R211 Discussion Thread

[Mr Railfan]

Kinda late posting, but got the second 5 car set on property passing NYC's first New Tech from 1991 - The R110B . 

Kinda cool to see the similarities and differences 30 years make. 

 

[R179 8258]

(I really don’t know so nobody judge me but) Why are the R211s going to Coney Island yard first instead of going to Pitkin and getting the 3rd Rail Shoe attached first like the R179s ? 

[Vulturious]

1 hour ago, R179 8258 said:

(I really don’t know so nobody judge me but) Why are the R211s going to Coney Island yard first instead of going to Pitkin and getting the 3rd Rail Shoe attached first like the R179s ? 

Does it really matter where they get their 3rd Rail Shoes from? They're getting them regardless.

[trainfan22]

2 hours ago, R179 8258 said:

(I really don’t know so nobody judge me but) Why are the R211s going to Coney Island yard first instead of going to Pitkin and getting the 3rd Rail Shoe attached first like the R179s ? 

I  wonder this as well, wonder why they switched it up for this order....

Edited July 19, 2021 by trainfan22

[trainfan22]

On 7/17/2021 at 12:36 AM, Lawrence St said:

AAS system test:

 

The comment section of that video says that the lyrics have the same announcements as the R160s, can anyone confirm this? The mockup had a text to speech type voice like on the buses.

25 minutes ago, Vulturious said:

Does it really matter where they get their 3rd Rail Shoes from? They're getting them regardless.

I think it makes for interesting discussion as to how they set the train up for service IMO.

20 hours ago, R68OnBroadway said:

Can you see the cars now in the yard from any of the passing lines?

If the R211s are in CI inspection barn and not the overhaul shop, then you can see them by looking out the side of an Manhattan bound train as CI barn always have the doors up so you can see the trains inside the barn. That is if an 46/68/160 isn't being inspected on the same track the 211s are parked on.

Edited July 19, 2021 by trainfan22

[R68ACTrain]

On 7/17/2021 at 12:11 AM, Vulturious said:

Maybe not yet, but they're the first ones that are going to be replaced by the R211A's and then the R46's later on.

That would be true if the R32s were still in service.

[subwaycommuter1983]

2 hours ago, R179 8258 said:

(I really don’t know so nobody judge me but) Why are the R211s going to Coney Island yard first instead of going to Pitkin and getting the 3rd Rail Shoe attached first like the R179s ? 

The r179's were sent to CI before being sent to Pitkin. Also, the r179's were tested on Brighton in addition to Broad Channel. 

The r211's will most likely be transferred to Pitkin to be tested at Broad Channel.

[trainfan22]

18 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

The r179's were sent to CI before being sent to Pitkin. Also, the r179's were tested on Brighton in addition to Broad Channel. 

The r211's will most likely be transferred to Pitkin to be tested at Broad Channel.

The pilot R179 cars were delivered to 207th then towed to Pikin, they never went to CI until later on in the testing process.

[R179 8258]

13 hours ago, Vulturious said:

Does it really matter where they get their 3rd Rail Shoes from? They're getting them regardless.

I wasn’t aware the CI put the 3rd shoe on as well …

[Railfanner Mario]

So Does anyone have Any clue Of that specific 2nd R211A #4256 that was in Japan at right now? Or is it unknown at the moment?

[Around the Horn]

25 minutes ago, Railfanner Mario said:

So Does anyone have Any clue Of that specific 2nd R211A #4256 that was in Japan at right now? Or is it unknown at the moment?

That was the full size mockup car. The actual 4256 will be a completely different car built in Nebraska.

[FLX9304]

6 hours ago, Around the Horn said:

That was the full size mockup car. The actual 4256 will be a completely different car built in Nebraska.

Part of 4255-4259. 4256 will be a “B” car

[FLX9304]

I’m surprised that Kawasaki is using the 0-4 & 5-9 format for the R211s. Since 1983, they used the 1-5 & 6-0 format for R62s & R142As. 
For R160s they changed it to 3-7 & 8-2 format. 
For R188s it was consecutive numbering with the exception of “C” cars. 
But as I see it, it feel good to see changes in numerical formats 

[trainfan22]

The dude who uploaded that AAS test video has a pinned comment saying they have the same automated announcements as the R160s. Kinda bummed about that as I kinda wanted the text to speech announcements the mockup had only because it would have been something different.

 

 

I guess it's easier to keep certain things uniform with the older tech trains like when the automated announcements need to be updated.

[Vulturious]

1 hour ago, trainfan22 said:

The dude who uploaded that AAS test video has a pinned comment saying they have the same automated announcements as the R160s. Kinda bummed about that as I kinda wanted the text to speech announcements the mockup had only because it would have been something different.

 

 

I guess it's easier to keep certain things uniform with the older tech trains like when the automated announcements need to be updated.

Personally, I'm glad it's sticking with the current automated announcements. I wasn't really fond of what the mockup, I especially didn't like the door chime the mockup had either. Which reminds me, they never really said anything about the door chimes.

[BenTheMiner]

On 7/19/2021 at 4:12 PM, Around the Horn said:

That was the full size mockup car. The actual 4256 will be a completely different car built in Nebraska.

As it's a mockup car, its destination signs are likely just a random sign they decided to add. The destination signs say  to 14ST 8AV VIA LOCAL (which is an implausible route) in a different font than the current destination signs. I'm wondering if this is the R211T open gangway mockup or is it just one R211A mockup car? I was hoping there could be more photos of this car.

[BenTheMiner]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:10 PM, Lawrence St said:

A number of things from the R211 mockup that we saw at 34th St are different then the actual thing. For one, none of the signs are LCD like they showed on the mockup. 

Whats with the reduced seating capacity? They changed the ADA spots from near the cabs to the middle of the car.

Are these floor arrows really necessary?

Again, the side windows. They could've come up with a better design. At this point they're gonna be like Apple removing the headphone jack from the iPhone...

Are the LCD AD screens really necessary?

SIR:

While the design for the R211T hasn't come out yet, have they actually looked at some of the platform gaps on the railroad? 

Based on the photos, there is no longer enough room at the A end of the car for a seat or ADA location. Maybe for mechanical components or increased cab space? I'm not entirely sure. This relocation was in the R211 mockup, though.

I doubt the door arrows will help much since this is New York City, but I like them.

If the MTA ever uses plug doors, they could use wider doors while keeping the windows wide as well, but I doubt that's ever going to happen. Not sure about the benefits and consequences when comparing them.

LCD screens allow for flexible information displays which include advertisements, MTA promotions, and other things, with multiple slides displaying at different times. These are already on the current cars. Before, there would only be capability for one paper advertisement which would all have to be swapped out meticulously. This will definitely make it more convenient to change the advertisements. Remember that advertisements are a source of income for the MTA, and being able to display multiple advertisements at once will be helpful. It seems they didn't go all out with these screens this time though, likely due to a limitation. The original R211 mockup included screens on the coves and there are also cove screens that have been added on some of the current cars. Additionally, the mockup presented subway map screens which you could move by touching the screen, but I don't think they actually added it as I see frames that are in a similar shape to the paper subway map.

[Lawrence St]

4 hours ago, BenTheMiner said:

Based on the photos, there is no longer enough room at the A end of the car for a seat or ADA location. Maybe for mechanical components or increased cab space? I'm not entirely sure. This relocation was in the R211 mockup, though.

I doubt the door arrows will help much since this is New York City, but I like them.

If the MTA ever uses plug doors, they could use wider doors while keeping the windows wide as well, but I doubt that's ever going to happen. Not sure about the benefits and consequences when comparing them.

LCD screens allow for flexible information displays which include advertisements, MTA promotions, and other things, with multiple slides displaying at different times. These are already on the current cars. Before, there would only be capability for one paper advertisement which would all have to be swapped out meticulously. This will definitely make it more convenient to change the advertisements. Remember that advertisements are a source of income for the MTA, and being able to display multiple advertisements at once will be helpful. It seems they didn't go all out with these screens this time though, likely due to a limitation. The original R211 mockup included screens on the coves and there are also cove screens that have been added on some of the current cars. Additionally, the mockup presented subway map screens which you could move by touching the screen, but I don't think they actually added it as I see frames that are in a similar shape to the paper subway map.

Actually, one major difference between the mockup & the actual thing is the addition of the CBTC cabinet where the wheelchair space used to be (like on the R188's.) On both mockups, it isn't there. 

[BenTheMiner]

14 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

Actually, one major difference between the mockup & the actual thing is the addition of the CBTC cabinet where the wheelchair space used to be (like on the R188's.) On both mockups, it isn't there. 

They likely didn't consider CBTC cabinets in the mockup, which makes sense.

[trainfan22]

 

Wheelchair riders are the first non MTA or Kawasaki personnel to board the R211s

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by trainfan22

[rbrome]

The digital displays in the interior (LCD and LED) all seem relatively low-resolution. Higher-res displays are not particularly expensive these days. With that said, they seem to have sufficient resolution to be highly legible. (Unlike the digital maps on platforms.) 

It will be interesting to see what they do with the square displays on the walls... whether they will just show ads or other info. 

I'm glad they went full-color with the LED signs on the ceiling. That's kind of a no-brainer given current technology, but still a big improvement over the current tri-color LED displays. Combined with the new full-color LED displays on the outside, now they can always show each line in the correct color circle/diamond throughout the train, which should help reduce tourist confusion. However I'm disappointed that the interior LED displays seem mis-aligned with the window, so the bottom gets cut off when viewed from below. The MTA should insist that Kawasaki fix that. 

[Lawrence St]

1 hour ago, rbrome said:

The digital displays in the interior (LCD and LED) all seem relatively low-resolution. Higher-res displays are not particularly expensive these days. With that said, they seem to have sufficient resolution to be highly legible. (Unlike the digital maps on platforms.) 

It will be interesting to see what they do with the square displays on the walls... whether they will just show ads or other info. 

I'm glad they went full-color with the LED signs on the ceiling. That's kind of a no-brainer given current technology, but still a big improvement over the current tri-color LED displays. Combined with the new full-color LED displays on the outside, now they can always show each line in the correct color circle/diamond throughout the train, which should help reduce tourist confusion. However I'm disappointed that the interior LED displays seem mis-aligned with the window, so the bottom gets cut off when viewed from below. The MTA should insist that Kawasaki fix that. 

I noticed that as well. However, why are the FIND's full LCD but the interior destination signs aren't? Makes no sense.

[rbrome]

2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

...why are the FIND's full LCD but the interior destination signs aren't? Makes no sense.

I can think of two reasons:

It may have to do with viewing distance. LCDs are good for smaller text and closer viewing distances. LEDs — with much greater brightness and contrast — are better for viewing at a distance. I'm not sure an LCD screen would be as readable from the other end of the car. 

Also, I'm not sure anyone makes LCD panels in that size/shape. If anyone does, they're very rare. It could be difficult or even impossible to source replacements in a few decades. LED matrices, on the other hand, are very common in small modules that can be put together to form almost any size/shape. 

[R179 8258]

Since this train is a prototype R211 will the MTA inform Kawasaki about upgrades about towards the train ? Because I like the   color on the over where it’s tell the time , next time etc but the one makes the overhead on the R160-179 looks better but that’s just my take lol 

[Jacob]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:00 PM, subwaycommuter1983 said:

I agree. I hate standing as well, especially if it is a long ride. The reduce seating stinks and that's the only thing I don't like about the r211's.

Tbh, I don't care less, I can stand a whole ride if I wanted too, Unless if I have a strain of legs in sports or a whole body strain, But me being usual without that much agility wasted apon me, Probably those seats are mostly for disabled people if needed. But either the less. That's the way they built it.