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Re: train with mechanical problems |
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Posted by trainsarefun on Thu Apr 24 22:20:56 2008, in response to Re: train with mechanical problems, posted by JournalSquare-K-Car on Thu Apr 24 22:11:24 2008. For the curious, this is the story:Link April 5, 1987 SAFETY DEVICES FAIL IN NEW SUBWAY CARS By RICHARD LEVINE LEAD: Electrical controllers - sometimes called the brains of a subway car -have been failing on many of the two newest models in the city's fleet, according to Transit Authority officials. Electrical controllers - sometimes called the brains of a subway car -have been failing on many of the two newest models in the city's fleet, according to Transit Authority officials. Nevertheless, the authority has ordered 200 more cars with the same devices, which are made by the Westinghouse Electric Company. The controllers, which regulate acceleration and braking, can cause a car's motor to go dead when they fail. Although officials say they believe the problem can be solved, the authority has made provisions to have the controllers on the new cars replaced if the trouble persists. Each car has its own motor, and an eight-car train could run safely even if motors in two or three cars go dead. But authority officials fear that the strain of dragging cars with dead motors might damage the other cars, which cost $1 million each. The director of car equipment engineering for the authority, Frank D. Westfall Jr., said the controllers have malfunctioned on about 20 percent of the R-62A's, which began service in 1985, and ''at most'' about 10 percent of the R-68's, which entered service almost a year ago. The latest car equipment department status report showed that controller problems on both models increased in February. 'Towed Piece of Equipment' Officials say controllers made by General Electric, which are used on another model, the R-62's, have proven more reliable. However, the controllers made by G.E. are also $5,000 to $7,000 more expensive than the Westinghouse units, which cost about $50,000 to $60,000, according to Mr. Westfall. Besides price, authority officials said that they specified Westinghouse controllers for the newest cars, the R-68A's, because they wanted them to be compatible with earlier R-68's. Since the entire R-68 fleet is to be based at Coney Island, it will be more efficient to maintain the cars if they have identical equipment, they said. Mr. Westfall said the Westinghouse controllers, which are part of a car's propulsion system, started malfunctioning shortly after the R-62A's began arriving from their Canadian manufacturer, Bombardier. Although the Westinghouse controllers have since undergone two dozen modifications, Mr. Westfall said, a problem remains with a part called a JBDC contactor, which has tips that are supposed to open and close to complete an electrical circuit but that sometimes fuse shut instead. When that happens, he added, the motor goes dead and ''a car that is designed to be self-propelled becomes a towed piece of equipment.'' Westinghouse controllers are also being installed on 118 older R-28 models being overhauled. Over all, more than 1,500 of the authority's 6,000 subway cars are to be equipped with the devices. Westinghouse controllers are also used on new and refurbished cars on the Path system. But Path ordered ''beefed up'' versions of the device and has avoided the problem, according to Richard Kelly, the vice president and general manager. A Westinghouse spokesman, Robert Henderson, said the contactor tips close whenever a car that is accelerating starts to brake and vice versa, about 2,000 times on a typical day. Sometimes, he said, the tips bounce apart after they close, creating an electrical arc that can fuse them together. In the latest attempt to solve the problem - the fourth, according to the Transit Authority - the company has devised a new contactor unit with shock absorbers to prevent bouncing. It will be tested in 50 subway cars for 90 days beginning this month and, if successful, will be installed on the other cars at no cost to the Transit Authority, according to Mr. Henderson. Law Suit Pending Mr. Westfall said the new unit ''looks very good'' in laboratory tests. However, he said, ''the key is putting equipment into revenue service.'' Last summer, about a year after problems with the controllers arose, the authority ordered 200 more R-68's from a consortium that included Westinghouse and Amrail, the French subway car builder. Although the authority switched last month to Kawasaki of Japan, which built the R-62's, for the final 200 cars in the R-68 fleet, they will again have Westinghouse controllers. That has prompted Amrail to file a lawsuit accusing Westinghouse of breaking an agreement to work only with Amrail on the R-68 project. Mr. Henderson said Westinghouse considered the suit ''without merit.'' Hats Kageyama, manager of transportation systems and equipment for Nissho-Iwai American Corporation, which represents Kawasaki, said the company submitted two proposals to the Transit Authority, one for R-68A's with Westinghouse controllers and one with General Electric devices, and the authority made the choice. |
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