MBTA 01400s running

2009 photo by Jason Grant

Within the last couple of weeks Seashore volunteers have gotten their married pair of MBTA 01400 series Red Line subway cars operating. These cars came to Seashore in 1997 following retirement from service but have operated little, if at all, during the last 20 years. But museum volunteers have now mounted trolley poles (unprototypical, but necessary for operation) to the car roofs and gotten the pair running. It's not clear how much use they'll see, or whether they're cleared for public/revenue operation, but their status on the list has been changed to "operated occasionally."

The 69'-long 01400s were the last Red Line cars built of steel and the last cars built for that line before the MBTA took over from the Metropolitan Transit Authority. They were constructed by Pullman-Standard in 1963 and originally wore a flashy (for subway cars) livery of dark blue and white with gold striping. Seashore is currently raising money to repaint its pair in that original, and unique to this series, color scheme.