Farewell 1210 - "Mustache Car"

The 1210 reached its end of line a couple weeks ago – the final chapter for a BART car with 50 years of service. It was originally built by Rohr as A car 210 back in 1973, delivered to BART on 3/26/1973, and rebuilt by Adtranz in 2001. As A2 car 1210 it rolled in service until 2023. Since about 2012, the 1210 had a damaged cab – a dark mark towards the bottom center of the fiberglass “pod” indicated such damage.

Here is an exclusive look at the final moments of the 1210, given by special permission.

Cars arrive at the scrapyard on a truck, and then offloaded using a grabber and a wheel loader with forks. It is a sight to be hold - a 40,000 lb BART car lifted up using those two machines.

Inside of the car after being set down.

I am a historian at heart, and these cars were rolling museums not too long ago - that is what got me into all this stuff years ago. Of the 59 A2 cars, the 1210 stood out due to its damaged nose - a hole/patch in its fiberglass cab, towards the bottom center.

Traditionally, BART has often used the A car nose as a "face" in marketing materials, with the windshield serving as the "eye" - taking advantage of this hole, plus the remains of some type of repair forming a weak "w" pattern, I noted this car as having a "mustache".

As a final farewell, for 50 years of service and a little unique damage, I made a little drawing in the cab marking the end. (Note, I do not sharpie any transit vehicles outside these in the scrapyard. I ain't a tagger.)

Once we were done, the all clear was given and the car was chopped up minutes later.

A sad, but important end to 1210. Parked next to it is 1545.

The metals will be recycled and reused, somewhere in the world. Perhaps one day, I'll come across something new, that was made out of said metal from old 1210.