Is it true MARC is going to join VRE in getting Gallery Cars

[railfanofewu]

I have read that MARC is going to buy a few Gallery Cars from METRA. Is it true? I mean, are they compatible with the area. Under the wire, and some High Platform Stations on the Northeast Corridor, or some other line.

[therock]

MARC already has taken delivery of some ex-Metra gallery cars, but none are in service. Most are at the Western Maryland Scenic shops in Ridgeley (near Cumberland) for mostly window & truck work. There were some in Brunswick as well, but I don't know if those are still there.

These cars will be used on the Brunswick & Camden (B&O) Lines as they are clearance-restricted from the NEC.

[AmtrakFan]

I think Metra sold those Cars to MARC for $1.00 because they were bought by the Government.

AmtrakFan

[Trainheartedguy]

there are now 3-5 gallery cars scattered around Brunswick. I have not seen them in use yet, but they are marked for MARC and have the Operation lifesaver logo fresh by the door. I will get a photo next time Im trackside.

[Scotty Burkhardt]

hey im from chicago and i know for a fact that te gallery cars up for sale fit under the wires that the ex-i.c.g. has up in chicago. the south shore used gallery cars and an rta f40 back in the late 80's. so i dont think that there would be a huge problem running them unless marc's wires are unusually low. also the bilevel cars were serviced prior to sale on the ex-icg which has both low wires and high level platforms (5ft). im not too familiar with east coast trains but im interested in seeing some of the ex metra cars in service. ill try to get a photo of the cars under chicagos wires posted. any photos you all have would be cool to see

[therock]

Scotty -

If you were referring to the wires being the clearance restriction, that is not the problem. Amtrak Superliners can fit under NEC catenary (but has been de-energized for protection).

The restriction comes from the overhead bridges clearances and the B&P Tunnel in Baltimore (the roadbed of the latter cannot be feasibly be lowered). The Kawaski bilevels were designed to fit here, but the ex-Metra cars cannot.

If you are interested in seeing photos, VRE has many in active service. If you go to railpictures.net and do a search for VRE, you'll find many photos there.

[octr202]

Also, the Chicago Gallery cars suitable only for use at low-level platforms, and several of the MARC stations on the NEC are high level only.

[Trainheartedguy]

I was told by a fellow local railfan that he has seen the MARC gallery cars now in operation. near or at the end of the train, and one per train is what he told me...

[Silverliner II]

The gallery cars can only be used at low-platform stations, so they can't be used for boarding or disembarking at Camden Station in Baltimore either due to high-level platforms.

Thus, if gallery cars are used, they would have to be positioned at the end of a consist next to the locomotive (that would also eliminate any trainline door control problems too).

Joe

[bingdude]

I pass by the Kawasaki rail plant in Yonkers, NY every morning, and I had been wondering why there were two unmarked double deckers in the yard there. They looked like ex-CNW ones but they were blue, so I wasn't sure.

This past week another one joined those two. This one was marked for VRE. Mystery solved! There are three of them up here at Kawasaki getting some kind of work done on them.

Kawasaki has a testing caternary there, and these cars do clear it, but not by much.

[Scotty Burkhardt]

fact you probably know.......

blue was the color they were painted after rta formed metra, before that blown and orange, and before that, cnw green and yellow.

[Tadman]

Heck Metra's ICG electric district runs gallery cars exclusively. It always puzzled me why they would de-energize catenary out east when they've been running bilevels for years out west under wire.

[Silverliner II]

Heck Metra's ICG electric district runs gallery cars exclusively. It always puzzled me why they would de-energize catenary out east when they've been running bilevels for years out west under wire.

Well, the clearances here East are much tighter. Also, the Metra Electric wire is only 1500 volts DC, IIRC.

Amtrak, SEPTA, NJT, and Metro-North all use wire ranging from 11,000 volts AC to 25,000 volts AC (just to put it simplistically....I didn't want to get into the various frequency cycles too). All that voltage affects how close an object can get to the wire before creating a nasty arc between the wire and the car.

[Kurt]

I found these ex Metra cars in the CSX yard in Croton,NY, most likley waiting to go to Kawasaki down the line in Yonkers, NY for refurb. These pics were taken 05/04/05.

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic?phot ... 2&key=Kurt

and

http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic?phot ... 1&key=Kurt

there were about 4 to 6 cars in the line.

[MetraRy]

have they been placed into service yet. if so how are they working out