3200-series - Updates

[NewFlyerMCI]

15 hours ago, ChicagoNova said:

Someone may have suggested this before, but perhaps they should take the 3200 Series rail cars off the Brown Line & transfer them as well to the Blue Line.

What's your reason for this though? They already have some from the Orange Line. Do they need more?

[chicagocubs6323]

3 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

What's your reason for this though? They already have some from the Orange Line. Do they need more?

100 3200s are being moved to the Blue.  Since Orange only had about 80+ cars, there are gonna be some 3200s that are gonna leave the Brown.

[Busjack]

On 9/28/2018 at 12:15 AM, ChicagoNova said:

Someone may have suggested this before, but perhaps they should take the 3200 Series rail cars off the Brown Line & transfer them as well to the Blue Line.

I had, because (1) CTA and Garmon respectively said 5000s can't run full time on the Blue Line until both the Milwaukee and Congress portions are fixed, and there doesn't be any huge effort to get the Congress portion done in time for the first 7000s, and (2) CTA spent an awful large amount of money to rehab the 3200s [including putting programmable signs on them] just to have them sit in Kimball Yard most of the day.

Only logical conclusion is that the 3200s are going to the Blue Line, despite Brian Steele announcing that they will. I take the 100 statement as only during 2018.

[BusHunter]

On 9/18/2018 at 5:02 AM, John7 said:

Both 3457 and 3458 are rehabbed. 3457 only has led lighting in the car. Both cars got the digital destination signs.

What line are they on I want to get pictures. 

[ThirdRailVision]

6 hours ago, BusHunter said:

What line are they on I want to get pictures. 

Caught them on the Orange Line, 09/08/2018. 

[BusHunter]

4 minutes ago, ThirdRailVision said:

Caught them on the Orange Line, 09/08/2018. 

Well if 3458 has a new sign then I dont see why the 100 2600s rehabs won't. So no led run number signs on 3458?

[ThirdRailVision]

18 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

So no led run number signs on 3458?

Can't confirm. That was the only photo I took

[ThirdRailVision]

23 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Well if 3458 has a new sign then I dont see why the 100 2600s rehabs won't

 

On 7/18/2018 at 11:56 AM, Busjack said:

There is a solicitation for Furnish and Deliver Ninety (90) Part Kits to Rebuild the Traction Motors on the 2600 Series Rail Cars. Looks like most of the plan to do a life extending rehab of 100 2600s is still on.

The only mention of the 100 2600 rehabs I could find was this post by @Busjack, and the solicitation only calls for parts to rebuild the traction motors? Therefore I'm not sure if roll sign replacements are on the list for rehab work...

[chicagocubs6323]

We can at least hope that those 100 2600s will get LEDs.  It would definitely make sense if they did honestly.

[artthouwill]

43 minutes ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

We can at least hope that those 100 2600s will get LEDs.  It would definitely make sense if they did honestly.

Doesn't  make sense.  The 2600s won't be  systemwide, but on one route, maybe 2. No need to spend extra money on cars that will be retired in about 3 years.

[chitowndude84]

Remember guys, Car 3458 2600 series (EX-3032) is connected to a 3200 series car(3457) hence reason it also received LED destination signs

 

So it appears that 3458 is the ONLY 2600 series car with LED destination signs ??

 

According to wikipedia

"Car 3457 was an additional car built for the purpose of serving as a mate to the 2600-series car 3032, after its mate 3031 had been damaged from a derailment at Wilson station on March 15, 1988. 3032 was renumbered 3458. The pair currently runs on the Orange Line,[4] which is currently equipped with both 2600-series and 3200-series cars."

Dave

[chicagocubs6323]

10 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Doesn't  make sense.  The 2600s won't be  systemwide, but on one route, maybe 2. No need to spend extra money on cars that will be retired in about 3 years.

So are you saying that rehabbing 100 2600s is unnecessary?

[artthouwill]

40 minutes ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

So are you saying that rehabbing 100 2600s is unnecessary?

No.  I'm saying putting LED signs on 2600s is unnecessary.

[chicagocubs6323]

Let me ask you this: the 3200s had rollsigns.  And they were only on certain parts of the system as well.    Was it necessary to add LEDs to them?

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

Let me ask you this: the 3200s had rollsigns.  And they were only on certain parts of the system as well.    Was it necessary to add LEDs to them?

To put this to rest, "necessary" is a relative term. The digital signs were the first thing ordered for the rehab. At that time, the 3200s had a projected remaining life of say 10 years. Having them also facilitated moving the 3200s from the Orange and Brown to Blue.

 

Theoretically, they could be put in the 2600s, since they are plug and play and were put on the mongrel car 3458, but as a matter of simple economics, is it worth it to put out a new request for bids and pay for them on cars that could die at any time or have only about 3-4 years left, when either there are enough sign rolls in the warehouse or the Graham Garfield solution of putting decals on the windows?

[chicagocubs6323]

Adding LEDs to the 2600s could resolve the whole stress of rollsigns that only have specific routes.  Besides, the whole purpose of the rehabbing of those 100 2600s is to extend their lives and modernize them a bit in the meantime that the 7000s will come and replace them.  

 

How much does it cost to buy an LED signs per car (for those arguing against LEDs on 2600s)?

[artthouwill]

2 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

Adding LEDs to the 2600s could resolve the whole stress of rollsigns that only have specific routes.  Besides, the whole purpose of the rehabbing of those 100 2600s is to extend their lives and modernize them a bit in the meantime that the 7000s will come and replace them.  

 

How much does it cost to buy an LED signs per car (for those arguing against LEDs on 2600s)?

The rehab of the 100 2600s isn't  to modernize the fleet.  It is to keep the fleet in operating condition.  It is a temporary stopgap until the 7000s replace them.  LED signs are not essential to the operation of the 2600s.

[Busjack]

Hey folks--this topic is 3200s, not 2600s.

[chicagocubs6323]

43 minutes ago, Busjack said:

Hey folks--this topic is 3200s, not 2600s.

It's okay we were talking about 3458 which is also a 2600 ?

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

It's okay we were talking about 3458 which is also a 2600 ?

But you exceeded that scope, by 100 cars.

[chicagocubs6323]

34 minutes ago, Busjack said:

But you exceeded that scope, by 100 cars.

Truee lmaoo

[BusHunter]

The #3200s sure look good on the blue line. The led signs show up really well at night. I dont see what is the problem with just doing 100 cars with led signs. It could add to what they have. 

Spotted a few more #3200s. #3299-#3302 are on the blue and now I'm seeing #3413-14. There are a few stragglers around though. #3267-68 was still on the brown line yesterday. It still just seems like the 3200s come out in the rush. 

[Busjack]

On 10/4/2018 at 12:40 PM, chicagocubs6323 said:

How much does it cost to buy an LED signs per car

I suppose you can add up the payment report for this contract, divide by 261 and multiply by 100, and add something for inflation and a smaller order.

Be sure to use CSV to make sure you get all 37 invoices. Imported into Excel results in $1.6 million, not exactly chump change, plus whatever the cost is of shop labor to install them.

[BusHunter]

23 hours ago, BusHunter said:

The #3200s sure look good on the blue line. The led signs show up really well at night. I dont see what is the problem with just doing 100 cars with led signs. It could add to what they have. 

Spotted a few more #3200s. #3299-#3302 are on the blue and now I'm seeing #3413-14. There are a few stragglers around though. #3267-68 was still on the brown line yesterday. It still just seems like the 3200s come out in the rush. 

A few more cars have shown up #3309-10 and #3305-06 are new to the blue line. #3307-08 strangely are still on the brown line. Car numbers seem to be sporadic on the blue line.

[BusHunter]

Car numbers are really getting sporadic on the blue line. Spotted #3315-16 in service then passed Rosemont yard to find #3319-22 and #3325-26 there. I'll be out in the field later today maybe I can start to put together a roster on all these changes.