New Red and Orange Line Cars

Because when cars crash, it might make the 5 o'clock news.

When trains crash it's the lead story for a week.

Thats because cars crash all the time

Solution: More train crashes
 
I assume that there is a lengthy test/break-in period after they get to Boston/before they go revenue?

Yes. Because they have to test the modifications made since the pilot cars. Also, burn-in testing is part of the standard warranty milestones for rolling stock on orders this huge. Burn-in scales shorter as you get deeper into deliveries, but it'll be fairly lengthy for the first production units.

The car analogy isn't apt because buying a new car isn't a design-build transaction like these brand new subway cars are. Auto makes/models have already gone through extensive production and burn-in testing long before the model year it's offered for sale.
 
What are those giant yellow thingys that the cars are sitting on above the wheels? :confused:
 
What are those giant yellow thingys that the cars are sitting on above the wheels? :confused:

Those are presumably for moving around the cars before they get permanent trucks installed. A lot easier to put a taller and more temporary truck on and allow for work underneath and for the car to move than to put the permanent trucks on and have workers bend underneath or have no trucks at all and not allow for much movement.
 
Via huge flat bed trucks. Similar to the ones that are used to get them from the dock after the shells after being shipped from China.

You didn't click the link. If you did, you would have understood the joke. :)

.
 
Those are presumably for moving around the cars before they get permanent trucks installed. A lot easier to put a taller and more temporary truck on and allow for work underneath and for the car to move than to put the permanent trucks on and have workers bend underneath or have no trucks at all and not allow for much movement.



Now I remember!

The new railcars in DC had those on when THEY were being built. :cool:
 
Those are presumably for moving around the cars before they get permanent trucks installed. A lot easier to put a taller and more temporary truck on and allow for work underneath and for the car to move than to put the permanent trucks on and have workers bend underneath or have no trucks at all and not allow for much movement.

"Shop trucks"
 
Yes. Because they have to test the modifications made since the pilot cars. Also, burn-in testing is part of the standard warranty milestones for rolling stock on orders this huge. Burn-in scales shorter as you get deeper into deliveries, but it'll be fairly lengthy for the first production units.

The car analogy isn't apt because buying a new car isn't a design-build transaction like these brand new subway cars are. Auto makes/models have already gone through extensive production and burn-in testing long before the model year it's offered for sale.

So the odds of riding in one of there prior to 2019 is round about nil, yeah?
 
So the odds of riding in one of there prior to 2019 is round about nil, yeah?

According to NETransit, which is usually reliable about these things, revenue testing with 1 six-car train is still on-target for before Xmas. There are 8 pilot cars, so they'll be rotating in/out one 2-car pair for the revenue set.

So...if that schedule holds you have a 1/16 chance of catching the new set as a daily rush-hour rider.
 
According to NETransit, which is usually reliable about these things, revenue testing with 1 six-car train is still on-target for before Xmas. There are 8 pilot cars, so they'll be rotating in/out one 2-car pair for the revenue set.

So...if that schedule holds you have a 1/16 chance of catching the new set as a daily rush-hour rider.


A 2-car train for the revenue set?!! That is crazy! That would probably be like a can of sardines! The chances of trying to get on that one is slim & none. I'll wait until 6-car trains go into use.

What is the point of anticipating a ride on a damn 2-car train, when they're gonna leave a long platform of riders pissed off & aggravated!! :mad:
 
Last edited:
A 2-car train for the revenue set?!! That would probably be like a can of sardines! The chances of trying to get on that one is slim & none. I'll wait until 6-car trains go into use.

What is the point of anticipating a ride on a damn 2-car train, when they're gonna leave a long platform of riders pissed off & aggravated!! :mad:

:confused::confused::confused:

The revenue set will be a 6 car train, with a pair being swapped in and out of it for testing all 8 cars.
 
Old Orange Line cars gear up for their final rides
MEDFORD — The end is in sight for the old war horses of the Orange Line, but first the MBTA needs them to make a few more runs.
With the first of more than 150 new Orange Line cars expected to enter service soon, retirement is close for the 38-year-old trains that lumber between Malden and Jamaica Plain. Some, though, will have to ease into their golden years as the transition to the new fleet will take more than three years. And like anything of a certain age, they need a bit of help getting through the workday.
 
They used to be shiny, too.

img_18471.jpg


^^Pilot units @ Wellington, May 1980.
 
Eh, with a little Bondo and a coat of paint they can look like that tomorrow!
 

Back
Top