Commuter Rail cab car: what kind of car is this?

Under normal day to day operations you see all the 300s/1600s north and the 600s south. Sometimes a few cars wander to the other side. The reasoning behind having the 600s south is the north side needs more seats, since we dont run the K cars. The 200s float back and forth, as far as I am concerned they can all go south! (or get cut up)

And yes only the 1600s run north side. Only the 1649 can go south, it's the only 1600 outfitted the proper cab signals for the south side. It doesnt work too well, so it lives on the north side for the time being. But I think some of the wiring is messed in that car, cause I have had it break on me about 2 months ago. And it lives at BET more than on the road!!!

Okay here is a really weird question, looking at Amtrak's Superliner II Coach cars it looks as if the upper windows are the same as the BTC-1A and BTC-1Bs.

Am I seeing things right or are the slightly different?

Nope. The upper windows on Amtrak Superliners are identical only to the lower windows of Viewliners and the main windows on an Amfleet II. This was by design, of course, so that standard part sizes could be used. The windows on the BTC-1s are much smaller and don't have center dividing posts. They are about the same height as those on Amfleet I cars (and the upper windows on Viewliners) but are not quite as long.

Thanks, one last question and I promise not to bother you guys with my questions.... well for a couple of days anyways.

All the pics of the BTC-1s I have seen are mid-car or from an overpass or some weird angle where I can not see the door properly.

One the BTC-1A and BTC-1B does the door feature an open trap or closed. What I am trying to say is when the doors are closed can you still see the steps or does the door cover them?

An example of what I am talking about can be found here, here and here.

No, the traps are not covered by the closed doors like they are on the NJT Comet I cars. I think NJT is the only road with doors operating this way - if I remember correctly, the Comet IIIs and IVs (along with upgraded Comet IIm cars) have a split door/trap design depending on whether they're stopping at a high or low level station.

astrosa wrote:No, the traps are not covered by the closed doors like they are on the NJT Comet I cars. I think NJT is the only road with doors operating this way - if I remember correctly, the Comet IIIs and IVs (along with upgraded Comet IIm cars) have a split door/trap design depending on whether they're stopping at a high or low level station.

As do the piece of crap Comet Vs.

Does any of the BTC-As and BTC-1Bs ever have some kind of LED or any other form of info screen on the exteriors?

One of One-Sixty wrote:Does any of the BTC-As and BTC-1Bs ever have some kind of LED or any other form of info screen on the exteriors?

No, the MBTA cars do not have destination signs.

One of One-Sixty wrote:Does any of the BTC-As and BTC-1Bs ever have some kind of LED or any other form of info screen on the exteriors?

Only the NJT Comet IIM, IV, and V cars have these screens. The Arrow IIIs also had these screens, however they are no longer used.

Are the trucks on the BTC-1A and BTC-1B similar to its cousins on NJT, SEPTA and other commuter RRs?

Yup. Best idea I can give you of what they look like overall, without a car sitting on them, is this link:

HO Trucks

By the way, I don't think you responded to my last email. I was asking you which railroad you are most interested in for this type of cars - or, perhaps I should say, which would you want to built models of first?