>>1870031MTA Autist here
>is there a differenceNot really for the cabs, it is position, as
>>1870045 said, motorman tends to anything involving movement of the train, while the conductor is essentially everything else, and is responsible for the train. And short trains having a conductor, usually shuttle trains, as they are very short routes.
>could in theory be operated as a single carYes they can, however it is never used because the cars are married, married being permanently connected cars, usually the trains have couplers only at the mid point, where you can find the conductor.
Funny enough the Grand Central shuttle train have two man operation, despite the train being two stops, because it is faster for the motorman to just close door, travel, open door, then switch, than it is to have a single person moving between the train cars.
>different notchesDo you mean notches on the throttle?
AFAIK every car type has different notches, and standardization exists only in the modern R142, R147 and R160.
>>1870048Yes, anon, however it only applies to cab end cars, if the car has a cab on one end then you can use that cab.
R32s had halfcabs on both ends of every train car, funny enough if that the conductor had to constantly switch between train car depending on what side the station was.
