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WRM: Preserved BART (B2 Car) Rockwell Truck

8/12/2023

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WRM recently received a truck from BART. The truck was sourced from a recently retired and scrapped B2 car.

The truck itself is an original Rockwell model HPD-3 inboard bearing, cast steel truck, designed and used by BART’s A and B cars, and later refurbished and used on the A2 and B2 cars. The image below shows various components of the truck as originally built.
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Compare to below
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This particular truck, serial #2368 has a build date of 1970 as seen by the builder’s plate.
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During the midlife refurbishment of the A and B cars into the A2 and B2 cars in the late 1990s and 2000s, these Rockwell trucks were refurbished and replaced their Westinghouse 1463 DC motors with Adtranz 1507C AC motors.
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The third rail shoe and related assembly (in red, stored on top at the moment) picks up 1000 volt DC third rail and feeds it to the propulsion system (inverter) located underneath the carbody. Then, AC power and commands from the car powers the two motors, moving the truck (and the car mounted on the truck).
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Overall, the truck is in excellent condition and with a few more parts, will be a complete B2 car truck. This truck will help the BART car preservation effort by providing numerous measurements to ensure safe movement and storage of three BART legacy cars in WRM’s Carbarn 3.
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50 years of service for A2 cars

7/20/2023

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This year, the oldest A (technically, A2) cars reach the 50-year mark - a half century since their original construction. One such example is A2 car 1203, originally built by Rohr as A car 203. To note, A2 cars 1164-1250 were built in 1973 and 1251-1276 were built in 1975.

The first order for BART revenue vehicles consisted of 250 cars - 150 A cars and 100 B cars. The 203 was built within this order, and about the 156th car off the assembly line. It was delivered to BART in March 1973 and entered service within the year. Further orders for cars resulted in a fleet sized to be 176 A cars and 274 B cars (but never totally achieved).

By the 1990s, the A/B cars were a bit long in the tooth and in need of a rebuilding. The midlife refurbishment program included the rebuilding of A car 203 into A2 car 1203 in 2001.

Now, about 22 years and 2.2 million miles later, the legacy fleet is steadily being replaced by the Fleet of the Future. The 1203 will probably meet its end thorough scrapping, or it may be among the chosen few BART cars to find a second (or perhaps third) life in an alternative use. Whatever the case, here are a couple pics of a “young” 203 in the 1970s and an “old” 1203 in 2023 – the former from my collection and the latter taken this month (with a dead headlight nonetheless).

(To note, A cars in service in 1972 are all now B2 cars numbered in the 1800s-1900s, leaving the oldest A2 car as the 1164, delivered in January 1973).

Side note: The story of the BART legacy cars is not one which can be shortened to a series of posts here and crossposted in other places. I am working on a book covering the history of the BART fleet, from design to retirement, and it is fast approaching 400 pages chocked full of detail and pictures. What would you like to see in such a book and how would you gauge interest in such a subject? Please feel free to contact me on the "about" page of the website. Thanks!
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The First B Car – BART car 501/1501

10/7/2022

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The oldest remaining car of the legacy fleet is a B2 car numbered 1501. It was built 52 years ago as B car 501, and third legacy fleet car ever built (see note 1), delivered in December 1970.

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The 501 in Spring 1971, almost brand new. Squier collection.
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The 1501 in 2019, after many decades of sun and service. My photo

The first 10 cars of the fleet were prototype cars, meant to identify and resolve planned and unplanned “bugs” – from their construction, to their troubleshooting, in a similar vein to prototype aircraft. The 501 was no exception, and one such example of the car’s early assignments includes truck equalization testing. See note 2 for remarks about line numbers.
It was returned to Rohr during the summer of 1972 and redelivered for revenue service later in the year.

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The 501 under construction. BART Progress Report photo, Western Railway Museum Archives

As part of the midlife rebuilding of the A and B cars (awarded to ADtranz/Bombardier), B car 501 was rebuilt and renumbered into B2 1501 (See note 3). As of summer 2022, the 1501 is assigned to Daly City Yard and can be found in the middle of Blue line trains (alongside others) from time to time.
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Would love to have this plate, if the car is scrapped. Hopefully it is preserved.
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Interior of 1501. Standard B2 car.
Notes:
Note 1: A cars 101 and 102 were the first and second cars built, respectively. They were both replaced and scrapped following the conclusion of the prototype car testing.
Note 2: Three B cars (501-503) and one A car (107) were kept following prototype car testing. The line numbers are as follows: 501-3; 502-5; 503-6; 107-10
Note 3: The original A and B cars were built in Chula Vista, CA, and rebuilt in Pittsburg, CA. Most of the cars have never left California (outside A cars 111, 191 and 246).

Sources:
BART Progress Reports (1970) via Western Railway Museum Archives
Pacific News (August 1978)
Modern Heavy Rail by Andre K.
BART Fleet List v. 5.6.7
Comments and corrections welcome.
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1267 Rolling to the City

10/1/2022

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The late A2 car 1267 is the trailing car on this SFO Airport bound train, with the city in the background (Rockridge).

Taken June 18, 2021. It was scrapped about a year later, following an accident
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    About

    "The Two Bagger" is meant to be a place to store more "blog" style posts on various cars, pictures, and random tidbits/trivia. At BART, a "two bagger" is a rather informal name for a two car train. Two car trains rolled in revenue service back in 1972.

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  • Home
  • The Fleet
    • Photo Roster
    • Legacy Fleet
      • A Cars
      • A2 Cars
        • All A2 Cars
      • B Cars
      • B2 Cars
      • C1 Cars
        • Final C1 Cars
      • C2 Cars
      • CB Cars
      • Post-Retirement
        • BART Cars at WRM
      • Reference Pics
        • A-B Reference Pics
        • C Car Reference Pics
      • Car Plates
    • Fleet of the Future
      • FOTF Production
      • D Cars
      • E Cars
    • eBART
    • OAC
    • Laboratory Cars
    • BART Express
    • The Two Bagger
  • History
    • A History of the Legacy Fleet
    • 1962-1971
      • Design
        • Railway Age Weekly 8-2-65
      • Rohr Background on BART Car
    • 1972 - 1982
      • Orders and Deliveries
      • Day One 9-11-1972
      • A to B Conversion
      • Mail on BART
    • 1983 - 1992
      • History in the Making
    • 1993-2002
      • Rebuilding
    • 2003-2012
    • 2013-2024
      • Ad Wraps
      • Shop Stickers
      • Final Scheduled Run
      • Final Run
    • Fact Sheets
      • Art in BART
    • BART Times
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
    • Car Ads
  • The Lines
    • Color Lines
      • Green Line
      • Orange Line
      • Purple Line
    • Track and Station Lines
      • Golden Gate Bridge
      • Oakland Wye
      • A Line
      • E Line
      • K Line
        • KE Track
        • MacArthur Platform Usage
      • L Line
  • Other BART Things
    • Automatic Train Control
      • AATC
    • George and Gracie
    • Tickets and Fare Media
    • Schedules
    • Quality of Life Issues
  • Other Transit
    • Ferries
      • Golden Gate Ferry
      • SF Bay Ferry
      • Treasure Island
    • Airports
      • SFO AirTrain
  • FAQ
    • Wide Gauge
    • Harassment
  • About
    • BART Model Railroad
    • Legacy Fleet - The Story of BART's Old Cars