Retiring BART's Old Railcars

[lpetrich]

As Fleet of the Future grows, plan for retiring legacy fleet takes shape | bart.gov goes into a lot of detail. BART is steadily receiving new railcars, enough to fill its yards by 2020 if no existing ones are retired. All the existing ones should be retired by 2023.

As one would expect, the first railcars to go would be the ones that have needed the most maintenance. Some of the retired railcars will be stripped of some of their parts, to be used as spare parts for the remaining ones.

I suspect that most of the railcars will be scrapped. BART uses a nonstandard track gauge, and its loading gauge may also be nonstandard. So BART railcars will likely not be used in any other transit system, at least not unless some rebuilder gets to work on them and replaces the bogies.

I must say that the original cabs are rather snazzy looking, and some museums might like them, even if not the rest of the railcar.

[Backshophoss]

Are there any plans of a "museum" fleet of the original cars, 1-2 pairs of each retired fleet on BART??

[lpetrich]

Are there any plans of a "museum" fleet of the original cars, 1-2 pairs of each retired fleet on BART??

Not that I know of, and that article mentioned no such plans for BART itself having such a fleet.

[The EGE]

Doubtful. You'd have to custom-outfit them with the 2026-arriving CBTC system in order to ever run on the mainline again. They're timing the option orders on fleet expansion to avoid having to do that nasty retrofit with any of the older fleet. It would probably be an order of magnitude cheaper to outfit the Western Railway Museum with some dual-gauge track.

[lpetrich]

It would probably be an order of magnitude cheaper to outfit the Western Railway Museum with some dual-gauge track.

Or else use some bogies from some other rolling stock and pull those railcars with a locomotive. They would have to do that anyway, because I doubt that they will be wanting to use electrified third rail.

[Tadman]

I’m guessing the BART cars are too tired for service anywhere else, but they share a gauge with India, Argentina, and Australia. The Argentines just bought a bunch of Chinese cars new, however.

[R36 Combine Coach]

I must say that the original cabs are rather snazzy looking, and some museums might like them, even if not the rest of the railcar.

Still looking futuristic to this day.

[Gilbert B Norman]

On Tuesday Feb 26, I was driving North on I-75 near Gainesville FL when I passed an oversized load of a BART railcar.

Any ideas where it was going, anyone?

[lpetrich]

On Tuesday Feb 26, I was driving North on I-75 near Gainesville FL when I passed an oversized load of a BART railcar.

Was it a new one or an old one?

The old ones (2 doors): wdwwdw
The new ones (3 doors): wdwdwdw
d = door, w = window

[Gilbert B Norman]

Mr. Petrich, referring to the material linked in your opening post, it looked like the car on the right. It definitely was shiny brand new.

[lpetrich]

Mr. Petrich, referring to the material linked in your opening post, it looked like the car on the right. It definitely was shiny brand new.

It was one of the new cars. In that picture, an old car is on the left and a new one on the right. That old one is one of the original cab cars, with that forward-pointing cab. The new one is a flat-end cab car, like some of those that BART got a few decades ago.

[The EGE]

Very likely it was a new Miami Metrorail car. They're being built in Missouri.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Mr. EGE, even though safe driving always comes first, I clearly noted BART logos on the car.

Apparently there was an omission from my earlier report (happens typing with one finger on a phone). This car was NOT, IMI (repeat) NOT, new.

While I have not had occasion to be near BART in over 25 years, I am reasonably familiar with Miami Metrorail. It was not one of their cars.

[BandA]

It would probably be an order of magnitude cheaper to outfit the Western Railway Museum with some dual-gauge track.

Or else use some bogies from some other rolling stock and pull those railcars with a locomotive. They would have to do that anyway, because I doubt that they will be wanting to use electrified third rail.

Just add trolley poles.

[tommyboy6181]

Very likely it was a new Miami Metrorail car. They're being built in Missouri.

The Miami Metrorail cars are not being built in Missouri. They're being built at the new Hitachi Rail plant in Medley, FL that opened in 2016.

Source: http://www.hitachi.us/press/03162016-rail" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;