العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
EspañolR44 (NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY CAR)
:''For additional uses and meanings of 'R44' see the disambiguation page.''
The 'R44' is a model of passenger train car that operates on the New York City Subway and the Staten Island Railway. The R44 debuted in 1971.
The R44 was the first 75-foot (22.86 m) car for the New York City Subway. It was introduced for IND and BMT service because it was thought that a train of eight 75-foot cars would be more efficient than ten 60-foot (18.29 m) cars. However, although the R44's still had four sets of doors on each side of the car, there were eight fewer doors on each train which led to greater congestion at stations (Ten 60-foot cars have 40 sets of doors whereas eight 75-foot cars only have 32 sets of doors).
To be sure that the system could accommodate 75-foot cars, some retired R1 cars were lengthened to 75 feet and sent to various places around the subway and the Staten Island Railway. It was determined that the BMT Eastern Division (the , and services) would be too difficult to convert to 75-foot length, so this was not done.
The R44s were the last subway cars built by St. Louis Car Company, which in 1974 left the rail transit car business after the R44 order was completed, due to various technical problems that plague the R44s to this day.
The R44s came in singles which needed each other to run, much like the "Protestant Marriages" of the R26/27/28/30s. These were later married after overhaul into 'ABBA' sets of four cars. 'A' cars are evenly numbered cars with operator cabs. 'B' cars have odd-numbers and no cabs.
The interior design departed drastically from previous models. The R44 had orange and yellow plastic bucket seats, a feature which many later models would later incorporate. The seats were protected from the doorways by faux wood and glass panels. The walls were tan with "wallpaper" featuring the seal of the State of New York.
This system continued onto the subsequent R46 cars.
The R44 was the first subway car since the BMT Green Hornet to incorporate a warning tone that sounds immediately before the doors begin to close as the train prepares to leave the station. The tone consists of two notes which are often described as "bing-bong" since they are the same as the first two notes of the Westminster Chimes. This has become the signature sound of the New York City subway and is still used with new cars.
The R44 also set the world speed record for a subway car. On January 31, 1972, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) used a train of R44 cars to conduct speed trials on the Long Island Rail Road's main line tracks between Woodside and Jamaica. The R44s set an official world speed record, for subway trains, of 87.75 mph (141.2 km/h), with NYCTA personnel noting that the train was still accelerating as it approached the end of the designated 5.9 mile (9.5 km) long test track. The NYCTA repeated the speed trial, this time purposely disabling two out of four motors per car, to indirectly simulate the effect of a rush hour crowd of passengers. The train still managed to reach 77 mph (124 km/h).
During the General Overhaul Program (GOH) from 1991–92, the R44's were rebuilt by NYCTA at 207 Street Overhaul Shop in Inwood, Manhattan; Coney Island Overhaul Shop in Brooklyn (cars 5342-5479); and Morrison-Knudsen (cars 5202-5341). The blue stripe was removed and painted gray. Since this stripe was carbon steel, it is now beginning to rust. The rollsigns on the sides of the cars were replaced with electronic LCD signs which remain today. The cars were also given four-digit numbers. They previously had three-digit numbers.
The R44 Staten Island Railway cars are also named R44 SI or MUE-2. The Staten Island Railway's 64 R44 type cars are modified to FRA standards for passenger equipment running on a freight road. Cars are numbered 388-466, all single units with couplers (no permanent sets), with 436-466 even numbers only. 388-399 are transfers from the subway system.
★ Sansone, Gene. ''Evolution of New York City subways: An illustrated history of New York City's transit cars, 1867-1997''. New York Transit Museum Press,New York, 1997 ISBN 978-0963749284
★ nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R44
R44 5398 leads an 8 car train at Beach 67th Street-Gaston Avenue, in The Rockaways.
The 'R44' is a model of passenger train car that operates on the New York City Subway and the Staten Island Railway. The R44 debuted in 1971.
The R44 was the first 75-foot (22.86 m) car for the New York City Subway. It was introduced for IND and BMT service because it was thought that a train of eight 75-foot cars would be more efficient than ten 60-foot (18.29 m) cars. However, although the R44's still had four sets of doors on each side of the car, there were eight fewer doors on each train which led to greater congestion at stations (Ten 60-foot cars have 40 sets of doors whereas eight 75-foot cars only have 32 sets of doors).
To be sure that the system could accommodate 75-foot cars, some retired R1 cars were lengthened to 75 feet and sent to various places around the subway and the Staten Island Railway. It was determined that the BMT Eastern Division (the , and services) would be too difficult to convert to 75-foot length, so this was not done.
The R44s were the last subway cars built by St. Louis Car Company, which in 1974 left the rail transit car business after the R44 order was completed, due to various technical problems that plague the R44s to this day.
The R44s came in singles which needed each other to run, much like the "Protestant Marriages" of the R26/27/28/30s. These were later married after overhaul into 'ABBA' sets of four cars. 'A' cars are evenly numbered cars with operator cabs. 'B' cars have odd-numbers and no cabs.
The interior design departed drastically from previous models. The R44 had orange and yellow plastic bucket seats, a feature which many later models would later incorporate. The seats were protected from the doorways by faux wood and glass panels. The walls were tan with "wallpaper" featuring the seal of the State of New York.
This system continued onto the subsequent R46 cars.
The R44 was the first subway car since the BMT Green Hornet to incorporate a warning tone that sounds immediately before the doors begin to close as the train prepares to leave the station. The tone consists of two notes which are often described as "bing-bong" since they are the same as the first two notes of the Westminster Chimes. This has become the signature sound of the New York City subway and is still used with new cars.
The interior of a typical R44.
The R44 also set the world speed record for a subway car. On January 31, 1972, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) used a train of R44 cars to conduct speed trials on the Long Island Rail Road's main line tracks between Woodside and Jamaica. The R44s set an official world speed record, for subway trains, of 87.75 mph (141.2 km/h), with NYCTA personnel noting that the train was still accelerating as it approached the end of the designated 5.9 mile (9.5 km) long test track. The NYCTA repeated the speed trial, this time purposely disabling two out of four motors per car, to indirectly simulate the effect of a rush hour crowd of passengers. The train still managed to reach 77 mph (124 km/h).
During the General Overhaul Program (GOH) from 1991–92, the R44's were rebuilt by NYCTA at 207 Street Overhaul Shop in Inwood, Manhattan; Coney Island Overhaul Shop in Brooklyn (cars 5342-5479); and Morrison-Knudsen (cars 5202-5341). The blue stripe was removed and painted gray. Since this stripe was carbon steel, it is now beginning to rust. The rollsigns on the sides of the cars were replaced with electronic LCD signs which remain today. The cars were also given four-digit numbers. They previously had three-digit numbers.
The R44 Staten Island Railway cars are also named R44 SI or MUE-2. The Staten Island Railway's 64 R44 type cars are modified to FRA standards for passenger equipment running on a freight road. Cars are numbered 388-466, all single units with couplers (no permanent sets), with 436-466 even numbers only. 388-399 are transfers from the subway system.
| Contents |
| R-44 Specifications |
| References |
| External links |
R-44 Specifications
| 'Car builder' | Saint Louis Car Company; St Louis, MO (USA) | |
| 'Car body' | Stainless Steel with Carbon Steel chassis and underbody | |
| 'Unit numbers' | 'Staten Island Railway:' 388-466, 'New York City Subway:' 5202-5479 | |
| 'Current fleet' | 'Staten Island Railway:' 64 cars, 'New York City Subway:' 272 cars | |
| 'Car dimensions' | 75 ft long 10 ft wide 12 ft 15⁄8 in high | 22.86 m long 3.048 m wide exactly 3.7 m high |
| 'Track, standard gauge' | 4 ft 81⁄2 in | 1.435 m |
| 'Doorway width' (side—clear opening) | 4 ft 2 in | 1.27 m exactly |
| 'Wheel diameter' | 34 inches | 864 mm |
| 'Propulsion system' | Westinghouse E-CAM XCA44BF for 'New York City Subway' and General Electric E-CAM for 'Staten Island Railway' | |
| 'DC Traction motors' | Westinghouse 1447F for 'New York City Subway' and General Electric for 'Staten Island Railway'. | |
| 'Power' (4 per car) | 115 horsepower | 86 kW |
| 'Brakes' | WABCO "SMEE" Braking System | |
| 'Average car weight' (empty) | ~90,000 lb | ~42,000 kg |
| 'Maximum speed' | 65 mph | 105 km/h (Later Lowered) |
| 'Total seated passengers' | (Cab Car) A car: 70 / (No Cab) B car: 76 | |
| 'Air conditioning system' | Two Stone Safety HVAC units each car. | |
| 'Maximum Train Length' | 8 Cars (2 Units) for 'New York City Subway' | |
| 'Notes' | ★ 'Staten Island Railway's R44 cars are under in FRA waiver due to Staten Island Railway is on FRA system (Federal Railroad Administration).' ★ 4-car sets; even numbers have cabs; odd numbers "blind". Cars are numbered consecutively in set. Lowest number usually divides only by two. Highest number in pair is odd. ★ Cars 5201-5481 originally 100-387 (but not in order); 388-399 originally NYC Subway then transferred to Staten Island Rapid Transit. ★ 'Out-of-sequence set numbering :' 5246-5247-5337-5336, 5250-5251-5249-5270, 5260-5261-5277-5276, 5262-5263-5303-5302, 5268-5269-5271-5284, 5316-5317-5405-5318, 5404-5403-5479-5478 ★ '16 cars have been scrapped or put out of service due to accidents, rust and damage.' | |
| 'Price per car' (new, 1971) | US$$211,850 | |
References
★ Sansone, Gene. ''Evolution of New York City subways: An illustrated history of New York City's transit cars, 1867-1997''. New York Transit Museum Press,New York, 1997 ISBN 978-0963749284
External links
★ nycsubway.org - NYC Subway Cars: R44
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
Featured Companies
| Golf Holidays International | |
| Green Parrot Beach Houses Resort | |
| Century 21 Beltair Associates |
Newest Companies
R44 (New York City Subway car) Travel Deals
