The R40 (sometimes referred to as R40 Slant to distinguish it from the later R40M) is a New York Subway IND-BMT car, built in 1967-1969 by the St. Louis Car Company, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. These cars were unique for their 15 degree slanted end, designed by Raymond Loewy. This order was 400 cars.
The first R40 set was delivered in November 1967. In January 1968, the first cars went into service on the -6 Avenue Local. The New York City Transit Authority found great dangers with the slant, with the lack of handholds for riders walking between cars, and the danger of the passenger falling onto the track. All R40 cars were later retrofitted with pantograph gates at ends. With the poorly conceived slant design, NYCTA had the last 100 R40 cars (R40M) built with a non-slant end. 200 R40's were built with air conditioning.
In 1988-1989 the R40's were rebuilt by Sumitomo in Elmira Heights, New York.
Currently, they can be found on the -6 Avenue Express, -Broadway Express, -Broadway Express, and -Broadway Local. They are based at Coney Island in Brooklyn and Concourse yard in the Bronx.
By around 2010 the R160 should replace the R40.
Numbered 4150-4449, these are the 300 slant cars (R40M numbered 4450-4549)
R40 specs
- Car Body: Stainess Steel with Carbon Steel chassis and underframes, Fiberglass front bonnets
- Length: 60 Feet, 2.5 Inches
- Width: 10 Feet
- Height: 12 Feet, 1-5/8 Inches
- Track gauge: 4 Feet, 8-1/2 Inches
- Weight: 74,433 lb
- HorsePower: 115 / 4 per car
- Seating: 44
- Propulsion: General Electric, SCM 17KG192AE2, DC Motors
- Braking: WABCO SMEE
- R40 (Slant) Unit Numbers: 4150-4349
- Cab Arrangement: Half-width driving cab at "A" end, half-width conductor control cab at "B" end
- Coupling/Numbering Arrangement: All married pairs.
External links
Last updated: 06-01-2005 20:46:16
Last updated: 09-03-2005 18:37:12
