garmon757 Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 4 hours ago, Busjack said: So, in short, we're about half way there on the base order. Probably complete in late 2026, and then it's confusion. BTW, does anyone know how many cars it would take to equip the Blue Line without unnecessary storage of junk? It used to be about 330 cars, but I haven't seen a recent estimate. It seems very confusing with the slow rates of them being put into service while at the same time there’s hardly any 2600s out there at Skokie Shops awaiting scrapping. The last time I’ve checked before I’ve left the Blue Line, it was approximately 380 cars to equip the entire line. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 13 hours ago, garmon757 said: It seems very confusing with the slow rates of them being put into service while at the same time there’s hardly any 2600s out there at Skokie Shops awaiting scrapping. The last time I’ve checked before I’ve left the Blue Line, it was approximately 380 cars to equip the entire line. How much of a spare ratio is included in that count? If I assume 50 spare cars ( 3 consists in Forest Park Yard and 3 consists at Rosemont Yard) that would be 330 cars in service at peak times. If 200 of those cars are 3200s and 100 cars are 7000s, that would leave about 30 2600s in service plus the 50 2600s spares . But we know that sometimes some of those 3200s and 7000s are in the shops, so the Blue Line probably has another 40 or so cars in a bloated fleet. I would imagine that the Orange Line Yard is also carrying a bloated fleet to better protect it against breakdowns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus1883 Posted March 20 Report Share Posted March 20 16 hours ago, garmon757 said: It seems very confusing with the slow rates of them being put into service while at the same time there’s hardly any 2600s out there at Skokie Shops awaiting scrapping. The last time I’ve checked before I’ve left the Blue Line, it was approximately 380 cars to equip the entire line. If it wasn’t for Covid-19 the 2600s would of all been retired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 On 3/20/2025 at 1:11 PM, artthouwill said: How much of a spare ratio is included in that count? If I assume 50 spare cars ( 3 consists in Forest Park Yard and 3 consists at Rosemont Yard) that would be 330 cars in service at peak times. If 200 of those cars are 3200s and 100 cars are 7000s, that would leave about 30 2600s in service plus the 50 2600s spares . But we know that sometimes some of those 3200s and 7000s are in the shops, so the Blue Line probably has another 40 or so cars in a bloated fleet. I would imagine that the Orange Line Yard is also carrying a bloated fleet to better protect it against breakdowns. Well, Rosemont Yard capacity is 260 cars and Des Planes Yard capacity is 122 cars. Since the Blue Line currently have 80 runs (30 Forest Park and 50 O’Hare) while having to ton of runs terminating at UIC-Halsted, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rosemont have at least 100 cars of spares. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bus1883 Posted March 25 Report Share Posted March 25 On 3/20/2025 at 1:11 PM, artthouwill said: How much of a spare ratio is included in that count? If I assume 50 spare cars ( 3 consists in Forest Park Yard and 3 consists at Rosemont Yard) that would be 330 cars in service at peak times. If 200 of those cars are 3200s and 100 cars are 7000s, that would leave about 30 2600s in service plus the 50 2600s spares . But we know that sometimes some of those 3200s and 7000s are in the shops, so the Blue Line probably has another 40 or so cars in a bloated fleet. I would imagine that the Orange Line Yard is also carrying a bloated fleet to better protect it against breakdowns. Especially with all the junk that came off the blue line last year and hasn’t ran since Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted March 27 Report Share Posted March 27 7199-7206 are currently at Skokie Shops. 7177-78 should be in service while 7157-58 are yet to be mated. 7203-04 were delivered today and I decided to show how they’re delivered from the flat trucks. The unit we were using is called a shuttle wagon. It’s a diesel engine unit that can drag any unit anywhere around the yard when there’s no third rail available. We had to use a flatbed car to couple to the 7000s because of coupling issues in the past with the shuttle wagon. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted March 27 Report Share Posted March 27 Today there were three consists of 7000s in the Forest Park Yard. Also spotted six consists in service between Forest Park and Washington of which one was a UIC short turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted April 7 Report Share Posted April 7 This past week saw a dramatic increase of 7000s in service on the Blue Line including 7183 and 7184 in revenue service. Several 7000 series consists ran back to back. There was nearly a 50/50 mix of 7000s and 3200s/2600s. Maybe the Blue Line will be fully equipped with 7000s by the end of 2026. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethebusman Posted April 8 Report Share Posted April 8 On 3/27/2025 at 10:20 AM, garmon757 said: 7199-7206 are currently at Skokie Shops. 7177-78 should be in service while 7157-58 are yet to be mated. 7203-04 were delivered today and I decided to show how they’re delivered from the flat trucks. The unit we were using is called a shuttle wagon. It’s a diesel engine unit that can drag any unit anywhere around the yard when there’s no third rail available. We had to use a flatbed car to couple to the 7000s because of coupling issues in the past with the shuttle wagon. What is the yellow thing in the top photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted April 10 Report Share Posted April 10 On 4/8/2025 at 1:16 AM, andrethebusman said: What is the yellow thing in the top photo? The yellow boxes or the yellow equipment on the tracks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted April 10 Report Share Posted April 10 7185-86 are ready to go for service while sitting on the lead tracks at Skokie. 7187-7194 are at the final stages of being prepared for service inside the shops. 7157-58 are yet to be mated. 7201-7206 are also mated. 7195-7200 are waiting to be sent back to the shops for servicing and testing. 7207-7210 have been delivered. Per the shop personnel, they’re receiving 4 new cars per week. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 10 Report Share Posted April 10 12 hours ago, garmon757 said: Per the shop personnel, they’re receiving 4 new cars per week. That would get it up to the promised rate. About time! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted April 11 Report Share Posted April 11 12 hours ago, Busjack said: That would get it up to the promised rate. About time! Exactly! That’s what I thought too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethebusman Posted Monday at 03:37 AM Report Share Posted Monday at 03:37 AM On 4/9/2025 at 8:31 PM, garmon757 said: The yellow boxes or the yellow equipment on the tracks? The thing that appears to be a rail car of some sort on the track directly ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted Monday at 11:28 AM Report Share Posted Monday at 11:28 AM 7 hours ago, andrethebusman said: The thing that appears to be a rail car of some sort on the track directly ahead. I think that's the Skokie Shops car puller, it moves the cars around the shops that don't have power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted Monday at 02:58 PM Report Share Posted Monday at 02:58 PM 11 hours ago, andrethebusman said: The thing that appears to be a rail car of some sort on the track directly ahead. 3 hours ago, strictures said: I think that's the Skokie Shops car puller, it moves the cars around the shops that don't have power. @andrethebusman That yellow equipment is the snow removal equipment. @strictures The car pullers are called shuttle wagons. One is colored bright green and the other one is colored red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted Monday at 10:22 PM Report Share Posted Monday at 10:22 PM 7 hours ago, garmon757 said: @andrethebusman That yellow equipment is the snow removal equipment. @strictures The car pullers are called shuttle wagons. One is colored bright green and the other one is colored red. I though all CTA service equipment that starts with an "S" were in yellow, for safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted Tuesday at 11:55 AM Report Share Posted Tuesday at 11:55 AM 13 hours ago, strictures said: I though all CTA service equipment that starts with an "S" were in yellow, for safety. It indicates shops equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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