METRA cars at UTA Frontrunner

Can anyone make a general statement about the condition of the used METRA cars now at UTA Frontrunner?

They're probably in pretty decent shape. Metra had a lot of flat-sided coaches, and a good number of them were in bad shape (lots of rust) - and those were pretty much scrapped right off the bat. I recall posts here about cars being taken right from the Western Avenue coach yard to a scrapyard downtown, no broker in between. The rest of the cars (i.e., the good ones) are now owned by other commuter railroads.

Until they were retired a couple of years ago, I rode the old smoothsides on the UP-N on a regular basis

Overall the cars were in good shape, although some rust was visible on some car sides. However, I'd say they have a few good years left, particularly on a line which won't use them as much as Metra did.

Since Metra nearly gave them away, they are a very practical solution to filling a car capacity need at low cost and immediate availability

metrarider wrote:Overall the cars were in good shape, although some rust was visible on some car sides. However, I'd say they have a few good years left, particularly on a line which won't use them as much as Metra did

They weren't just used, they were abused! Frankly, I'm surprised so many of them held up as well as they did; CNW and Metra certainly got their money's worth out of those soldiers...

The ones that were scrapped were shoved across the river on the MILW line to Goose Island and scrapped at General Iron, Southport and Cortland (think Clybourn/Racine).

There has been no apparent work on these cars to date by UTA.

ljeppson wrote:There has been no apparent work on these cars to date by UTA.

Has UTA decided to go with NJT's ex-"Comet" cars as the primary equipment? Or is the rehab of the ex-Metra/RTA bilevels simply waiting for money?

The NJT cars have top priority. The use of the Metra cars remains uncertain according to my latest information.

ljeppson wrote:The NJT cars have top priority. The use of the Metra cars remains uncertain according to my latest information.

Just out of curiosity, I don't suppose you might have some current images of the NJTransit Comet I's as they are now out there in Utah? The guys over in the NJT forum would much appreciate it. Some of them are kind of going into Comet I "Slider" withdrawal.

There's a couple on my website. I'll see if I can get some better ones.

Also, if you want pics of the comets, there is a few at railpictures.net of a special UP train carrying those comets out to utah.

ljeppson wrote:There's a couple on my website. I'll see if I can get some better ones.

I looked at your website and it looks like Frontrunner is getting Bombardier "pillbox" bilevels. If they wind up fixing up the Metra cars and run each type intermixed with eachother, the commuters will LOVE that (end sarcasm). Apparently the Bomb cars have a different braking system than the Metra cars, and a similar arrangement was used a few years ago on Metrolink (their own cars were up for rehabs, so as cars were individually sent out they were substituted by an ex-Metra smooth-side bilevel). The commuters hated them, because they always reeked of brake smoke.

Not to cause a serious case of "topic drift" here, but what are everyone's personal opinions on the two types of commuter bilevels available (Gallery vs. Bombardier). The Bombardier cars are of the newer design and it would seemingly be a clear-cut decision to buy those cars, however Metra and CalTrain have bought gallery cars for years, and evidently VRE liked its used cars enough to place an order for new cars from Nippon-Sharyo.

byte wrote:Not to cause a serious case of "topic drift" here, but what are everyone's personal opinions on the two types of commuter bilevels available (Gallery vs. Bombardier). The Bombardier cars are of the newer design and it would seemingly be a clear-cut decision to buy those cars, however Metra and CalTrain have bought gallery cars for years, and evidently VRE liked its used cars enough to place an order for new cars from Nippon-Sharyo.

The only time to date I've ever rode in a Bombardier-built car was on an Amtrak trip a few years ago. It was a pleasant, smooth ride with comfortable seats, although legroom was an issue. But in commuter service, each has its strengths and weaknesses. For instance, Bombardier are lighter than gallery cars, and as such, are better suited for high-speed commuter service, and have performed well in that role on Caltrain's "baby bullet" expresses. While gallery cars are heavier and slower by comparison, they do tend to hold up pretty well in most grade crossing accidents. From what I've read, seating capacity is about the same, about 140 per car on average, +/- a few, depending on the configuration, and each type can comfortably hold approx. 200 people with standees. Also, gallery cars have slightly more bike capacity than bomb equipment, despite the fact that Metra usually doesn't accept more than 9 bikes per train (and just 6 on the busier routes, i.e., BNSF).

I guess it boils down to what the commuter agencies have in mind for the operation, and the priorities they have. Caltrain is sort of an exception because it's a hybrid operation, but generally, if you're planning on operating trains on dedicated commuter/passenger trackage with minimal to no freight interference, complete with a modern, CTC-equipped ROW with high-speed crossovers, quick turnaround times, and long stretches of at least 79mph running, then bomb equipment is the way to go. Gallery cars would be best suited for smaller, less sophisticated operations with limited service, or on lines with more physical plant constraints, like certain sections of Metra's network. Personally, I like Metra's newest gallery cars from Nippon-Sharyo (6000 series), they're quieter, with larger windows, but still, I wouldn't mind seeing Bomb equipment running on BNSF's Naperville expresses...

I'm for gallery cars all the way. They're safer and they last a lot longer. I can't imagine bombers lasting as long as some of BNSF or CNW's gallerys from the sixties. I also like the open space between top and bottom deck.

Doepack keep in mind that the baby bullets are only about 5-6 cars in length with a 3600 HP locomotive with a separate HEP plant pulling them, so that helps with the schedule considerably.