8 car Red line trains returning to ATO

Thank you Sand Box John for setting the record straight. I'm sure we all appreciate candid, accurate information from someone in the know. I had noticed the tinting of the glass partitions in the older cars. We only got a really good view out the front on a bright sunny day. The tinting made for a very dark view on overcast/rainy days.

Interesting about the relocation of equipment. That's similar to the reasons PATH gave for creating full-width cabs on their new PA-5 cars. Well.............as a railfan I may hate the new cabs but honestly I can't argue with the logic of it. The sour pill is at least a little easier to swallow when ya' know the actual intelligent reasons for things. Thanks again SBJ for being candid with us.

The 1k cars in original configuration did not have the curtain behind the operators seat. It was added later as the tinting was not enough to suppress the reflection from the interior lighting.

JDC wrote:

Head-end View wrote:JDC, be careful what you wish for re: 7000-series cars appearing on the Red-Line. Have we determined yet whether we can see out the front of the 7000-series cars? Without the all-glass cab wall like on the older trains, can you see thru the cab-door windows?

I believe it was determined that you can see out of them, for now. I think Metro was considering darkening the windows/putting a covering over them.

Like they do on Boston's Blue Line 0700s and the Red Line 01800s, but like New York, they could cover that railfan window with the same fuzzy material that New York City Subway railcar cab access doors have, from the R46 up

JDC wrote:

Head-end View wrote:Security issue? I don't follow you. Are you saying they're afraid we might see some classified top-secret railroad signal indications?

I think it has to do with securing the cabin, both physically (the new bulkhead doors are much stronger than the old ones) and visually. I don't think there are secret signal indications, but I think they want to prevent people from monitoring the operators and the equipment in the cabin, which will now include dozens of camera feeds.

And not to mention me taking video with my videocamera out fron either which I enjoy doing the most. I hope they don't completely black out the window, but at least darken it a little bit to minimize sungalre and underground reflection of the passenger cabin lights