deadman, timers (and therefore red signals) protect curves, switches, and other dangerous areas in the system, and reds protect preceding trains. If there really was straight track, all green signals, with nothing in front though, then the conductor would have pulled the cord the second the train went flying through a station and stopped it all the same. NYCT is a very safe system if you don't mess with it or make changes, and if you really have to, then everything has to be looked at fresh to make sure it's still safe.

[INDman]

If all that don't add up to crappy brakes then I don't know what does.