R44 (New York City Subway car)
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- For the Robinson R44 helicopter, see Robinson Helicopter
Image:NYCSub A car exterior.jpg The R44 is a model of passenger train car which operates on the New York City Subway and the Staten Island Railway. The R44 debuted in 1971.
The R44 was the first 75 foot (23 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 could be more efficient than ten 60-foot (18 m) cars. There were eight fewer doors on each train, as the R44's still had four doors per car, which led to greater congestion at stations.
To make sure that the system could fit these new 75-foot cars, an old R1 car was lengthened to 75 feet and sent to various places around the subway and the Staten Island Railway. It was decided that the BMT Eastern Division (the Template:NYCS J, Template:NYCS L, Template:NYCS M and Template:NYCS Z lines) 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. Also, there was transverse seating in the center bays, a feature rarely found on New York subway cars. 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 in which a warning tone sounded 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.
It has also set the World Speed Record for a subway car. On January 31, 1972, the Transit Authority 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 TA 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 TA repeated the speed trial, this time purposefully 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) that happened in 1991-1992, the R44's were rebuilt by NYCT at 207 Street Overhaul Shop in Inwood, Manhattan, Coney Island Overhaul shop in Brooklyn, and Morrison-Knudsen. 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 R-44 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.
The R44 is expected to be retired when the R160 cars arrive.
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: SIRT: 388-466, Subway: 5202-5479
- Fleet of: SIRT: 64 cars, Subway: 272 cars.
- Car Length: 75 feet (23 m)
- Car Width: 10 feet (3.0 m)
- Car Height: 12 feet, 1-5/8 inches (3.7 m)
- Track Gauge: 4 feet, 8-1/2 inches (1.435 m)
- Unit Numbers: SUBWAY: 5202-5479; STATEN ISLAND RAILWAY ^: 388-435 (4-car sets) and 436-466 EVEN (Singles)
- Power: 120 horsepower (89 kW) 4 per car
- Propulsion System: Westinghouse E-CAM (GE for SIR cars)
- DC Traction Motors: Westinghouse 1447J (GE for SIR cars)
- Brakes: WABCO "SMEE" braking system
- Max Speed: ~ 70 mph (110 km/h)
- Total Seats: (Cab Car) A car: 70 / (No cab) B car: 76
- Maximum Train Length: 8 Cars (2 Units)
- 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.
- Air Conditioning System: Two Stone Safety Corp. HVAC units each car.
- Price per car (new, 1971): USD$211,850
Denotes: ^ - Staten Island Railway's R44 cars are under in FRA wavier due to Staten Island Railway is on FRA system (Federal Railroad Administration). Template:NYCS rolling stock