Oldest Passenger Cars Still In Use

According to wikipedia, Metra still uses some cars that are so old they pre-date Amtrak. Which line would I need to ride to enjoy a ride in these cars?

NCDOT also has 1965 KCS coaches and combines converted from 1953 U.S. Army ambulances and lounges.

The oldest Metra gallery cars should be around 1959-60.

TLS: The oldest group of gallery cars on Metra are the BNSF Aurora Line Budd-built (for the CB&Q) cars.
They stand out with their old-style stainless steel fluting and have BNSF logos along with "BNSF Railway"
on the letter boards over the center doors. Some also read "Burlington" or "Burlington Northern" (?).
These cars are also used on the Southwest Service to Orland Park and Manhattan, IL which share the
same equipment pool serving the south side of Union Station.

There are some Pullman-Standard "painted" gallery cars that are used on trains as "bicycle" cars run on
various routes. These were former C&NW or Rock Island cars dating from the 1960s to 1970 (the RI cars).

METRA has a interesting variety of gallery cars in their large fleet - built for predecessor railroads, the RTA
(predecessor to Metra before 1984) and Metra - many were built by Budd - that can be spotted by looking
at the side window sizes - newer cars have larger windows - as one example.

If you watch videos of trains on the BNSF Aurora Line "Racetrack" you can get a good idea of how to find
these cars in service - the older BNSF cars are somewhat common...MACTRAXX

The oldest car in regular revenue service would be the CNW 553 (METX 553), built in 1949. It's a subscription car but memberships are available to anyone space permitting.

http://car553.org/

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eolesen wrote: ↑Wed Oct 06, 2021 8:17 am The oldest car in regular revenue service would be the CNW 553 (METX 553), built in 1949. It's a subscription car but memberships are available to anyone space permitting.

http://car553.org/

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Are anyone still using the ex DLW MUs which were a staple of 80s tourist trains?

scratchyX1 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:56 am Are anyone still using the ex DLW MUs which were a staple of 80s tourist trains?

Some still running, along with Reading Blueliners and the LIRR MP72/P72s.

Not counting any ex-ATSF Budd cars on the Tennessee Central museum train. Also ex-RDC on Tennessee Valley museum trains. I suppose these museum trains can count as at least monthly or weekly service. You can still buy a ticket to ride them.

GWoodle wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 9:32 pmNot counting any ex-ATSF Budd cars on the Tennessee Central museum train. Also ex-RDC on Tennessee Valley museum trains. I suppose these museum trains can count as at least monthly or weekly service. You can still buy a ticket to ride them.

If you are going down that rail-road take a look at the CVSR (Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad) running regular service including National Park trains and Bike/Rail and Kayak/Rail service. They have several cars from the 1940s.
https://www.cvsr.org/our-fleet/

For transit service, excluding restored PCCs and trolleys, the oldest in regular service now would be the 1968
PATCO cars (given the NYCT R32s are now either stored or relegated to work service or film shoots).

GWoodle wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 9:32 pm Not counting any ex-ATSF Budd cars on the Tennessee Central museum train. Also ex-RDC on Tennessee Valley museum trains. I suppose these museum trains can count as at least monthly or weekly service. You can still buy a ticket to ride them.

Reading and northern also use their RDC in regular service, too.