boblothrope wrote:R36 Combine Coach wrote:Although the 01200s date to 1980, the basic car body and layout is based on the 1972 PATH PA3, in turn a variant of the 1965 PA1.
As I said before, with the 01200s PA3-based, it could make sense for the new Red/Orange cars to be stretched versions of PA5s, saving costs and building off a proven, reliable off-the-shelf model. Perhaps the PA5's signature feature: on-board television (PATHVISION) could be used.
Why not tweak the design of the Siemens Blue Line cars for the new Orange order? They seem to work pretty well.
For the Red Line, I'd just dust off the blueprints and order some more 1800s. Those are the best subway cars the T owns.
The 01800's are 20-year-old tech. While the basics haven't changed that much since '94, there's been enough evolutionary improvements that no manufacturer would bit on an exact replica that doesn't match what they've set themselves up to manufacture these days. There's better stuff to be had with 2014's tech.
The caveat, as always, is avoiding the T's compulsive and perpetually self-defeating need for overcustomization. Fit the damn things into a Red- and Orange-shaped tincan and outfitted with T-spec ATO boxes, but for chrissakes keep the guts as bulletproof-generic as the most reliable recent MTA order. Nobody cares whether this button *has* to be X inches from the operator's fingers or what feature creep *has* to go in the onboard computer. Make them bloody work. The procurement requests aren't exactly promising signs that they've learned their lesson after so many bullet holes in shoe.
Even the quite very successful Siemens 0700's were overcustomized to absurdity from propulsion system selection right down to splitting-hairs computer minutia. Who knows if Siemens even wants to bid with how much more difficult the T's obsessive-compulsive specs made their job.