BART Cars at WRM: Third Rail Installed

Today, February 22, 2025, WRM BART Project Volunteers delivered and installed an authentic BART third rail adjacent to preserved A car 1164. The third rail and related parts including coverboard and insulators, were donated by BART to WRM for display with the Legacy Fleet.

In a fine example of teamwork, the volunteers installed the assembly in manner allowing everyone to see and understand the key components – the coverboard is staggered to allow viewing of the third rail, and the #4 collector paddle of the A car is contacting the third rail. Back when the car was in service, the third rail provided nominal 1000 v DC power which was picked up by the 4 collector shoes on the car to power the car systems (propulsion, auxiliaries, etc).

To note, labels will be crafted and applied in the coming weeks.

The black strip below is the wiggle wire mounted on the coverboard at stations and other parts of the system. It will be mounted to the coverboard at a later date.

This is the newer design of the coverboard and includes the “DANGER ELECTRIC THIRD RAIL KEEP AWAY” decals along the top and side.

The equipment mounted above the rail is a fastener and clips used on direct fixation portions of the BART system such as aerials, which was also donated by BART for display. The rail mounted on it has a white line showing the difference between 115 lb per yard rail vs BART’s custom 119 lb per yard rail.

Additional activity included the replacement of bearings on doors 6 and 8 of 1164, which will be used for public access into the cars. The old, worn out bearings have been replaced by new ones and the movement is now “smooth as silk” – and will be for decades to come. The cars are not yet ready for public display inside - the interior is best described as a workshop given all these activities, but will be open sometime later this year.