CTA "L" cars added to roster

One of the more unexpected developments in historic preservation in Chicago in recent years has been the establishment by the Chicago Transit Authority of an "historic fleet" of vintage transit equipment. The CTA has maintained a pair of 1920s-era 4000-series cars since the 1970s, but other than those two cars the system has steadfastly declined to preserved other examples of its history. This isn't unusual; in fact New York is the only rail transit system in the country that seems interested in preserving more than a light sampling of its own historic rolling stock as it reaches retirement age. The CTA actually did have a collection of historic rolling stock until 1985, but in that year the historic collection was transferred to area museums (mostly IRM although one car went to Fox River). And the recent retirement of the 1960s-era Budd-built 2200-series cars, which were fan favorites of a sort due to their outdated blinker doors, did not prompt the CTA to keep any for preservation.

But things seemed to change in 2015. For the retirement of the 2400-series Boeing-built cars from passenger service in January 2015, the CTA repainted an entire eight-car train into their as-built red/white/blue colors. After that happened the repainted train was squirreled away and before long it - and the 1920s 4000s - were announced as the nucleus of a new historic fleet. Three buses were also added to the fleet and in August of this year a pair of 6000s were purchased from Fox River.

Anyway, it's taken me a while, but I've finally added those eight 2400-series cars to the PNAERC roster. The CTA itself has designated them for preservation per its website and they are being well maintained and available for use in historic operations (such as the CTA's 70th anniversary celebrations last weekend). The list is here. The CTA also operates a number of these Boeing-built cars in work service but those are not on the list as they're recently retired and in utility service.