All Things WMATA 7000 Series

"smallfire85"
I was under the same impression originally, until I saw the head/tail lights on a "blind" end. The cab-less car has an operating holster on the door column in a locked cabinet. I remember seeing a picture of it, I'll have to look it up. I've seen a two car move of the 7Ks while at Greenbelt yard a while back, though the cab car was leading.

The headlight, taillight and the holster cab of the F end of the B car is for non revenue moves only. No ATP or ATO, movement restricted to 15 MPH. Such a setup is possible without the having the various subsystem from the other pair of a 4 car set.

smallfire85 wrote:Some pics of the arrangement of the 7K set at King St-Old Town Last week. I apologize for the angles, I was too focused on details.



(Edited to repair the image link)

I don't recall seeing those large (rubber?) black protrusions on the trainset I rode on during the Blue line launch. What are those?

JDC wrote: I don't recall seeing those large (rubber?) black protrusions on the trainset I rode on during the Blue line launch. What are those?

I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be safety barriers or "atypical boarding" deterrents. They are standard on all the cars. Its possible that they were overshadowed by the midnight black facade on the car end.

Sand Box John wrote:The headlight, taillight and the holster cab of the F end of the B car is for non revenue moves only. No ATP or ATO, movement restricted to 15 MPH. Such a setup is possible without the having the various subsystem from the other pair of a 4 car set.

I figured that was the case of the B car. The lack of any other typical operating end components made me think this ability was not to be used in many instances.

I don't recall any mention of a third or fourth type of car like a C or D, or a modified A or B that would indicate that the cars can only operate in 4 and 8 car sets on the mainline. I guess that there can be something in the operating subsystem that assigns certain roles to each car, requiring 4 or 8 car operation in ATP territory. It makes me wonder how that would be setup in the arrangement I saw in Alexandria last week.

smallfire85 wrote:

JDC wrote: I don't recall seeing those large (rubber?) black protrusions on the trainset I rode on during the Blue line launch. What are those?

I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be safety barriers or "atypical boarding" deterrents. They are standard on all the cars. Its possible that they were overshadowed by the midnight black facade on the car end.

That makes sense, since I don't see the current 'chain' there that Metro has between its current cars.

JDC wrote: That makes sense, since I don't see the current 'chain' there that Metro has between its current cars.

The 'chain' is still there, but only between the blind ends of each married pair. The 'F' end of each car has the rubber type barriers installed.

"smallfire85"
I figured that was the case of the B car. The lack of any other typical operating end components made me think this ability was not to be used in many instances.

I don't recall any mention of a third or fourth type of car like a C or D, or a modified A or B that would indicate that the cars can only operate in 4 and 8 car sets on the mainline. I guess that there can be something in the operating subsystem that assigns certain roles to each car, requiring 4 or 8 car operation in ATP territory. It makes me wonder how that would be setup in the arrangement I saw in Alexandria last week.

One question. Was the coupling of those 2 cars at mid train or within one of the 4 car sets?

Answering that question might help in determining if the various subsystem are shared across 4 car or only 2 car.

Metro has a PR video of the Red line launch of the 7000-series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=222Uppfccgw

Sand Box John wrote: One question. Was the coupling of those 2 cars at mid train or within one of the 4 car sets?

Answering that question might help in determining if the various subsystem are shared across 4 car or only 2 car.

The cars in the photos were the 6th and 7th cars in the consist, so part of the rear 4 cars. The train was mirrored along the center, so the same arrangement was in place at the 2nd and 3rd cars, just in the opposite direction.

"smallfire85"
The cars in the photos were the 6th and 7th cars in the consist, so part of the rear 4 cars. The train was mirrored along the center, so the same arrangement was in place at the 2nd and 3rd cars, just in the opposite direction.

Hmm, that would lead me to believe that the various subsystems are only shared across married pairs

If the consist was 0-1+6-7+5-4+3-2 then I see no reason why they can not be run in 6 car consists, unless there is something else in the setup that I don't know about that prevents it.

There are timetables for the 7k trains at Greater Greater Washington:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/pos ... 000-train/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Yonge"
There are timetables for the 7k trains at Greater Greater Washington:

Here's when and where to find the Red Line's 7000 train

Unfortunately for me they put them to bed for the night before I finish my day in Baltimore.

This is how Metro is doing to handle the finances of retiring the 5000 series cars early:

"Settlement of Federal Interest in the 5000 Series Railcars
To settle the federal interest requirement, Metro will transfer the federal interest
remaining in the 5000 series cars when they are retired to the new 7000 series
cars. The federal interest settlement will be accommodated through offsetting
adjustments to the allocation of planned FTA and state/local funding for projects
in the CIP. A direct cash payment to FTA will not be necessary, and there will be
no changes to either the planned capital program contributions from the
jurisdictions or the planned expenditures on other projects in the FY2016-2021
CIP."

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/board_ ... 021CIP.pdf

Was on a 7000 series train today for the first time and boticed a few things.

If a train stops and it's not at a station it will automatically make an annoucement saying that there is an another train in front and we'll be moving shortly. Pretty neat.

The trains are noticeably lower than the platform height. Did they not take measurements or something?

7001 was sparking a lot and making nasty noises going through a turn. Didn't sound very good.

I was on the 3rd car but noticed that it was 7002-7003-7000-7001-7006-7007-?-? from the back. Ordering doesn't matter it seems?

"JDC"
This is how Metro is doing to handle the finances of retiring the 5000 series cars early:

"Settlement of Federal Interest in the 5000 Series Railcars
To settle the federal interest requirement, Metro will transfer the federal interest
remaining in the 5000 series cars when they are retired to the new 7000 series
cars. The federal interest settlement will be accommodated through offsetting
adjustments to the allocation of planned FTA and state/local funding for projects
in the CIP. A direct cash payment to FTA will not be necessary, and there will be
no changes to either the planned capital program contributions from the
jurisdictions or the planned expenditures on other projects in the FY2016-2021
CIP."

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/board_ ... 021CIP.pdf

I think one can safely assume the amount owed by WMATA will be reduced the longer the cars stay in service.

"YOLO"Was on a 7000 series train today for the first time and boticed a few things.

If a train stops and it's not at a station it will automatically make an annoucement saying that there is an another train in front and we'll be moving shortly. Pretty neat.

The trains are noticeably lower than the platform height. Did they not take measurements or something?

7001 was sparking a lot and making nasty noises going through a turn. Didn't sound very good.

I was on the 3rd car but noticed that it was 7002-7003-7000-7001-7006-7007-?-? from the back. Ordering doesn't matter it seems?

The cars in question were likely 7005-7004 in that order.

The coupling of even numbered cars to odd numbered cars make me wonder if WMATA is not telling us something.