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Discussion related to commuter rail and rapid transit operations in the Chicago area including the South Shore Line, Metra Rail, and Chicago Transit Authority.

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 #1492378  by nmueller
 
Hello!

One day in the Fall of 1978 I saw several bi-level commuter coaches headed westward out of Philadelphia on a Conrail freight. They may have been lettered for Burlington Northern--I don't remember. I believed they were new cars headed from Budd to Chicago. Is anyone familiar with these cars? Would they still be in service?

Thank you.

Norman
 #1492417  by andrewjw
 
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metra#Coach_fleet, I find that Budd did build coaches for Chicago operators in in 1977-1978, many of which are still running.
Burlington 740-820 were also built by Budd from 1950-1973 and some of them are still in service (others were sold to MItrain).
 #1492443  by MetraBNSF
 
andrewjw wrote:From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metra#Coach_fleet, I find that Budd did build coaches for Chicago operators in in 1977-1978, many of which are still running.

Burlington 740-820 were also built by Budd from 1950-1973 and some of them are still in service (others were sold to MItrain).
Within this number range are control cars 790-815. 790-799 are no longer on the BN. Haven’t been for over 10 years. 800-815 still operate but the cab control features were decommissioned and operate as regular coach cars. 816-820 are standard coach cars and still operate.
 #1494204  by Engineer Spike
 
The 7100 series stuck out in a train. The stainless steel flouting had a different pattern than the older cars. They were odd compared to the other Metra/RTA cars on the other lines, which were of similar vintage. The 7100 fleet had the same trucks as the older BN/Burlington cars, with the large brake cylinders, similar to locomotives. I’m not a passenger car truck expert, so I don’t know what the type is called. The other similar cars had small cylinders, which connected directly to the shoes.