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ELECTRIC RAILWAY JOURNAL · Vol. 57, No. 24 · June 11, 1921 · pp 1087-1080.
New York Municipal Car Improvements
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| New York Municipal Car - Low monitor type roof construction with deck-sash ventilators, ventilating fans and rearranged lighting. | New York Municipal Car - Destination sign with large letters and number on side of car. |
Since the Introduction of the Large Multi-Side-Door Cars on the Lines of the New York Municipal Railway Various Additions and Refinements Have Been Made to Provide Increased Comfort and Safety for Passengers.
When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit System offered to operate a part of the vast subway and elevated network as suggested by the city of New York in 1911 the design of a car most desirable was one of the vast problems presented to the engineers of this company for solution. When the various details of design were finally settled the most noteworthy characteristics of this car in which it differed from other designs were its large size, its unique seating arrangement and its multi-side-door construction. The value of these new features embodied in the design has now been demonstrated by more than five years of service under the most severe traffic conditions that can be found in any city. At present 900 of these cars are in service or on order and in the fundamental considerations the last cars, namely, the 2,800 series, are identical with the first ordered. Quite a number of refinements and improvements have been added, but the changes which were made in construction were very few.
The essential characteristics of the design, construction and equipment of these cars were very completely covered in a series of articles published in the issues of the Electric Railway Journal for June 6, 1914; June 13, 1914; Dec. 26, 1914; March 13, 1915; March 27, 1915, and May 8, 1915. The purpose of the present article is to describe some of the improvements and changes incorporated in the last 100 cars ordered and include additions made since this series of articles was published.
The form of roof used with the 2,800s is of a low monitor type with twenty deck-sash ventilators on each side of the car. This construction provides a clerestory 4 ft. 11 in. wide inside by 12-1/2 in. deep. The deck-sash ventilators are arranged in four groups, so that those in a quarter of the car can be operated separately from a lever near the center of the car. The ventilators swing horizontally and have an opening of 25 in. by 4-1/2 in. This type of roof construction lends itself particularly well to the ventilation system using five ceiling fans in each car.
The five ceiling fans are arranged with one opposite the center pair of doors and the others at about equal distances along the center of the headlining. The five fans of each car are connected in series across the line, so that each fan is wound for 115 volts. The fan motor frame is designed for direct attachment to the car ceiling and a metal canopy incloses the top part of the motor.
With the use of the ceiling fans the arrangement of lights consists of fourteen side lights, seven on either side, installed just at the edge of the clerestory, and six center lights, two of which are end lights. There is thus a total of twenty 56-watt lamps with shades per car. The fundamental principle of the seating arrangement adopted for the New York Municipal cars was to obtain maximum seating capacity during hours of normal traffic and maximum standing room plus a reasonable proportion of seating capacity during the rush hours. In order to facilitate movement to and from the door openings the space opposite each active doorway was kept free, except for vertical stanchions installed for the accommodation of standing passengers. Study of the conditions that existed with the cars loaded to their maximum capacity indicated that a few hand straps on either side of the door openings provide comfort for the standing passengers, and accordingly twenty-eight hand straps, fourteen on either side of the car, have been installed. These are grouped with two hand straps on either side of the end side doors and three hand straps on either side of the center pair of side doors. These are of the Henry type, all metal with white enameled hand grips, and arranged to be held back close to the side of the car by spring pressure when not in use.
In order to increase the seating capacity during hours of normal traffic, hinged folding seats are used on either side of the door openings. In their raised position these folding seats serve as ends for the longitudinal seats and a grab handle along the front edge enables standing passengers to get a firm hold. These folding seats are held in their raised position by a lock catch which can be released only by the aid of the key used for the end doors and the operator's push-button box. With the seats in their "down" position a prop swings out from the under side and rests on the floor. This seat prop is made of a pipe framework with two legs which have rubber cushions at the points where they rest on the floor. All parts are rounded so that no sharp corners or projections are presented, which might prove injurious to passengers or their clothing, and as this framework is mounted so that it extends out from the side of the seat it also serves as a grab handle for standing passengers, with ample space for their fingers to provide against accident. A center leg of this framework is attached to a lever which is connected to the door engine underneath the stationary seat at this point. The lowering of the folding seat cuts off the air from the door engine, so as to insure that the door behind the seat cannot be operated with the seat in its down position.
It is the practice of the New York Municipal Railway to operate trains with the end doors of the several cars closed, and the seating arrangement provides a small seat just to the left of each end door with hinges, so that it can be raised but cannot be removed.
Two cross seats are located just to the rear of the motorman's cab. This is the only position in the car where two cross seats come one behind the other. To provide additional leg room for passengers in the rear seat, the back part of the front seat has been constructed with a cut-out portion, which comes just below the back seat cushion. By this ingenious arrangement, an additional 3 in. of leg room is provided for passengers without change in the other parts of the seat construction.
To provide maximum privacy for the motorman the door of the cab has been provided with a steel panel in the top portion and a small length of wire-ribbed glass in the center portion. The bottom of the door is also provided with a dust guard, as it is found that with the car in motion a current of air from the end door blows in through the motorman's cab, particularly when the window is raised. Thus dust and other particles are blown under the bottom of the door. The steel panel in the rear of the motorman's cab is utilized for an advertising sign rack.
Several window positions have steel panels. One of these is just to the left of the end door and others are provided just to the side of the end side doors. The use of steel panels reduces the maintenance cost for broken glass considerably and also provides increased revenue from their availability as advertising sign racks.
Drop sash have been provided in the end doors which are arranged for the dropping of the top part of the sash, the window being made in two parts. This gives increased ventilation and a circulation of air through the entire train.
In one of the accompanying illustrations showing exteriors of the cars the paneling of the small window to the left of the end-side doors can be seen. In these cars the car number has been placed on the side of the car over this window. It was found that this is preferable to numbered glass which when broken causes considerable delay in returning the car to service, as a new glass has to be numbered and the paint thoroughly dried before it can be installed. The routing and destination sign is located in the second window to the right of the center side doors. This location provides for use of signs with large letters which can be distinctly and easily read, and also gives more space for the sign proper, as the number of destinations and routes are increasing considerably due to the addition and operation of new lines.
In the illustration of the outside end of the car the pantograph safety gates are shown. A wide shoe now used insures proper contact even on sharp curves. Another view, taken between two cars, shows the threshold plates at the end doors. In the new design the outside ends have been cut off so that they extend but a few inches outside of the end doors.
In the views showing truck construction and equipment electric trip switches are shown at the left end of the truck. Two of these are installed per car on diagonally opposite corners. This truck mechanism for the trip switches consists of a lever which extends down toward the rail and engages the track trip. This lever is self-centering by heavy springs and acts through a gear and pinion to operate a contact device and open the circuit whenever it is operated. The opening of this circuit de-energizes the holding coil of an electro-pneumatic valve installed in the small cabinet over the push-button switches on the inside of the car. This electro-pneumatic valve operates a dead man's valve which opens the brake pipe and causes an emergency application of the brakes. As soon as the track trip has been passed, the truck trip switch returns automatically to its central position, closing the circuit at that point. However, the circuit still remains open, due to the dropping of the electro-pneumatic valve. A reset circuit is used for restoring the valve to its normal position, with a reset switch in each motorman's cab. There is also a pneumatic switch in this circuit, which is connected directly to the brake pipe. This closes whenever the brake pipe pressure has been reduced to 5 lb. or less. The electro-pnuematic valve can then be reset without the motorman moving from his cab, but as the brake pipe pressure must be reduced to 5 lb. before this circuit is closed ample time is given to insure that the train comes to a stop before the normal condition can again be re-established.
The cast-steel contact shoe is also shown in the second illustration, and the shoe-fuse-box cover. The cover is of wood, reinforced with wide steel bands having spring mounting.
The journal boxes provide substantial support for the shoe beams and heavy brake-shoe release springs assure prompt release from the wheels. Following the general practice in this design of providing safety straps for all brake-rigging parts, additional safety straps have been added under the truck slack adjusters. A cross-connection has also been added between the brake-shoe hangers at the end of the truck. This gives a rigid construction and prevents brake shoes from developing false flanges or wearing out of true.
All doors of a car are controlled from push-button boxes forming a part of switchboard panels located on either side of the car between the center pair of doors. The push buttons are arranged in three rows, those in the center row being for opening the doors. To energize any of the push buttons it is necessary for the operator to insert a key in the key switch at the upper left-hand corner of the box and to turn this to close the circuit to the button. As an extra safeguard on the opening buttons, a cast-bronze guard is installed over them. With this in place there is no danger of false operations with the cars in motion should the operator forget to remove his key from the key switch.
The lighting, heater and compressor switches are located at the top of the panel board. An ingenious method of preventing the operator from hanging on to the steel door of the panel board or other grounded metallic parts while he is throwing these switches involves the use of an insulated safety cover. This cover is hinged from a point just above the top of the switches, and in its normal position extends down so as to cover the switches and the fuses completely. In order to throw a switch it is necessary for the operator to raise this insulated panel, and the most natural method of doing this is to hold it in its raised position with the left hand while the switches are being thrown with the right hand. The operator must maintain his hold on this insulating panel, which insures his being insulated from ground without danger of receiving a shock should he inadvertently touch any live part. This insulated panel also forms a very conspicuous place for posting information regarding the various fuses and switches. All fuses and switches are given numbers on the panel board and the instructions tell what circuits they are used in, so that should trouble occur in service the operator does not need to test several circuits to find the trouble, but can locate it immediately by referring to the instructions.
Another ingenious and trouble-saving device is the key-lighting switch, located at the right-hand center part of the panel. As these cars operate in the open as well as in tunnels, it is necessary to turn the lights on and off during each trip. With the usual type of lighting switch this would require the opening of the panel board door each time it was necessary to throw this switch. This requirement has been done away with by the use of a key switch in the lighting circuit which can be operated by the insertion and turning of a key without opening the panel board door. The keyhole for this switch is made with a large funnel-shaped guard, so that the operator can readily find the keyhole even should he neglect to turn the light on in the car until after it enters the tunnel.
This panel board also contains the switch for operating the ventilating fans. This is a safety switch located just underneath the safety lighting switch. All exposed parts of this switch are insulated, so that the operator cannot come in contact with any live parts.
The hand-brake handle folds back against the side of the car just underneath the small switchboard panel and is held in position by a safety catch. The steel side panel has been cut out just at the handle to provide additional space for the inserting of the hand for operating the hand brake.
The storage batteries of the car are charged from the line as well as through the compressor circuit. A battery-charging relay operates to connect the car batteries to line through a resistance whenever the pressure drops as low as 26 volts. With the batteries connected for charging directly from the line a 2-amp. charging current is received. The normal voltage for these batteries is thirty-four, and whenever this voltage is reached the battery-charging relay automatically cuts out. In normal operation the batteries are charged through the compressor circuit.
Electro-pneumatic line switches, Westinghouse type 267-E-9, are used on these cars. These are found desirable on account of the large number of times that the main operating circuit is opened and closed while going over gaps in the third rail.
Improvements in the electro-pneumatic brakes used provide for a quick application of the brakes throughout a train at all times whether they are applied pneumatically or with the electric features cut out. An indicating pilot lamp is connected so as to show whenever the brakes on a car are cut out. This pilot lamp is located inside the car just to the right of one set of the end side doors, and its conspicuous location insures that cars are not operated in service with brakes cut out unless it is essential due to trouble on that particular car. The motorman is then advised of the condition, so that safe operation is assured.
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| Some Features Embodied in New York Municipal Railway Company's Cars. (1) Interior of switchboard panel. (2) Push-button section of switchboard panel, pipe framework footrest Interlocked with door engine, cut out, coasting recorders, destination sign and hand straps. (3) Wide type pantograph shoes. (4) Small panel box with push-button switch, recess provided for hand brake. (5) Types of end-door threshold plates. (6) Cross-seat recessed to provide knee room for passengers in seat behind. (7) Paneling at end of car, design of motorman's cab door and end door with drop sash. (8) Truck mechanism, cast steel contact shoes and shoe-fuse box cover. (9) Safety hangers for truck slack adjusters and shoe hangers cross connected. |
Sources: Electric Railway Journal, McGraw Hill Company, Digitized by Microsoft, Americana Collection, archive.org.
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http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/erj-1921-nymunicar_improvements.html
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