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3200-series - Updates


sw4400

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3379-3380 are in the Brown Line group of 'L' cars, so unless they're being tested(possibility), they should be assigned there(especially since other cars were paired with them). As far as other cars being newly-equipped with the LED's, the parts are only being procured at this time as the rehabs will begin in 2015. I don't know how they're going to phase them out of service and substitute for the missing cars, unless they only take like 6-8 at a time. Otherwise, something will have to fill the gap between missing cars.

Maybe 8 2600's will sub in for the 8-at-a-time-gone 3200's.
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To follow up with this, my roommate was apparently on this train last night as I passed it. It was a brown line that was having mechanical problems and cut its run short at Library. He confirmed that the first two did have LED signs, so I guess 3379-3380 are back down from Skokie and in service again. Not sure why they were at Skokie for so long, but next time I'm on them I'll look for any changes.

Confirmed 3380 is back on Brown line. Saw it this morning.

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Thats probably another reason why the 2400's are still around on the orange line so when the rehab start for the 3200's maybe they'll use the 2400's as fill ins.

Doubt that. However, didn't some authority say they would be gone by October? According to Tom Skilling, less than a week to go.

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Do they even still use the 2400's on the Orange Line anymore?

yes as I'm on one right now. But what they are doing now is running those exclusively as Midway Orange line trains. They no longer serve the brownage. They have 3 consists one in the yard and two in service. According to what I've been told they haven't run the brownage in a while.
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  • 3 weeks later...

First time post, but long time CTA bus/train fan.

Found this place because I was googling any information about the retrofit 3200's as I seen 3207-08 for the first time on the Orange Line going SB on Roosevelt this morning around 8:30. I thought it was something brand new, but after reading around I see that it's been in action since May. If I wasn't running late for work, I would have hopped on to Halsted and came back.

Nice board. Will look at some other threads later tonight.

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First time post, but long time CTA bus/train fan.

Found this place because I was googling any information about the retrofit 3200's as I seen 3207-08 for the first time on the Orange Line going SB on Roosevelt this morning around 8:30. I thought it was something brand new, but after reading around I see that it's been in action since May. If I wasn't running late for work, I would have hopped on to Halsted and came back.

Nice board. Will look at some other threads later tonight.

Welcome aboard and it's always good to keep an eye out!

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First time post, but long time CTA bus/train fan.

Found this place because I was googling any information about the retrofit 3200's as I seen 3207-08 for the first time on the Orange Line going SB on Roosevelt this morning around 8:30. I thought it was something brand new, but after reading around I see that it's been in action since May. If I wasn't running late for work, I would have hopped on to Halsted and came back.

Nice board. Will look at some other threads later tonight.

Glad to have you aboard! If you ever want to know what is where in the bus and rail system, check out these topics here and here. We update the rosters as often as I can, but much of the credit goes to BusHunter... he's my main source.

I have a nice library of bus drawings(2D only) on here too... feel free to check them out! They go from the 1960's to present. They can be found beginning here and scrolling down.

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  • 1 month later...

<begin rant>

It is nice to be able to stand straight up and move toward the door. One problem is that the functional width of a pair of "bowling alley" seats is more narrow than that of a pair or seats facing the end of the car[because the person next to the aisle can "spill" into it]. It would not be as bad if we riders weighed (on average) what we did 40 years ago. Presently the seating on the 5Ks can be uncomfortable when the car is crowded. I love the performance of the 5Ks but don't like the seating.

Additionally, the open space for the wheelchair station allows more cold air to blow in when the weather is bad.

<end of rant>

IMHO the seating of the 5Ks is a symptom of a larger issue concerning CTA buses and trains.

As I view it (from my experience as a rider and the historical items I have seen and read) the CTA is primarily focused on cost

reduction vs rider comfort. We get new buses with fewer seats and railcars with uncomfortable seat layouts. As a taxpayer I might be willing to pay more for comfort. If you won't go to a standard bus length of 45ft or run more artics how about more 40 footers? If CTA operated more trains maybe we wouldn't have to be packed in like sardines. :D

Just my $0.02.

Nothing wrong with your rant.

But there's a few other things about the seats & the size of people.

Everyone is larger than 50 years ago, even the people who aren't fat are larger.

When Wrigley Field had the seats replaced in the 1960s, the capacity of seated fans was reduced by over 4,000. That was partly due to realigning the seats to face the infield, but mostly because the new seats were 2" wider.

Better nutrition caused the general population to grow taller, which means a bit wider & also there are far more women going to the games & women have much wider hips than men.

That also applies to seats on buses & trains.

Far more women go to work today than the 1950s, when the 6000s went into service.

Just look at the seats at the ends of the 5000s & you see a 6" gap, where they could have installed wider seats, but apparently, they didn't want to have to inventory two seat sizes of inserts.

But the worst part for me are the stanchions which dig into my thighs when I ride those awful trains.

I'm not wide at the hips, but my shoulders are about 21"-22" wide & the seats are 18" wide.

Something has to give.

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Nothing wrong with your rant.

But there's a few other things about the seats & the size of people.

Everyone is larger than 50 years ago, even the people who aren't fat are larger.....

Which basically gets down to the wider seats were put into all buses starting about in 2007, but the specs for L cars, including for both the 5000s and the plans for 7000s are for the types of seat that was in buses in the 1970s.

The only thing I figure is that someone has some pleasure in saying that the number of seats is the same as in a 3200, even though the arrangements are more perverse (and, of course,the 3200s were about 8 seats down from all prior series).

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  • 3 weeks later...

BTW I saw this on a 3217. I'm guessing apart of the upcoming rehab materials (jk) or CTA ran out of maps because the red, yellow, purple routes were on both sides of the car's doors.

Probably just a mistake, since those 3 lines certainly aren't getting 3200s.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still hoping they'll find a way to improve the traction system a bit...rebuilding it is good and all but it'll still throw unsuspecting tourists off their feet :P

It's alright, but like you said, there's room for improvement. The question is how comprehensive the rebuilding of the motors will be, and how much you can do to existing equipment without starting from scratch.

Either way, I've only almost fallen over in one transit vehicle, and it was in San Diego.

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It's alright, but like you said, there's room for improvement. The question is how comprehensive the rebuilding of the motors will be, and how much you can do to existing equipment without starting from scratch.

Either way, I've only almost fallen over in one transit vehicle, and it was in San Diego.

Actually, funnily enough, the only time I've fallen over on a transit vehicle was on a 5000 purple line...it was a rainy day, I was in the process of swinging my backpack over my shoulder (meaning not holding on and lots of momentum) and I stepped on a wet leaf on the floor right as the driver braked...

I've seen plenty of tourists stumble on all sorts of L cars though

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was up in Skokie on Saturday and I saw a pair of 3200s in the yard...are they starting rehabs or were they just up there for normal repairs? They were too far away to see the numbers but they had pantograph mounts on the roof.

Rehabs are due to begin in 2015, but I doubt this is little more than just normal maintenance. When the rehabs begin, they'll pull a set amount of cars from the lines(maybe start with one line first, then the other). One way to know when this begins is another group of cars will be floater cars to replace those out of service(maybe some 2600's.... maybe even a consist or two of 5000's).

There isn't many numbers to narrow down to for pantograph mounted 3200's.... only 3441-3456 have those boards.

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