2200 series (CTA)

The 2200 series was a series of Chicago "L" cars built in 1969 and 1970 by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 150 cars were built. The last 8 2200-series cars were retired from service after their final service on the Blue Line on August 8, 2013. These cars were in service for 44 years. All cars were scrapped by April 2014 and two more cars remained on CTA property stored at the 61st yard and they are 2273 and 2274.

The 2200 series was the second series of five interoperable series of Chicago "L" cars known as the High Performance Family.

History

In 1967, the City of Chicago began construction on two rapid transit projects, both in the median of two expressways, the Dan Ryan and the Kennedy. These two projects needed an order of new rail cars to supplement the existing fleet, and the City of Chicago ordered 150 new rail cars from the Budd Company for the two projects. The city retained two important consultants on the project, the Chicago Transit Authority (who would operate the cars) and the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), which was heavily involved in the architectural work of the new stations. The new cars were designed to complement the modernist approach that SOM was taking to the design of the new stations, and featured unpainted fluted sides, a first for the CTA that would later become the standard for its rail fleet.

Description

The 2200-series cars (numbered 2201–2350) were manufactured by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and first delivered to the CTA in 1969, before the Dan Ryan branch (now known as the south end of the Red Line) was opened. 150 cars were ordered, and all delivered in 1969 and 1970. In the 2000s, they were the only "L" cars to still feature the blinker door configuration, in which the doors to the train open inward into the car rather than slide horizontally. These doors, which had a much narrower opening than sliding doors, were unable to accommodate a wheelchair. Because of this, all 2200-series cars that ran in regular service on the Blue Line had to be coupled with a married pair of 2600-series cars in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. In addition, during eight car operation on the Blue Line, the 2200-series cars were usually referred to as belly car service (which means that they were not at either end of the set), with 2600-series cars on the ends of the train.

The 2200-series also featured fluted, unpainted stainless steel sides, a unique feature in the rolling stock until the addition of the 3200-series.

Cars 2244 and 2243 at the Illinois Railway Museum in July 2014

Cars 2307 and 2316 were renumbered 2351 and 2352; 2351 was originally numbered 2307 and repaired after its mate 2308 was damaged in an accident at Addison station in 1976; 2352 was renumbered from 2316 and paired with 2351 after 2315 was damaged in a fire in the Skokie Shops yard in November 1977.

Cars 2289 and 2290 were damaged in the 1977 Chicago Loop derailment on February 4, 1977. After the derailment cars 2289 and 2290 were later retired and scrapped.

They were refurbished by the New York Rail Car Corporation of Brooklyn, New York, between 1990 and 1992, to extend their service life.

Retirement of the 2200-series cars began in October 2010 and was completed in August 2013.

The last 8 2200-series cars were retired from service after their final service on the Blue Line on August 8, 2013. The last tour of the 2200-series cars took place on a 6 car private charter ran by Eric Zabelny on August 25, 2013 which toured most of the CTA system.

After retirement, several cars were preserved. Preserved cars include:

• 2238, used as a prop car for Catchmo Media^[1]
• 2243 and 2244, preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
• 2347, used as a shop at Jungle Jim's International Market in Fairfield, Ohio.^[2]

References

• "CTA Car Assignments". Chicago-"L".org. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-30. 
• "2200-series Cars". Chicago-"L".org. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-30. 
• "Welcome Aboard! Chicago's New Transit Car" (PDF). Chicago Transit Authority. Retrieved 2014-03-26. 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2200 series.

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