One of the other tasks of the shop is to inspect the 385 car R142 fleet that runs on the 5 train on 66 day average cycle. Again, this takes less time, effort and inspectors than with the Redbirds thanks to the design of the cars and the ability to download data about the health of the car from its black box onto laptops. However, the Transit Authority hasn’t gone all computerized, since paper records are also needed for not just the cars, but for the employees too. We wonder how much money the MTA could save by going paperless.

The tour was quite informative, as we learned: The door thresholds on subway cars were heated; the red stripes on the R142s isn’t a decorative element, but are on either side of doors that have the wheel chair spot next to it; and the newest subway equipment uses composite brakes, which reduces the amount of steel dust in the system.

Tassiello gave an excellent tour which satisfied the subway enthusiasts as well as those merely curious to take a behind the scenes peek on how the subway works.