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BART's first paying passenger was Gertrude Guild of San Leandro, who entered the system at Lake Merritt station. Here she is at the faregate, learning how to use her ticket. September 11, 1972 
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 At about 10:15 AM, Monday, October 2, 1972, Train 307 from MacArthur, with brand new A car 143 leading and "Day 1 veteran" A car 118 trailing, overshot Fremont station and plowed into the parking lot, injuring four passengers and the train attendant. Fortunately, Washington Hospital is next door to Fremont station so the response was timely.
 This accident was attributed to a faulty 27 mph crystal oscillator on a printed circuit board, which instead of signaling the train to slow down to 27 mph, sped it up to almost 70 mph (66 mph when at A85 gate C). The train attendant did all that was possible to stop the train, but even then, the braking was inadequate; the train was speeding through the center of platform 2 at 42-50 mph and impacted the sandpile at about 26-33 mph (sources debate speeds), landing in the parking lot. The accident brought national attention to the safety of BART, alongside significant changes to carborne ATC equipment alongside changes at Fremont station.
A car 143 never carried another rider but it found a new life as a B car. It was converted into B car 826 by Hayward Shop forces by the end of 1981, and rolled again, this time as a standard B car. As part of the A and B car rebuilding during the turn of the century, B car 826 was rebuilt and renumbered into B2 car 1826. As of August 2022, it is assigned to Concord yard and can be seen in the middle of Yellow line trains, from time to time. A keen eye may recognize a few scars from its ill-fated trip a half century ago. B2 car 1826, in my opinion, has earned a place as one of the most historical transit vehicles in history. Photo credits belong to the Prelinger Library (Therkelsen clippings) and Western Railway Museum, and a private collection. 
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"The Two Bagger" is meant to be a place to store more "blog" style posts on various cars, pictures, and random tidbits. 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. Archives
May 2023
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