2400-series - Updates (Retired)

[Bus1883]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

2400s originally had the red, white, and blue end caps that turned up on the historic vehicles, along with the bands on the sides, but they were gel coated gray, presumably for maintenance reasons. chicago-l.org picture of 2401, original design

2600s had a bit of blue on the stripping for the spirit of Chicago livery

[Jackson232]

On 1/27/2024 at 10:47 AM, Jackson232 said:

So I saw something today about CTA having charter trains, and I think they use the 2400 series cars. So it’s possible that they kept 2401 and its mate for the charter train. Is that a possible reason why they kept 2401 and its mate?

Does anybody know 

[dailycommuter62]

Probably for spare parts to keep the others running, they've still kept the full 8 restored ones even though they only used 4 for events for a while now. There some pics on facebook of them taking out the full width cabs to restore the 2 man operation on the cars.

[kdavis77]

On 1/23/2024 at 12:18 AM, andrethebusman99 said:

2023 departures to Scrap Metal Services

2403-2404 6/23

2405-2406 4/23

2407-2408 4/23

2409-2410 7/23

2411-2412 5/23

2413-2414 9/23

2415-2416 4/23

2417-2418 5/23

2419-2420 6/23

2421-2422 9/23

2423-2424 8/23

2603-2604 10/23

2662 3/23

2823-2824 9/23

2923-2924 6/23

2951-2952 10/23

2953-2954 7/23

3085-3086 7/23

3111 3/23

Total 36

 

 

What about if the l cars number of 2600 series is 2601-2602 was retired should we save them from the scraping and put them in railway museum or Muesum of Science and Industry in Chicago?

[Bus1883]

1 hour ago, kdavis77 said:

What about if the l cars number of 2600 series is 2601-2602 was retired should we save them from the scraping and put them in railway museum or Muesum of Science and Industry in Chicago?

MSI wouldn’t be interested in buying L cars from CTA. You’re best bet would be IRM or Fox Trolley Musuem.

[Jackson232]

On 1/28/2024 at 4:54 PM, dailycommuter62 said:

Probably for spare parts to keep the others running, they've still kept the full 8 restored ones even though they only used 4 for events for a while now. There some pics on facebook of them taking out the full width cabs to restore the 2 man operation on the cars.

So they are using some for events and also spare parts. Thanks for answering 

[Bus1883]

On 4/8/2023 at 4:38 PM, chgofan78 said:

I was riding the metra Rock Island line on Friday near the Robbins station and just happened to look out the window.  I spotted a scrap yard with a few 2400 series cars in it.  The train was not close enough to see any car numbers.  Even though it was in the scrap yard, it funny how many of those cars are still around in some form- the work motors, the heritage train cars, the cars in West Virginia, the car on top of that apartment complex, the IRM set and maybe a few in scrap yards.  There has to be close to 40 still in existence. 

#2503 is used in a training facility in Indiana 

[Bus1883]

2401-02 has been added to the heritage fleet. The number is back now to 8 cars. 

[Rhys Pate]

16 hours ago, Bus1883 said:

2401-02 has been added to the heritage fleet. The number is back now to 8 cars. 

The number is now 10 cars (2401-2402, 2455-2456, 2489-2490, 2537-2538, and 2543-2544).

[Bus1883]

48 minutes ago, Rhys Pate said:

The number is now 10 cars (2401-2402, 2455-2456, 2489-2490, 2537-2538, and 2543-2544).

2543-2544 got scrapped last year because of an incident at Howard yard which cooked them beyond repair 

[Rhys Pate]

2 hours ago, Bus1883 said:

2543-2544 got scrapped last year because of an incident at Howard yard which cooked them beyond repair 

Wow! What happened to 2543-2544 at Howard Yard?

So 2401-2402 replaced 2543-2544 in the Heritage Fleet. Got it.

[Bus1883]

1 hour ago, Rhys Pate said:

Wow! What happened to 2543-2544 at Howard Yard?

So 2401-2402 replaced 2543-2544 in the Heritage Fleet. Got it.

It was mistaken to be coupled to a 5000

[Rhys Pate]

1 hour ago, Bus1883 said:

It was mistaken to be coupled to a 5000

Oh! Is this why you can’t couple high performance family cars (2000s, 2200s, 2400s, 2600s, and 3200s) to the 5000s? I knew that high performance family cars could not be coupled to the 5000s, but is this why? Did coupling 2543-2544 to a 5000 fry the electronics in 2543-2544, resulting in them being totaled?

[Sam92]

10 hours ago, Rhys Pate said:

Oh! Is this why you can’t couple high performance family cars (2000s, 2200s, 2400s, 2600s, and 3200s) to the 5000s? I knew that high performance family cars could not be coupled to the 5000s, but is this why? Did coupling 2543-2544 to a 5000 fry the electronics in 2543-2544, resulting in them being totaled?

Yeah. In emergencies you can mechanically couple but not electronically. What you stated indeed happened because they were electronically coupled by mistake. 

[Rhys Pate]

3 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Yeah. In emergencies you can mechanically couple but not electronically. What you stated indeed happened because they were electronically coupled by mistake. 

Oh no! This is so sad! This mistake is also inexcusable, as the 5000s have been in service for over 10 years now and it is says on the 5000s that other series of cars cannot be coupled to them. In my opinion, the coupling error at Howard Yard resulting in 2543-2544 being totaled is a fireable offense for a CTA employee(s).

Then, after the Howard Yard incident, 2543-2544 were evaluated and they were declared totaled, as the electrical damage was too severe for them to be repaired, so sadly, the CTA had no choice but to remove them from the Heritage Fleet and to send them to a junkyard to be scrapped, thus the historic pieces were lost.

This is a lesson for all institutions who preserve transportation equipment that they must take care of their historic vehicles in order to avoiding losing them.

This post was edited to be made shorter.

[wayfaringrob]

1 hour ago, Rhys Pate said:

Oh no! This is so sad! This mistake is also inexcusable, as the 5000s have been in service for over 10 years now and it is says on the 5000s that other series of cars cannot be coupled to them. In my opinion, the coupling error at Howard Yard resulting in 2543-2544 being totaled is a fireable offense for a CTA employee(s).

Then, after the Howard Yard incident, 2543-2544 were evaluated and they were declared totaled, as the electrical damage was too severe for them to be repaired, so sadly, the CTA had no choice but to remove them from the Heritage Fleet and to send them to a junkyard to be scrapped, thus the historic pieces were lost.

This is a lesson for all institutions who preserve transportation equipment that they must take care of their historic vehicles in order to avoiding losing them.

On the bright side, it is happy news that the CTA restored 2401-2402 and added them to the Heritage Fleet to replace 2543-2544. 2401-2402 are the last pair of 2400 work cars (all of the others were scrapped). You can argue that 2401-2402 are more historic than 2543-2544 because they are the first cars in the 2400 series. 2401-2402 are no longer have the work car stripes and were restored to their 1970s appearance. The CTA must have evaluated 2401-2402 and determined that they were in good enough condition to be restored and added to the Heritage Fleet.

Nobody asked for endless ChatGPT babble on this website.

[Rhys Pate]

2 minutes ago, wayfaringrob said:

Nobody asked for endless ChatGPT babble on this website.

I am sorry that I made my immediately above post too long.

[Javi75]

2 hours ago, wayfaringrob said:

Nobody asked for endless ChatGPT babble on this website.

It is strange that personnel would make that mistake even a non cta employee like me knows that any AC cars can’t be electronically coupled with anything outside their own series. Especially with a high performance car that’s retired, I think the consequences depend if any damage was done to the 5000s involved. 

[Rhys Pate]

7 hours ago, Javi75 said:

It is strange that personnel would make that mistake even a non cta employee like me knows that any AC cars can’t be electronically coupled with anything outside their own series. Especially with a high performance car that’s retired, I think the consequences depend if any damage was done to the 5000s involved. 

That is true. Were the 5000s that were involved in the 2543-2544 incident damaged and if so to what degree?

On the bright side, it is happy news that the CTA restored 2401-2402 and added them to the Heritage Fleet to replace 2543-2544. 2401-2402 are the last pair of 2400 work cars (all of the others were scrapped). You can argue that 2401-2402 are more historic than 2543-2544 because they are the first cars in the 2400 series. 2401-2402 are no longer have the work car stripes and were restored to their 1970s appearance. The CTA must have evaluated 2401-2402 and determined that they were in good enough condition to be restored and added to the Heritage Fleet.

[Bus1883]

18 hours ago, Rhys Pate said:

That is true. Were the 5000s that were involved in the 2543-2544 incident damaged and if so to what degree?

On the bright side, it is happy news that the CTA restored 2401-2402 and added them to the Heritage Fleet to replace 2543-2544. 2401-2402 are the last pair of 2400 work cars (all of the others were scrapped). You can argue that 2401-2402 are more historic than 2543-2544 because they are the first cars in the 2400 series. 2401-2402 are no longer have the work car stripes and were restored to their 1970s appearance. The CTA must have evaluated 2401-2402 and determined that they were in good enough condition to be restored and added to the Heritage Fleet.

Not sure but there are a few cars on LTH at Skokie Shops, one of the cars could been involved 

[chitowndude84]

VERY sad to hear of this @ Howard yard!! Probably some incompetent young clowns not paying attention goofing around
 

Probably CTA should keep those burn cars for spare parts for the other heritage cars??