R40A (New York City Subway car)

"R40A" redirects here. For the road, see Route 40.

R40A (New York City Subway car)
Two types of the R40As: the R40 Slant and R40M.
Interior of the R40M.
Manufacturer	St. Louis Car Company
Replaced	many BMT AB Standards
Constructed	1968–1969
Refurbished	1988–1989
Scrapped	2008-2010, 2013
Number built	200 (100 slant end & 100 straight end)
Number preserved	4
Number scrapped	196
Formation	Married Pairs
Fleet numbers	4350-4449 (slant-ended) 4450-4549 (straight-ended) (see article for details)
Capacity	44 (seated)
Operators	New York City Subway
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless Steel sides with Carbon Steel chassis and underframes, Fiberglass A-end bonnet
Car length	60 ft (18.29 m)
Width	10 ft (3.05 m)
Height	12.08 ft (3.7 m)
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors	8
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	77,695 lb (35,242 kg) (slant) 78,030 lb (35,394 kg)
Traction system	General Electric (GE) SCM 17KG192AE2 propulsion system using GE 1257E1 motors (115 hp or 86 kW per axle)
Braking system(s)	WABCO "SMEE" Braking System, A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake
Safety system(s)	emergency brakes
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The R40A was a B Division New York City Subway car built by the St. Louis Car Company between 1968 and 1969. The order was a continuation of the R40 cars, and contained two forms or body types: a slant-ended version identical to the original R40 fleet (sometimes referred to as the R40 Slant), and a straight-ended (or "modified") version designed by Sundberg-Ferar (sometimes referred to as the R40M). The slant-ended R40As were originally numbered 4450-4549, and the straight-ended R40As were originally numbered 4250-4349; these cars were later renumbered to 4350-4449 and 4450-4549 respectively.

The R40As were delivered new with the same successful Stone Safety 10 ton air conditioning systems/units found on the last ten R38 cars, and became standard equipment on all future new cars purchased from this point onward. As a result of the air conditioning, the standee poles were arranged in an alternating pattern rather than the straight-line pattern seen in the older R40s.

History

Due to the cosmetic and mechanical similarities the straight-ended R40As and the R42s shared, the two fleets often ran together. In fact, one pair of cars consisted of a R40A car mated to a R42 car. This was the result of an accident on the Williamsburg Bridge in 1995, which involved R40As 4460-4461 and R42s 4664-4665. R42 4664 was written off while R40A 4461 was repaired and rebuilt into a slant-ended car (and temporarily numbered 4260), leaving R40A 4460 and R42 4665 to become paired to each other.

In 1988–1989, the R40As were rebuilt by Sumitomo in Elmira Heights, New York. The interior was changed drastically and the MTA paint band was removed in all rebuilt cars.

Retirement and preservation=

The R160 subway car order has replaced all of the R40A fleet. The last slant-ended train, consisting of R40A pairs 4414–4415, 4424–4425, 4432–4433, 4398–4399, and R40 4256–4257, made its final trip on the A on June 12, 2009. The last straight-ended pair, 4484–4485, ran on the V on August 28 along with eight R42s. After retirement, most cars were stripped and sunk as artificial reefs along the Atlantic coast. However, some straight-ended R40As have been preserved, including:

• 4460 (and its R42 mate 4665), preserved by the Railway Preservation Corporation and stored at Coney Island Yard.
• 4461, currently at the Randall's Island FDNY Facility, used with R62s 1366 and 1370 as training cars.
• 4480–4481, preserved by the New York Transit Museum and currently stored at the Concourse Yard. The cars are in need of restoration.

Slant-ended pairs 4392-4393 and 4442-4443 were retained as school cars until fall 2013, when they were taken to Sims Metal Management to be scrapped.

Further reading

• 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 978-0-9637492-8-4

External links

• nycsubway.org: NYC Subway Cars: R40