Some R142 Questions

I took a joy ride on 3-28, and have some questions:

1. On the ceiling of R142's are two black labels (with a white band on top) marked "Trasformer #1" and "Transformer #2". They are found when facing the storm doors at the ends of the cars. What are these labels for?

2. On the bottom, also at the end of the cars, is a label that reads "Portable Test Equipment Connectors." What is it?

3. When were the R142's and R142A's retrofitted with new announcements including the 'male voice' messages? (In addition to the 10 original ones [such as... ladies and gentlemen, we are being held by the train's dispatcher..] they came with? And what are the new ones added?

4. At Dyre Av., we skipped Gun Hill Rd., Pelham Parkway, and Morris Park because of a late departure. Yet, the announcement still said "This is ----" but nothing else. Are R142's equipped with GPS and in the case the conductor does not take action when a train arrives a station does the system automatically trigger an announcement?

4) The automatic announcements are triggered based on distance as determind by the turning of the wheels. The reason the stations were announced was because the C/R was either too lazy or didn't know how to "toggle off" the stations on the control panel.

There is no GPS technology involved on the R142/142As.


"Yet, the announcement still said "This is ----" but nothing else" - was there a "bing" right after the This is? That is because the C/R pressed the PA button to cut off the announcement.

No, the announcement said "This is Gun Hill Road," "This is Pelham Parkway", "This is Morris Park" when the train was entirely in the vicinity of those stations. And no other announcements followed until E 180 St.

Trains leaving Dyre Av in these evening hours (i.e. around 9pm) don't have very many people anyway so the announcements can slip by.