Allan wrote:Kamen Rider wrote:More the question being "Why would you want to?"
an R142 is 51 feet long and 8 1/2 feet wide. A 10 car train is 510 feet, an 11 car 7 train is 561.
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IRT cars (including the R142) are 51 feet 4 inches long. That makes a 10 car train 510 feet 40 inches OR 513 feet 4 inches long. An 11 car train is 561 feet 44 inches OR 564 feet 8 inches long.
You ever heard the words "Rounding off"...
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the Flushing line is kinda sorta a hybrid between A and B, it operates to IRT standards, but you'll only hear Flushing train crews on the BMT radio frequency. After the end of El service on the 2nd ave line via the Queensboro Bridge, the only connection to the outside would was the track connection to the BMT 60th street tubes. At that time, the only option to move equipment to the main shops was to couple an B divison Pilot car (every car order from both divisions, R10 to R68 except for the R44s and R46s, use the same SMEE brakeing design). Problem with that comes when you forget to take the car off when you get back to the interchange point. A train leaving Concourse Yard up the ramp to the Jerome Ave El left it's IND pilot car on the rear. It proceeded to tear apart Kingsbridge Road. And you can see why he made that mistake, when you compare the looks of the R10s to the R12s
So that was made a consideration in the design of the R33 World's Fair. Lead the train without the risk of causing utter chaos and destruction. And why they later went and built a direct ramp between the Broadway-7th ave line and the 207th shops.
Even today, the R33WFs remain on the work roster for such purposes. I've seen photos of them leading R62s to and from the Flushing line, and whenever the IRT museum SMEE "Train of Many Colors" is out on the road, you can bet that 9306, the first of the 33WFs, will be at one end.
As to the assertion of two division operating on the same tracks...
it's just a general, absolute, no room for negotiations NO. Having a gap filler at every door at every station is too great a mechanical risk. If just one gap filler fails to extend, then the station has to be bypassed by IRT trains. If it fails sticking out, then every B division train on the line would be trapped where it was basically clogging up the road. And heaven help you if it gets stuck out and a B division train goes and hits it.
There would also need to be a security measure to prevent B division equipment from taking the wrong lineup and ending up on the IRT tracks, but does not interfere with work equipment that can be tripped both ways.
The MTA has done everything in it's power to remove gap fillers from the subway. They didn't spend all that time, money and effort building a new South Ferry Station just because. If they could rebuild 14th street-USQ to remove them, they would. They currently maintain only about 30 all together. They are in no mood to have to put in more then they've ever had. You idea would require 900 units.