# BART in SF Bay Area finally gets new cars next year .



## MIrailfan (Oct 6, 2015)

bout time their fleet is 40 years old.


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## BCL (Oct 6, 2015)

MIRAILFAN said:


> bout time their fleet is 40 years old.


Not really. Any of the original cars in the fleet only have their original shell with all the mechanical and electronic components replaced. The C cars were variously made by Alstom and Morrison-Knudsen in the late 80s to 90s.


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## MIrailfan (Feb 21, 2021)

BCL said:


> Not really. Any of the original cars in the fleet only have their original shell with all the mechanical and electronic components replaced. The C cars were variously made by Alstom and Morrison-Knudsen in the late 80s to 90s.


Why the new cars then


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## MARC Rider (Feb 21, 2021)

MIRAILFAN said:


> Why the new cars then


Well, they are 30 years old. They're replacing the Acelas, and they're only 20 years old.

But I think the real transit longevity champs are the PATCO trains that run from Philly to south Jersey. The service started in 1969, and I believe they're still using the original rolling stock.


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## joelkfla (Feb 21, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> Well, they are 30 years old. They're replacing the Acelas, and they're only 20 years old.
> 
> But I think the real transit longevity champs are the PATCO trains that run from Philly to south Jersey. The service started in 1969, and I believe they're still using the original rolling stock.


This is opening a can of worms, but Boston's MBTA is still running 1945 PCC streetcars on the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line. That's in regular commuter service, not a touristy historic line. Wikipedia says the cars have been in continuous revenue service since they were built for MBTA.


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## railiner (Feb 21, 2021)

joelkfla said:


> This is opening a can of worms, but Boston's MBTA is still running 1945 PCC streetcars on the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line. That's in regular commuter service, not a touristy historic line. Wikipedia says the cars have been in continuous revenue service since they were built for MBTA.


You know you're going to get some responses...

I'll start...
This one may be considered "touristy" for sure, but it always has, and still does serve as basic transportation...








St. Charles Streetcar Line - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## PaTrainFan (Feb 21, 2021)

joelkfla said:


> This is opening a can of worms, but Boston's MBTA is still running 1945 PCC streetcars on the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line. That's in regular commuter service, not a touristy historic line. Wikipedia says the cars have been in continuous revenue service since they were built for MBTA.



We could invike the old line here, "They don't make them now like they used to."


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## crescent-zephyr (Feb 21, 2021)

railiner said:


> You know you're going to get some responses...
> 
> I'll start...
> This one may be considered "touristy" for sure, but it always has, and still does serve as basic transportation...
> ...



I don’t consider it touristy at all.


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## MARC Rider (Feb 21, 2021)

railiner said:


> You know you're going to get some responses...
> 
> I'll start...
> This one may be considered "touristy" for sure, but it always has, and still does serve as basic transportation...
> ...


Well, going back to San Francisco, there's the F Market St & Wharves that runs heritage streetcars, and, of course, the cable cars.


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## joelkfla (Feb 22, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> Well, going back to San Francisco, there's the F Market St & Wharves that runs heritage streetcars, and, of course, the cable cars.


But those definitely fall within the touristy category.

I know people do ride the cable cars to work (I myself actually did for a couple of years, which was really cool), but they are a National Historic Monument, and charge inflated fares for tourists.

And the F line grew out of the Market Street Trolley Festival (or something like that). Only a couple of the cars are SF originals; the rest were purchased surplus from other transit agencies to be restored specifically for that line.


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## neroden (Mar 2, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> Well, they are 30 years old. They're replacing the Acelas, and they're only 20 years old.
> 
> But I think the real transit longevity champs are the PATCO trains that run from Philly to south Jersey. The service started in 1969, and I believe they're still using the original rolling stock.


Yep. Only US rolling stock of similar age in continuous regular service and without a "tourist" motivation are the (previously mentioned) PCCs of Boston's Mattapan Trolley -- and Amtrak's ex-Metroliner cab cars, which were ordered in 1966 (though I'm not quite sure what year they went into service).

New Orleans's 1920s Perley Streetcars are also in regular continuous service, and may be the oldest rolling stock in continuous non-museum service in the world; certainly in North America. I think they get the transit longevity award. There used to be quite a lot of 1920s rolling stock running in the Eastern Bloc, and in South America and the Caribbean, and in Africa, but it was mostly replaced in the last 40 years. Though I'm sure someone will find me some exception from Europe which is still using original 1920s rolling stock.


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## boratwanksta (May 13, 2021)

joelkfla said:


> This is opening a can of worms, but Boston's MBTA is still running 1945 PCC streetcars on the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line. That's in regular commuter service, not a touristy historic line. Wikipedia says the cars have been in continuous revenue service since they were built for MBTA.



Wow, and I thought the R32 railcars in service on a few lines in NYC(including the J and Z subway lines, and on one other line I'm forgetting) from the early to mid-1960s, were very old as heck! Supposedly I think all R32s finally were all retired like a year or 2 ago, according to a few online reports I found when I was doing some googling.

Don't get me wrong, I did like riding in the R32s for their history, myself.

Beyond North America, I remember reading one subway system had some railcars that were supposedly even older than the R32s, but finally were retired in the early 2010s I think. Here's an article about those railcars in Buenos Aires, which finally were retired in 2013: South America's First Subway Turns 101


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## railiner (May 13, 2021)

boratwanksta said:


> Wow, and I thought the R32 railcars in service on a few lines in NYC(including the J and Z subway lines, and on one other line I'm forgetting) from the early to mid-1960s, were very old as heck! Supposedly I think all R32s finally were all retired like a year or 2 ago, according to a few online reports I found when I was doing some googling.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I did like riding in the R32s for their history, myself.
> 
> Beyond North America, I remember reading one subway system had some railcars that were supposedly even older than the R32s, but finally were retired in the early 2010s I think. Here's an article about those railcars in Buenos Aires, which finally were retired in 2013: South America's First Subway Turns 101


The 1964 built R-32's came close to winning the NYC longevity contest, but no cigar...some of the BMT 'Q' cars retired in 1969 were built in 1903...66 years in service. That said, the R-32's with minimal maintenance could probably run for another 20 years...


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