[HN Gopher] Repair shops where subway cars go for a makeover
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       Repair shops where subway cars go for a makeover
        
       Author : ianrahman
       Score  : 43 points
       Date   : 2024-03-03 14:49 UTC (8 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | sea-gold wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/1KtNB
        
         | jessriedel wrote:
         | Alt:
         | https://web.archive.org/web/20240303150044/https://www.nytim...
        
           | mjevans wrote:
           | Paywall loading at the scroll
        
             | jessriedel wrote:
             | Ugh yea. It at least shows the first few paragraphs and
             | pictures for those of us on cloudfare who can't access
             | archive.is
        
       | freitzkriesler2 wrote:
       | Oh hey, I know that place. That's Alstrom in Hornell NY!
        
       | neilv wrote:
       | I couldn't find a photo of this in the article:
       | 
       | > _Attached to one component underneath that car -- out of sight
       | to virtually everyone but the rats, once the train resumes
       | service -- there was a round, black-and-white sticker. It
       | featured a smiling cartoon face resembling Thomas the Tank
       | Engine, and it proudly bore the words "Coney Island Overhaul
       | Pneumatic Shop."_
        
       | woodruffw wrote:
       | > New York City has some of the oldest subway cars in the world
       | -- some have been in service since the 1980s.
       | 
       | If you count the SIR, some of the system's cars are over 50 years
       | old[1]. The R46 is also approaching 50 and is still the standard
       | trainset on the A/C and N/Q/W.
       | 
       | (The MTA also ran R32s[2] until very recently, which were
       | approaching 60.)
       | 
       | [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R44_(New_York_City_Subway_car)
       | 
       | [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R32_(New_York_City_Subway_car)
        
       | banana_giraffe wrote:
       | Gift Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/nyregion/subway-
       | repair-sh...
        
       | neilv wrote:
       | The photos show people doing their jobs skillfully and
       | conscientiously.
       | 
       | That makes sense, because it's safety-critical important
       | infrastructure for an economic powerhouse city.
       | 
       | But why don't we always see skill and conscientiousness in all
       | the other jobs where that would be appropriate?
        
         | hoten wrote:
         | Are you asking why it isn't present, or why we don't see it/it
         | isn't put on display? What areas do you have in mind?
        
         | GuB-42 wrote:
         | Many places that appear skillful and conscientious on camera
         | and in newspaper articles are really not that much.
         | 
         | Many companies offer a kind of tour to officials and
         | journalists where they show what they want to show. Cleaning up
         | what is visible, giving the right tasks to the right employees
         | and generally hiding the mess. Journalists may be complicit,
         | they have to if they want these pretty pictures. Essentially,
         | that's an ad. Not saying it is the case here, but I know for a
         | fact that it can happen.
        
         | ilamont wrote:
         | Because private companies in the United States have much more
         | leeway to cut corners, _even in heavily regulated industries._
         | 
         | Boeing spins off a manufacturing unit to save money and the FAA
         | takes their word for quality control, with predictable results:
         | 
         |  _As part of the federal securities lawsuit, a Spirit employee
         | allegedly told higher-ups about an "excessive amount of
         | defects," later telling a colleague he "believed it was just a
         | matter of time until a major defect escaped to a customer."
         | According to the court filing, the company ignored the
         | warnings._
         | 
         | https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/boeing-subcontractor-sub...
         | 
         | Blackstone-owned meatpacking cleaning company hires 15 year
         | olds to clean slaughterhouses, with predictable results:
         | 
         |  _Blackstone-owned slaughterhouse cleaning company Packers
         | Sanitation Services (PSSI) in February paid a $1.5 million US
         | Department of Labor (DOL) fine for "oppressive child labor."
         | DOL investigators found more than 100 children working in
         | hazardous jobs, under illegal conditions, with multiple
         | children suffering injuries._
         | 
         | https://pestakeholder.org/news/large-investors-challenge-bla...
         | 
         | Blackstone's CEO was paid a quarter BILLION dollars in 2022:
         | 
         | https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights...
        
       | beAbU wrote:
       | Beautiful photography!
        
       | simmonmt wrote:
       | The photos are gorgeous. The first one, of the motor disassembly
       | area, has a bridge crane (labeled M-23) with a _1-ton_ capacity??
       | I didn 't realize bridge cranes that size went that low.
        
         | dtgriscom wrote:
         | I always right-click and "Open Image in New Tab"; you can see
         | so much more than the Times makes available in the context of
         | the article.
        
         | jrockway wrote:
         | Interesting point. I am sure the steel beam that is stenciled
         | with "1 ton" can hold more than that, but the plasticky thing
         | that's the actual lifting mechanism looks pretty hardware-store
         | grade.
        
       | Luc wrote:
       | Photographer's book "Made in America":
       | https://www.amazon.com/-/en/Christopher-Payne/dp/1419747398/
        
       | analog31 wrote:
       | Wow, I never expected "an electric motor and some wheels" to be
       | so complex.
        
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       (page generated 2024-03-03 23:00 UTC)