WMATA 2000s Added to the List

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced today that they'd shipped the last of their 2000-series subway cars off to scrap - the last, that is, except for the pair they've set aside for preservation. Those cars weren't on the PNAERC list until now, but I've just added WMATA 2000 and 2001 to the database.

These two cars were built by Breda in 1981 and in terms of overall construction, they're extremely similar to the other WMATA cars that entered preservation a few years back. They were overhauled around 2002 or so and at that time they acquired upgraded inverter control and AC traction motors. This seems to have made them more reliable than the older 1000s, which acquired earlier-generation AC motors in the mid-1990s; the 4000s, which were never upgraded with AC motors; or even the 5000s, which were built in 2001 with AC motors. (The 3000s, built in the late 1980s and upgraded with AC motors around 2009, are still in service.) The last 2000-series cars were retired just about a year ago, in October 2024, and cars 2000-2001 were in the ceremonial last-day-of-service train (pictured above in a photo from here). As far as I know, cars 2000-2001 are stored in Greenbelt Yard along with the other six cars in the WMATA historic fleet.

And in other positive news, thanks to Anderson Pries for sending the above photo taken last weekend of Chicago Aurora & Elgin 316 at the Fox River Trolley Museum. The occasion was the dedication of this 1913 Jewett-built interurban car following a major restoration effort, and sister car 20 - the oldest operating interurban car in the country, but mostly out of service pending wheel work - came out for the first time in a few years for the occasion as well. Car 316's status has been updated to reflect that it is no longer under restoration, but has joined the FRTM operating fleet.