R68 (New York City Subway car)
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The R68 is a type of New York City Subway car. The 425-car contract was a joint venture of Westinghouse AM-Rail Company, ANF Industrie of Paris, and other companies. The cars were built in France from 1986 to 1988 and shipped to New York Harbor. They replaced R10,R16,and R27.
The R68 was the third R-class contract to be built with 75-foot (23 m) cars, which have more room for sitting and standing passengers per car than the 60-foot cars that were used previously. However, because 75-foot cars take longer to load and unload, and because 75-foot cars cannot fit in the entire B division, more recent orders have returned to 60-foot cars.
The R68's manufacture suffered from significant system integration problems. Inadequate communication and coordination between the carbody builder (ANF Industrie) and the chassis assembler (Westinghouse) led to operational failures; the R68 became known as a lemon. However, extensive work performed by the New York City Transit Authority ultimately provided solutions to the car's many problems, and today the R68 has among the highest Mean Distance Between Failure (MDBF) in the fleet. The R68's first entry to revenue service was on June 20, 1986 on the D service; the first cars were numbered 2500-2507. There were two contracts to supply the R68. The primary order was: 2500-2724, and the R68-1 option order was 2725-2924. The fleet today primarily runs on the D, Q, Franklin Avenue Shuttle, W, with some on the B and N. R68s are based out of the Concourse Yard in the Bronx and the Coney Island Complex in Brooklyn.
[edit] R-68 specifications
| Car builder | Westinghouse Amrail Company and ANF Industrie (now a subsidiary of Bombardier) in Paris, France | |
| Other contributors in the R68 contract: | Jeumont-Schneider cars 2500-2724 and Alsthom (now Alstom) Rail cars 2725-2924. | |
| Car body | stainless steel with fiberglass end bonnets. | |
| Unit numbers | 2500-2915 are in 4-car sets and 2916-2924 remain in single sets | |
| Fleet of | 425 cars | |
| Car dimensions | 75 ft long 10 ft wide 12 ft 15⁄8 in high |
22.86 m long 3.048 m wide 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 |
| Wheel diameter | 34 inches | 864 mm |
| Propulsion system | Westinghouse E-Cam Propulsion (AdTranz E-Cam Propulsion) | |
| DC Traction Motors | 4 Westinghouse 1447J | |
| Power (4 per car) | 115 horsepower | 86 kW |
| Brakes | New York Air Braking (NYAB) GSX23 "SMEE" braking system, WABCO Air Braking Vaule | |
| Average car weight (empty) |
92,720 lb | 41,724 kg |
| Maximum speed | 65 mph | 105 km/h |
| Total seated passengers | 70 | |
| Air conditioning system | Two Stone Safety HVAC units each car. | |
| Notes | Transverse cabs at #1 end; narrow cab at #2 end Configured in 4-car sets except cars 2916-2924 are singles used for the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. |
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| Price per car (new, 1986) | US$915,000 (BID) | |
[edit] 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
[edit] External links
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