About this Website:
Hello,
I hope you found this little space on the web as an informative and purely educational location to learn more about BART's Fleet and various other details about BART - all of which makes BART a unique system for a unique part of the country. I have been blessed to have access to multiple collections of very high-quality BART material. As such, I will do my best to digitize and upload interesting tidbits on the site for years to come. Trust me, I have tons of neat things to share but never enough time to upload. Photographic and informational contributions are always welcome. Please submit a contact form or email me. Recently, I have expanded this site to include other Bay Area transit systems I find interesting. Personally, I find the numerous ways to get to the City (San Francisco) just as exciting as the City itself, so most of this site will have a commuter / suburban transit bent. It was BART that pioneered a new era of Bay Area transit into the suburbs, and these systems have followed its lead. All information on this website were responsibly obtained from publicly available sources. I appreciate many visitors for reaching out and saying thank you. Although very, very troubled, BART is a unique system and a testament to the willpower of the people of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Bay Area was one of the first regions to redesign public transit for the modern age, and I hope this same region can reinvigorate BART and make it the system it was designed to be some 60 years ago. Thank you for visiting my site. -Andy T. Payne aka ATP Transit Website name: BARTchives Website domain: bartchives.com(redirect) Website domain: www.bartcars.weebly.com Socials: YouTube: ATP Transit BART Archives: BARTchives Bay Area Scale Models: Bay Area Scale Models 
Author and the 1272, 9/10/2023
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Contents:
About this Website Contact Photo Credits The Book - Legacy Fleet: The Story of BART's Old Cars Keeping Track of Information - the BART Fleet List Who am I? A nod to Demoro. Disclaimer Contact
Photo Credits
If you want to use my photos or videos, you MUST ask for permission. I am very lenient on letting others use my pictures, but only with prior permission. I know the photos I have taken by heart (since, well, I was there and took them).
Many other photos on this site also come from other sources, with different level of permissions: •Prelinger Library (Therkelsen clippings) •Western Railway Museum •Pacific Bus Museum •Squier Collection •Jack W. Boorse Archive •Bay Area Rapid Transit District •Anthony Nachor I am happy to explain what permissions are needed to use any particular photograph. Please contact me. |
The BART Car Book: Legacy Fleet: The Story of BART's Old Cars
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In the coming months, I will provide details on an upcoming book, Legacy Fleet: The Story of BART’s Old Cars, chronicling the history of the BART fleet from its origins in the Commission's reports to the 2020s. This website has been the very foundation for this book.
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Keeping Track of Information - the BART Fleet List
Attached is among the first public screenshots of the BART Fleet List, a project of mine which has rapidly evolved through the past few years. This screenshot shows the attention to detail I've maintained, covering the entire history of each revenue and non-revenue vehicle in the BART Fleet. It is, if anything, the old school "trainspotting" redesigned for 21st century technology - as BART was a new generation of public transit, this roster is a new generation of trainspotting. And as time marches on, it's the final home for some of these unique car by car details.
An excel list so big one needs a work page
Donations
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If you found this site informative, please consider a donation to the Western Railway Museum's Rapid Transit History Center (RTHC) project. I can personally vouch for the efforts of this organization, not only for their expansive BART archives, but their project to save these very cars in a world-class exhibit.
Personally, I think the BART preservation job is probably the most difficult rail transit preservation job faced today. These cars were the representation of a new wave of rail transit in the United States, and now, after a half century of service, they are on the way out. Rail transit museums often focus on pre-1950 transit, but time marches on. To remain relevant to younger generations, the more recent past must also be preserved. We will never again get a chance to preserve these railcars, which revolutionized rail transportation not only in the United States, but also influenced the development of rapid transit systems throughout the world. |
A nod to Demoro.
The late Harre W. Demoro was a newspaperman, author, and preservationist of Bay Area transportation. Embedded throughout this website are pieces of his work. A prediction of the BARTchives and its book is as follows:
“Every six minutes on weekdays, a silvery, fully-automatic rapid transit train speeds at 70 mph through the Transbay Tube of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Electric traction of the Key System and the South Shore characteristics could not survive. But, BART is running. The Technology will survive. And, someday, someone will write nostalgically about those slant-nosed electric trains that replaced the busses that had replaced the trains on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.” – Harre W. Demoro (1939-1993), Pacific News, March 1978
“Every six minutes on weekdays, a silvery, fully-automatic rapid transit train speeds at 70 mph through the Transbay Tube of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Electric traction of the Key System and the South Shore characteristics could not survive. But, BART is running. The Technology will survive. And, someday, someone will write nostalgically about those slant-nosed electric trains that replaced the busses that had replaced the trains on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.” – Harre W. Demoro (1939-1993), Pacific News, March 1978
Who am I?
Hi - I am Andy T. Payne, online as ATP Transit. I'm a local product - born and raised in the East Bay (6th generation SF Bay Area citizen, and also half Chamorro), and a graduate of Cal State East Bay. I've been called the "BART sponge," soaking up all the interesting info of the system.
I've always loved transportation, but BART is a rather recent focus. It is, without a doubt, my favorite transportation system and I am a great supporter but I have also criticized from time to time - with just cause - the Yin and Yang of BART.
In the past five years, I've:
I make my home in Fremont; Fremont station is my home station. I work at an agency that provides oversight and accountability in government. Lastly, but not least, I am a BART commuter (and I've seen just about everything - most of the time, the troubles motivate me to work even harder into preserving the good parts of BART history).
I've always loved transportation, but BART is a rather recent focus. It is, without a doubt, my favorite transportation system and I am a great supporter but I have also criticized from time to time - with just cause - the Yin and Yang of BART.
In the past five years, I've:
- Commuted on BART
- Started writing a book on the entire history of the legacy fleet
- Ridden 660/669 legacy fleet cars, and over 340 FOTF cars - over 1,000 BART cars.
- Been the final soul to set foot on dozens of A2, B2, and C1 cars.
- Attended the opening of eBART, SVBX, Warm Springs bridge, and the BART 50th (and helped run a booth).
- Been harassed by a vagrant rider, a victim of auto burglary (parked at a BART station), and witnessed too many crimes on BART (experienced the suffering).
- Created over 50,000 photos, videos, and recordings of the fleet. Many videos are hosted on youtube.
- Created and maintained a detailed (20+ excel page) roster of every BART vehicle, past and present.
- Contributed to the preservation of the BART Legacy Fleet and BART archives at the Western Railway Museum.
- Designed and built N scale BART cars and my own BART model railroad, using photorealistic details of the exact cars they replicate.
- Cited in the Mercury News: "Perhaps the most illustrative symbol of BART’s go-it-alone approach is its iconic 1970s lead cars, which have a dedicated fan base among transit design aficionados."
- Assisted BART in their own fleet history details.
- Oddly enough, ridden four variations of the Blue line (Dublin-DC, Dublin-Montgomery, Dublin-MacArthur, Dublin-24th St).
- My photos have been used by BART and samTrans
I make my home in Fremont; Fremont station is my home station. I work at an agency that provides oversight and accountability in government. Lastly, but not least, I am a BART commuter (and I've seen just about everything - most of the time, the troubles motivate me to work even harder into preserving the good parts of BART history).
BART train and the snow, 2023
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Me helping to save a BART car for posterity, 2023
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The Spirit of BART
The historical unparalleled innovative spirit, manifested (or perhaps lingering) through the design of the original, higher-speed system and its cars, and the technology making such operation possible, are the reasons I can look through the dirt, grime, and occasionally blood, most of the time. BART is a product of a time never to be repeated – one of local citizenry, voting for and willing to foot the entire cost of a highly advanced rail system by themselves. The goal to build a high-quality rapid transit system, good enough to attract riders based on its positive merits, in turn solving the traffic congestion problem, allowing greater mobility for all, and increasing the wellbeing of all who call this area their home. An innovative transit system, one to elevate the spirit of its riders as much as it would elevate the viability of public transportation across the world.
The historical unparalleled innovative spirit, manifested (or perhaps lingering) through the design of the original, higher-speed system and its cars, and the technology making such operation possible, are the reasons I can look through the dirt, grime, and occasionally blood, most of the time. BART is a product of a time never to be repeated – one of local citizenry, voting for and willing to foot the entire cost of a highly advanced rail system by themselves. The goal to build a high-quality rapid transit system, good enough to attract riders based on its positive merits, in turn solving the traffic congestion problem, allowing greater mobility for all, and increasing the wellbeing of all who call this area their home. An innovative transit system, one to elevate the spirit of its riders as much as it would elevate the viability of public transportation across the world.
Disclaimer
This is not an official BART website, and bears no official connection to the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District or the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commissions (of decades ago) or any official connection to any organization or business. All information presented in this website is accurate to the best of my knowledge. This is an educational site meant to inform the reader on the history of the BART system, and is not meant, nor recommended, for use for any business, legal, or other decisions. All opinions expressed in this website are mine alone, and the content provided in this website is presented in good faith for the preservation of BART media, while also acknowledging the social conditions and challenges of the region and the BART system itself.
This site is not directly or indirectly sponsored by anyone, but hosted on Weebly. It is my personal work. As such, this site is pro-transit, but in the sense of only supporting responsible and efficient investments in public transit. This site does not have an aggressive urbanist bent, given that the suburban development of the East Bay was critical to the creation of the BART system.
This site is not directly or indirectly sponsored by anyone, but hosted on Weebly. It is my personal work. As such, this site is pro-transit, but in the sense of only supporting responsible and efficient investments in public transit. This site does not have an aggressive urbanist bent, given that the suburban development of the East Bay was critical to the creation of the BART system.
I'm right, and you're right
We all have something good and bad to say about BART. I could write a book (or make a website, or both haha!) praising and criticizing the system. This statement in a newspaper from long ago sums it up perfectly, I think:
“BART had gone too far, the critics, said, and history proved their argument was partially correct. Others argued that BART had to plow fresh ground because the industry was stagnant, and they were also partially correct.”
We all have something good and bad to say about BART. I could write a book (or make a website, or both haha!) praising and criticizing the system. This statement in a newspaper from long ago sums it up perfectly, I think:
“BART had gone too far, the critics, said, and history proved their argument was partially correct. Others argued that BART had to plow fresh ground because the industry was stagnant, and they were also partially correct.”
Dedication
This site is respectfully dedicated to every BART passenger with the curiosity of how BART runs, every patient Bay Area taxpayer that paid for the system - from conception to operation, and every BART employe that did their job with world-class pride.
This site is respectfully dedicated to every BART passenger with the curiosity of how BART runs, every patient Bay Area taxpayer that paid for the system - from conception to operation, and every BART employe that did their job with world-class pride.
12/7/21, 2/19/22, 4/9/22, 5/2/22, 6/5/22, 7/11/22, 7/29/22, 8/27/22, 8/28/22, 9/15/22, 10/14/22, 1/29/23, 3/1/23, 7/23/23
