BART Comes to Rio Vista

The Western Railway Museum is growing its collection again, and this time, it's acquired one of the most distinctive and unusual pieces of electric railway equipment in preservation.

Today saw the arrival in Rio Vista of Bay Area Rapid Transit 1164, the first BART car to enter preservation (or, at least, enter private preservation - I'm not certain whether BART has formally set aside any of its own first-generation fleet for historic reasons). Car 1164 is an "A2" car that started life as an "A" car, one of the unmistakable shovel-nosed, single-window giants so closely associated with the BART system. It's a Rohr car that bears some similarity to the 1000-series WMATA subway cars already on the PNAERC list, but of course it's the first piece of equipment on the list that's 5'6" gauge and also the first piece designed for 1000vDC traction power. A 2002 rebuilding (hence the "2" in "A2") saw its original DC motors and chopper control replaced with AC equipment.

This particular car was used as a testing car on the Hayward Test Track for a time, which gives it a unique history. WRM posted on their Facebook page about the move, which is where the above photos came from. They included a shot of the car already on display in the Jensen Car House, where the museum has laid some dual-gauge track, though they used standard-gauge "dollies" to switch the car around. They're also planning to acquire a "B" car and a "C" car in the near future to represent all the major types of first-generation BART rolling stock. Kudos to them for accomplishing a preservation project with, shall we say, some unique challenges!