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 The old, worn out bearings have been replaced by new ones and the movement is now “smooth as silk” – and will be for decades to come.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.

The Western Railway Museum is selling BART Legacy Fleet Train Operator Consoles sourced from retired cars. For $1000 each, you can own a core piece of BART history and support the preservation of three complete legacy cars at the Museum.

This video presents a history of the different train operator consoles of the Legacy Fleet, the functions of the console, and how to purchase one from the Museum if so inclined.

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.

Compare to below

This particular truck, serial #2368 has a build date of 1970 as seen by the builder’s plate.

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.

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).

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.