Only four original CNW gallery cars left...

Note: Forwarded message follows. In the meantime, for those interested, get your pics soon...

With all the new coaches delivered this year to Metra, there are only 4
original CNW gallery cars left on the UP as of November 10th.

7723, 7735, 7743, & 7750 They are on trains #653, #629, #49 & #647
respectively....

Figure on these being retired by year's end, maybe sooner....

The following were retired this month and are still at Cal. Ave. awaiting
disposition:

11/1 7704, 7709, 7766, 7767, 7769, 7771, 7778
11/3 7768
11/5 7770, 7781, 7823

I thought those were getting awfully rare... Although I got a shot of a flat side the other day. I will have to clean out my webshots and post them.

Saw car 7735 this morning on UP-W trains 501/506, the first car behind the locomotive on a 10-car set. Long live CNW...

That's too bad to see them leave the system, especially since they are still in decent condition. But I am glad Metra was able to buy the stainless steel gallery cars. Should help them with less maintenance. At least they will still be running at other places.

VRE
MARC
Nashville
Salt Lake City
WSOR
IRM
VIA?
and NYSW or some tourist railroad? I heard someone stole parts from them.

I think that's all of them. And some scrapped. Is it true that Metra actually has to pay to have them scrapped?

7735 is still rockin! I see it every few days at the power end of the train, being backed into CPT around 4pm. It looks like hell though - plenty of rust bleeding thru the paintjob.

That privately owned lounge on the north line also doesn't look that hot, needs to be updated out of the 1979 brown stripe job.

Milwaukee_F40C wrote:I think that's all of them. And some scrapped. Is it true that Metra actually has to pay to have them scrapped?

It may be, at least for any that were rehabbed by Metra, which would have been presumably paid for by federal funding. The rules pretty much go that you have to keep rolling stock around for ten years or so after the rehab, if it was paid for by federal funds. Hence, why those two F40Cs are still on Metra property, and why the CTA kept their 1-50 series PCC cars around for several years after they were withdrawn from regular service. Metra may have worked something out with the feds that they can get rid of the old cars, but if they don't sell them to someone who's going to reuse them (or preserve them), then if they really really really want them off the property, then they'd have to reimburse the government whatever money is made from the scrap sale.

Tadman wrote:7735 is still rockin! I see it every few days at the power end of the train, being backed into CPT around 4pm. It looks like hell though - plenty of rust bleeding thru the paintjob

I thought I saw one of those cars on a trip downtown last week... couldn't get the number, but it was assigned to a UP-NW run. Looks like that'll be the last one to go.

Saw 7750 heading into OTC this morning on train 612, the first car behind the locomotive. Although both it and 7735 seem to be held captive lately on UP-NW, I hope at least one of them will make a final trip or two on UP-W. With my luck though, I'd probably miss it...

Milwaukee_F40C wrote:At least they will still be running at other places.
VIA?

I wonder whether those (shown at the VIA Mimico yard in the photo linked above) are the ones that derailed near the GO station in Aldershot, Ontario. I think that was in November 2003, which is about 14 months before that photo. I think I saw a photo of the derailed Metra cars on the same photo site. As far as I know they were in transit to one of the eastern commuter agencies when they derailed, but perhaps they were too damaged to proceed and were stored in the VIA yard for a while.

They were suppose to go to AMT Montreal but litagation didn't allow them to be sent.

I wonder whether those (shown at the VIA Mimico yard in the photo linked above) are the ones that derailed near the GO station in Aldershot, Ontario. I think that was in November 2003, which is about 14 months before that photo. I think I saw a photo of the derailed Metra cars on the same photo site. As far as I know they were in transit to one of the eastern commuter agencies when they derailed, but perhaps they were too damaged to proceed and were stored in the VIA yard for a while.

Found it: http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=41635

So there are a lot in that train. Did any of them make it to AMT?

No they never did they were later sold to a Railroad in Washington.

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad received nine more ex-C&NW bilevels on Thursday. They were picked up from Rondout late Wednesday night and arrived at WSOR's Horicon, Wis., yard Thursday night. All are in RTA gray, brown and orange with all the RTA and Metra markings painted over. Some of them look pretty rough, with significant body rust. Ostensibly the cars will be painted in the WSOR's red and gray scheme; I haven't heard any definite plans for their use.

Car numbers are 7766-7771, 7778, 7781 and 7823.

Is it possible they are to be worked on/painted for another road?

Perhaps they are planning to rehab some and use others for parts.
Commuter service for Madison? (HA!)
A 12 car WSOR bilevel set would be sweet.........

I thought they quit running excursions on WSOR - that's got to be quite a costly business train fleet to have laying around, especially because it wouldn't be that useful - who wants to cram important customers and guests into metra top-deck seats? I can understand having some old streamlined P-S or Budd cars to use for and OCS train, with big sleepy hollow seats.