OpenBVE IRT Lo-V Standard

Modified by AmtrakAcelaRailfan

Created by Railfanner of New York

Lo-V cars were manufactured from 1916 to 1925 and served mostly on the IRT Lexington Avenue Express (today’s 4 and 5 trains) and the IRT 7th Avenue – Bronx Park Express (today’s 2 and 3 trains). The last Lo-V cars served the Third Avenue Elevated in The Bronx and were retired in 1969. The first all-steel subway cars used by Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) were called “Gibbs” cars, named for the IRT’s chief engineer, George Gibbs. These – along with several other early car types were eventually termed “Hi-V” cars, after the 600 volts needed to power and control the propulsion system. All subway cars have wheels with motors in them, called “trucks” which have contact shoes that touch the third rail and deliver power to the “group box”. The group box controls acceleration in the trucks’ motors according to the signals it receives from the master controller. A master controller is an electromechanical device, located at the front of a train, that a train operator uses to regulate direction and speed.

In a Hi-V car, this voltage was passed from the third rail contact shoes directly through a train’s master controller to each individual car’s propulsion control system. It was also based between each car – called “trainlining”. This meant that if one of the contact shoes in a Hi-V car was not touching the third rail, there was still 600 volts of current being delivered to it from the other cars it was coupled to. This was achieved by connecting each rail car via a jumper cable. This also meant that high voltages were being passed directly through the master controller in the train operator’s cab



