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  • Metro to install vinyl wrapping on 3K/6K, look more like 7Ks

  • Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.
Discussion related to DC area passenger rail services from Northern Virginia to Baltimore, MD. Includes Light Rail and Baltimore Subway.

Moderators: mtuandrew, therock, Robert Paniagua

 #1449691  by davinp
 
Why spend money on the old 2000/3000 series which will be retired in a few years?

I think they should remove all carpeting from the 6000 series to make it look more like the 7000 series and also change to bright white lights and add the automated announcement systems that the 7000 series have.
 #1449711  by Chris Brown
 
davinp wrote:Why spend money on the old 2000/3000 series which will be retired in a few years?
They are not doing anything with the 2k cars. Only 3k and 6k.

Now that a lot of 7k cars are in service.. I have to admit the brown strip on the older cars looks ancient in comparison and makes the cars look very old. This small face-lift is a nice touch in my opinion and helps all the trains look the same.
 #1454409  by JDC
 
I saw it on some cars on the Green line several weeks ago. I kept starring at them trying to figure out why they looked 'off' - then I realized they were not 7000-series cars but looked like them, sort of.
 #1454466  by Chris Brown
 
YOLO wrote:looks like the pilot is expanding, also saw 3100-3101 wrapped up. they might make this permanent
I suspect the so called "trial run" consisted of wrapping two cars, telling the media, interviewing a few passengers and moving forward with wrapping more cars.

If WMATA told the media about the wrapping on Monday, they probably started wrapping the next batch of cars on Tuesday. I suspect it was never really a trial. They had their minds already made up because it saves money according to them and it creates the illusion of more new trains on the rails.

They were already removing all the carpet from the 6k series anyway. Probably figured why not go a step further and give them a 7k Halloween costume at the same time.
 #1459692  by mtuandrew
 
Saw wrapped cars 3062-3 today. At first I was really confused how WMATA could run a combined train of 7000s and 2-3000s, since the rest of the consist wasn’t wrapped... I’m sure I will get used to the new livery, but for now the wrapped cars just look “naked” without the brown stripe.
 #1464985  by Chris Brown
 
mtuandrew wrote:Saw wrapped cars 3062-3 today. At first I was really confused how WMATA could run a combined train of 7000s and 2-3000s, since the rest of the consist wasn’t wrapped... I’m sure I will get used to the new livery, but for now the wrapped cars just look “naked” without the brown stripe.
It would be nice if they didn't mix the wrapped cars with the unwrapped cars. Looks tacky.

Just when we all thought "mixing" was over...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV-zurykUis
 #1466182  by MACTRAXX
 
CB and Everyone:

I watched this video and found the new "color-scheme less" Metro cars interesting...

I will ask "Are these car bodies now covered with what looks to be a protective clear coating?"

To me a "wrap" is something meant to be temporary - a clear coat to protect the aluminum body
makes good sense and would further protect the car from deterioration or vandalism (graffiti for
one) and perhaps extend a car's life span. The M and Metro needs to be in dark blue or black on
the sides (and added to the front lower door like the 7000 series has) instead of the white used.

There no doubt will be a transitional period in which cars that have this new feature will need to be
used in trains with the previous color scheme depending on the ratio balance of cars in use.

That reminds me of the LIRR M1/M3 MU car fleet in which cars would run with and without the
blue side stripe when it was either being removed or replaced and when yellow replaced the blue
on the front lower ends replacing the fleet's original painted blue stripe.

Another comparison to mention will be to the CTA's Budd-built 2600 car fleet - which originally had
a distinct color scheme when they were new. In more recent years the colors were removed from
their stainless steel car bodies leaving only one CTA logo on each side which took some getting
used to remembering how good to me the color scheme was. One reason it was done is that
temporary "wraps" used were easier to apply and remove from plain unstriped stainless steel.

MACTRAXX