Blue Line 0600 Tracker (Hawker-Siddeley) RETIRED

It was probably a good spot to check out the cars being secured to the truck and tightening chains up.

The bridge by the casket factory would not take the weight of the trailer with the car. Too heavy. They had to go another route to Maine.

Seashore cars are now safely preserved in Maine Anyone that would like to help pay for the move please contact me via a private message.

Boy what a great birthday gift you got at Seashore waiting for you to open, Happy Birthday .

How hard is it going to be to replace the pantographs with trolley polls? Also, what condition are the two Blue Line cars in compared to the ones that the T elected to keep on the property for contractual reasons?

madcrow wrote: Also, what condition are the two Blue Line cars in compared to the ones that the T elected to keep on the property for contractual reasons?

They are in excellent codition vs the rest of the fleet because the MBTA let the Trolley Museum have their pick of the cars. 0622 and 23 were rebuilt not long ago to test whether they could be used on the Orane Line, so they are practically like new, shiny paint & all!

Type7trolley wrote:

madcrow wrote: Also, what condition are the two Blue Line cars in compared to the ones that the T elected to keep on the property for contractual reasons?

They are in excellent codition vs the rest of the fleet because the MBTA let the Trolley Museum have their pick of the cars. 0622 and 23 were rebuilt not long ago to test whether they could be used on the Orane Line, so they are practically like new, shiny paint & all!

Hopefully they'll stay that way. The poor Seashore museum just doesn't have enough indoor storage If I weren't a poor college student, I'd donate, but as it is I can do nothing but wish them well.

madcrow wrote:How hard is it going to be to replace the pantographs with trolley polls? Also, what condition are the two Blue Line cars in compared to the ones that the T elected to keep on the property for contractual reasons?

The cars 0622/23 were the "guinea pigs" and sent to TTA to see if it was feasable to rebuild the cars for the orange line. The T decided not to go with the rebuilding of the cars and sent 0622/23 back to the Blue Line for service. It should be easy to put the poles on the cars, since the wiring is there from the pantograph already. The only thing is they have to retro fit 600 VDC jumpers between the cars since only one pole can be up at a time and both cars need power to run. There are simular jumpers on the R-32/R-21 SMEE's, R-1-9's any subway train running 2 cars with a single pole. Hope that helped you understand.

Does anyone know what the story is with 0652/0653 and why they are still on the property and operable? I thought that only 0600-0617 were the collateral for the MBTA's outstanding debt? Does the T want to have 5 operable 4-car sets in case there is some kind of event that necessitates the withdrawal of the 0700s from service?

As far as I know from the letter I got from the T reguarding the fantrip, "They cannot be used due to liability issues etc" they may hold the cars but it will take an act of congress they to see passenger service again. Along with the press release stating that the Blue Line is now running 6 cars exclusively and 4 will no longer be run again.

These cars have since been moved to the museum and are currently blocking the Highwood Lead. I am going up in the spring to clean them and ready them for operation.

madcrow wrote:How hard is it going to be to replace the pantographs with trolley polls? Also, what condition are the two Blue Line cars in compared to the ones that the T elected to keep on the property for contractual reasons?

It wont be too hard because weve done it successfully on a bunch of cars. These two cars have been overhauled a couple of years ago so they look a little newer.

sery2831 wrote:Stevie, do you know if they were cut up on site?

IYes. They were being scrapped on a stub-end track in the Orient Heights yard. I witnessed one of the scrappings of cars 0646/0647.

RailBus63 wrote:Is any reconditioning or cosmetic work going to be done to the 20 cars that will be retained until 2012? Most of the 0600's really look awful these days.

They should do the same procedure that they did on 0622/0623(now at STM). It would probably also make them last a little longer as well.

sery2831 wrote:I would love to see a fleet of work cars made from this fleet. They could be all customized for different duties and in theory be used system wide. How cool would it to be see a Hawker come through Park Street on the Green Line?

Wow, that would be funny and worth getting a picture of.