R42 (New York City Subway car)

R42
An R42 train on the J at Marcy Avenue
Interior of an R42 car
In service	1969–2020
Manufacturer	St. Louis Car Company
Built at	St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Replaced	All remaining BMT Standards Many R1s
Constructed	1969–1970
Entered service	May 9, 1969
Refurbished	1988–1989
Scrapped	2007–2008 (all CI-rebuilt cars) 2007–2013 (most MK-rebuilt cars)
Number built	400
Number in service	(48 in work service)[1]
Number preserved	5
Number scrapped	347
Successor	R160 and R179
Formation	Married Pairs
Fleet numbers	4550–4949
Capacity	44 (seated)
Operators	New York City Subway
Specifications
Car body construction	Stainless Steel with Carbon Steel chassis, roof and underbody, Fiberglass A-end bonnet and B-end top bonnet
Train length	2 car train: 120.4 feet (36.7 m) 4 car train: 240.8 feet (73.4 m) 6 car train: 361.2 feet (110.1 m) 8 car train: 481.6 feet (146.8 m) 10 car train: 602 feet (183 m)
Car length	60 ft (18.29 m)
Width	10 ft (3,048 mm)
Height	12.08 ft (3,682 mm)
Platform height	3.76 ft (1.15 m)
Doors	8 sets of 50 inch wide side doors per car
Maximum speed	55 mph (89 km/h)
Weight	74,388.5 lb (33,742 kg)
Traction system	General Electric (GE) SCM propulsion system using Westinghouse 1447J motors 115 hp (85.8 kW) on all axles
Acceleration	2.5 mph/s (4.0 km/(h⋅s))
Deceleration	3.0 mph/s (4.8 km/(h⋅s)) (Full Service) 3.2 mph/s (5.1 km/(h⋅s)) (Emergency)
Electric system(s)	600 V DC Third rail
Current collector(s)	Contact shoe
Braking system(s)	CI rebuilds: New York Air Brake SMEE / Newtran (dynamic and friction), A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake MK rebuilds: WABCO "SMEE" Braking System, A.S.F. simplex unit cylinder clasp (tread) brake
Safety system(s)	tripcock
Coupling system	Westinghouse H2C
Headlight type	halogen light bulbs
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The R42 was a New York City Subway car model built by the St. Louis Car Company between 1969 and 1970 for the IND/BMT B Division. There were 400 cars in the R42 fleet, numbered 4550–4949. It was the last 60-foot (18.29 m) B Division car built for the New York City Subway until the R143 in 2001, and the last car model class to be built in married pairs.

The first R42 cars entered service on May 9, 1969. Various modifications were made over the years to the R42 fleet. In the late 1980s, the R42 cars were rebuilt by Morrison–Knudsen and the Coney Island Rapid Transit Car Overhaul Shop.

The R160 order was to replace all R42s in the late 2000s, but 50 cars of the original fleet remained, when it was decided to retire the NYCT R44s instead. The R179 order replaced the remainder of the R42s in the late 2010s. The R42s temporarily resumed service from January 8 through 24 in 2020 when the R179s were pulled from service. The final train of R42s ran in passenger service on February 12, 2020. After retirement, most of the R42s were sunk as artificial reefs, scrapped, or placed into storage, but a handful have been preserved and others retained for various purposes.