When form follows function - industrial design

Railway Age, August, 2002 by William C. Vantuono

CCH and EE&K have also developed a transit village plan for NJ Transit's Hamilton Township station on the Northeast Corridor. It links three industrial sites--American Standard, Congoleum, and Federal Express--into a "continuous fabric" centered around the train station. A mix of land uses--public, retail, and residential spaces--promotes transit use and leverages the existing infrastructure to create a new town center for Hamilton Township. In a community looking for new rateables, a transit village will be far better than the present facilities surrounding the station, which are no more than "a parking lot with scattered development," says CCH Principal John P. Clarke, FAIA.

In New York, Slattery Skanska, Inc., and its subsidiary, Gottlieb Skanska, Inc., are reconstructing Times Square Subway Station, MTA New York City Transit's largest and busiest, a multi-mezzanine complex serving four subway lines carrying 500,000 passengers daily. The most challenging component is the expansion of the 41st Street and 7th Avenue Mezzanine, the architectural content of which consists of ornamental metal railings and floor and wall tile with several types of ornate mosaic. The Broadway Mezzanine is getting a major aesthetic improvement: an ellipse, a vertical cut through the center that will provide passengers with a view of the multi-floor complex. Creation of an oval ring of lights around the mezzanine's interior perimeter, along with glass block, enhances overall visual appearance. The 42nd Street Mezzanine (left) will have a curved wall that features a decorative arrangement of Broadway show advertisements.

The Alstom Transport PL42AC is the first new diesel-electric locomotive to be acquired by New Jersey Transit since 1981, and one of the few purpose-built passenger diesels in the U.S. since the 195Os. (Other designs, like the EMD F4OPH and F59PH, are derivatives of freight locomotives.)

"A locomotive has to convey a feeling of reliability and strength as well as safety," says NJ Transit Chief Designer Cesar A. Vergara, who is responsible for the PL42AC's car-body shape and exterior graphics. "The use of cone sections and facets yields what I feel is an honest form that is main-tainable as well as aerodynamic. Like the new Cadillac CTS and many other U.S. products of the 2000s, there is a swing toward more defined shapes and less 'soap bar' appearance, like the late-1990s Ford Taurus. The PL42AC has to look good for the next 40 years in all kinds of paint schemes. I hope I have provided a lasting, cutting-edge American shape."

Underneath the PL42AC's sleek monocoque all-steel carbody is an EMI) 16-cylinder 710G3B-T1 prime-mover and TA-17 main alternator driving an IGBT traction inverter and frame-mounted a.c. traction motors on bolster-less two-axle trucks with 44-inch wheels and combination disc/tread/dynamic brakes. Starting tractive effort is 69975 pounds; continuous tractive effort is 27,000 pounds. Horsepower is 4,200; traction power at the wheels is 3,620 hp--enough to pull eight bilevel coaches at 100 mph. HEP of 800 kW Is supplied by the prime mover. The PL42AC weighs 144 tons and is 69 feet-10 inches long, 10 feet-8 inches wide, and 15 feet-5 inches high. Fuel capacity is 2,250 gallons. In addition to standard MR 27-pin connections, the communications system is equipped with NJ Transit's pioneering DTN (Digital Trainline Network) technology. The locomotive meets FRA/APTA Tier I crashworthiness standards, EPA Tier I emissions requirements (upgradeable to Tier II after Jan. 1, 2007), and, at 88 dB, exceeds federal noise leve l standards. The first two units are scheduled to be delivered from Alstom's Valencia, Spain, plant in March 2004, with the full order of 33 completed by December 2004. STV, Inc., is providing engineering and design services to the NJ Transit/Alstom project team, which is led respectively by David Carter and Ricardo Albeda.