renumbered cars

I saw a car set tonight with the normal numbers on the exterior burnished off. Instead, there were LARGE numbers up at the roofline. I think the one was 1190.

What's the story?

"farecard"
I saw a car set tonight with the normal numbers on the exterior burnished off. Instead, there were LARGE numbers up at the roofline. I think the one was 1190.

What's the story?

The relocated numbers have been discussed elsewhere.

The only reason I can think of for relocating the numbers higher is to make them more visible.

The Post did a story on the sign shop back in August

Metro's Sign Shop Points Riders in the Right Way

By James Hohmann
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

See image five in the photo gallery

I saw 1252-1253 on the Red Line on Saturday with the same treatment - big numbers along the roof, and the original number plates blank.

SchuminWeb wrote:I saw 1252-1253 on the Red Line on Saturday with the same treatment - big numbers along the roof, and the original number plates blank.

I was trying to decide if mine was a forced marriage; but if you saw a pair.......

Yep... I saw a pair. Except for the LED lighting car, Metro usually tests things across a pair. Unusual about this situation, though, is not so much the roof numbers, which we've seen on a number of cars (all the -000 cars, 1132-3, 4022-3, 6026-7, 6104-5), but rather that the original numbers have been removed. That's what makes this unusual.

Were there any other mods to 1190 that you noticed besides the numbering? The pair I saw otherwise looked normal.

It was pulling out when I saw it; so I did not have time to notice anything beyond the numbers, added and missing...

1178-9 got the same treatment. On the Rohrs, the number plates were completely removed, and the roof numbers added. One would think it would be easier to leave the old numbers on and just add the other ones to the existing stock. The only interior difference was the door numbers, like these:



Otherwise, it was your typical Rohr, with nothing otherwise special added to it.

Also saw a non-Rohr pair with similar exterior treatment, as 2010-1 had roof numbers and the lower number scraped off. That looks weird, as you can see the old number "ghosted" on the carbody.

Here's a picture of http://tinyurl.com/ygbkfz7 such.

Now the -000 cars are a different story. All of those, and not their mates, were given the roof numbers for some reason.

Finally, we get the rest of the story.

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/P ... aseID=4346

Not sure why it's "news" at this point, since it's obviously going on for quite some time. Anyhow, the "why are they doing this?" finally has an answer.

Only other things besides the renumbering to the roof line is that the Breda rehabs seem to be getting LED lighting at the doors (smiliar to the Alstom cars) and the Rohrs seemed to take off the AC lettering on the bulkhead doors inside the train.

Actually, the Breda rehabs had the LED lighting around the doors from the outset. On the rehabs, they came out of Hornell with all the lighting as LED with two exceptions: The headlights, and the interior lighting.

Otherwise, excellent find regarding the numbering. It still doesn't explain why Metro is deciding to remove the existing numbers, though. It would seem to me that it wouldn't matter that the old numbers are still there, so long as all the numbers agree. Likewise, the "AC" removal on the outside of the Breda rehabs has been inconsistent. Some Breda rehabs have no "AC" on them now, and others do.

All they're doing is relocating the numerals from the cab side window to the top of the side so that passengers can see it easier.

Correct. The thing I'm taking issue with is why they removed the old numbers rather than have both. That's what gets me, since they went to all the trouble to remove the old numbers (badly in many cases) rather than leave well enough alone.

I agree the removal makes little sense.

But then, of all the things needing help, was this even on the list?