Specifications:

Built by: Pullman Car Co.
Year: 1964
Length: 48'-0"
Width at Floor: 8'-8"
Width at Windows: 9'-4"
Height over Roof: 12'-0"
Trucks: CTA-1
Truck centers: 33'-8"
Truck wheelbase: 78"
Coupler: #1 end / #2 end: Form 5 / tubular
Wheel diameter: 28"
Seats: A car / B car: 47 / 51
Weight (w/o passengers): 47,400 lb.
Motors per car 4 GE1250K1 @ 100hp
Balancing speed: 65 mph
Governed speed: 55 mph ⁺

+ The propulsion package, while capable of higher speeds, was limited by the logic of the car controls and the external signal system.

History:

With the delivery of the final 6000-series cars in 1959 and 1-50 series cars in 1960, CTA had made great strides in the modernization of its rail fleet. All of the wooden "L" cars had been retired, and even some of the oldest steel cars had been replaced. But CTA still had a larger fleet of aging railcars, some of which were nearly 50 years old. More new cars were needed to continue modernizing the "L" fleet, to reduce maintenance costs, improve performance and meet public expectations for amenities and ride experience.

The CTA began development work on a high-performance car, in cooperation with various railcar suppliers, in 1955, testing various equipment on cars 6127-6130. CTA resumed this development and testing in 1960, using these four cars again as well as cars 1-4. The goal of the program was to develop a modern control system and trucks for high-speed rapid transit service. Several different truck designs and control systems were developed by different manufacturers and tested on these cars.

The result of this program was the development of a specification for new, modern, high-speed "L" cars that embodied many of the systems developed in the experimentation. The specification put out for bid stipulated several requirements, such as a maximum speed of 65 miles per hour with each car equipped with four motors rated at 100 horsepower each, and new type trucks equipped with steel and rubber springs, shock absorbers for maximum rider comfort and safety designed by CTA in cooperation with manufacturers and the Institute for Rapid Transit; also desired was modest aesthetic streamlining along the lines of the "New Look" buses of the period to be achieved by artistic use of steel, stainless steel, or steel and aluminum, by exterior paint design, and by large picture side windows. Alternate bids were requested on air conditioning equipment, primarily to determine, if possible, exactly how much air conditioning would add to the cost of the fleet. But the specifications were, generally speaking, of the performance type, allowing bidders maximum leeway in exercising ingenuity and creative and artistic talents on producing a fleet of modern, high performance cars. Manufacturers were invited to propose a design that reflected their interpretation of the specifications and goals.

CTA received proposals from three railcar builders: Pullman-Standard of Chicago; St. Louis Car division of General Steel Industries, Incorporated, of St. Louis; and the Budd Company of Philadelphia. Each proposed a car design that had a different aesthetic design but met the specifications of the bid advertisement.

St. Louis was the low bidder, with a bid of $18,441,000, on a design meeting the base specifications, i.e. without air conditioning. However, with air conditioning included, Pullman-Standard was the low bidder with an offer of $18,990,000. On the basis of these two bids, air-conditioning increased the overall cost of the 180 cars by $549,000. Budd bid $19,303,200 for the 90 2-car units without air conditioning, and $19,726,200 with air conditioning. The Chicago Transit Board awarded the contract to Pullman-Standard on June 13, 1963.

The 2000-series cars were financed entirely from CTA operating revenues. Financing of $7,500,000 was obtained for the cars through the sale of Series 10 equipment trust certificates to John Nuveen & Company, of 135 S. LaSalle Street, and A.C. Allyn Company, 122 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago investment bankers, at an average interest rate of 3.2093 over a 10-year period. The service charges on the certificates and the balance due was paid out of CTA's depreciation reserves. The 2000-series cars were the last railcars CTA purchased that were paid for from farebox (operating) funds; subsequent car purchases were subsidized with federal or local-funded grants.

Car Design and Features

The car that Pullman-Standard proposed was a thoroughly modern design, incorporating several technical advancements for the "L". Because these cars were to have additional features, the decision was made to place these cars in a new family (the High Performance Family) and not require them to trainline with any of the existing cars.

Many of the features and aspects present on modern "L" cars were introduced on the 2000-series cars. They provided CTA a number of "firsts", including the first urban-type rapid transit cars designed and built as air-conditioned units (CTA considered the Port Authority Hudson-Manhattan, which had 50 air conditioned cars already, an inter-city commuter rail-type operation); the first welded aluminum rapid transit car bodies in the U.S. with high-tensile steel underframes; the first application of "space-age" developments, such as static inverters and silicon diodes to energize and control the functioning of the extremely complex electrical equipment in a modern rapid transit car; and the first production use of reinforced fiberglass in the front ends of each semi-permanently coupled two-car unit, allowing the designers freedom to create a streamlined, unique sculpted look for the end of the car.

Each of the cars was cooled by a 10-ton air-conditioning unit capable of maintaining a temperature of 72 degrees and relative humidity at 50 to 55 per cent in a crowded car when the outside temperature is 95 degrees. Functioning of the air-conditioning, heating and ventilating was electronically controlled. CTA engineers estimated that the air conditioning equipment on the cars would operate an average of 161 days per year. The cost of operating and maintaining the air conditioning on the 140 cars for the Lake route alone was estimated to exceed the cost of forced-draft ventilation by approximately $22,000 a year.

In the winter time, the cooling system worked in harmony with the heating and ventilating system by filtering and warming fresh air taken from the outside. The heating and ventilating system, a type not previously used in rapid transit cars, was an adaptation of a system proved operationally in the "New Look" buses CTA began using in the early 1960s.

Air in the car entered louvers at the floor level and moved upward by convection past heat grids and through ducts in the wainscot paneling, thus giving the effect of radiant heating. The heated air re-enterd the car through grills at the window sill level, thus keeping the windows free of frost and bringing the temperature within the car to the comfort point. Filtered and heated fresh air was mixed with recirculated air in proper proportions.

Units in the ceiling also provided heat that was dispersed throughout the car by fans.

The years of research and testing by CTA and co-operating manufacturers was reflected in the improved riding qualities and high-performance characteristics of the cars. The result of the testing and development CTA began in 1955 resulted in the new CTA-1 truck design used in the 2000s. Each of the two CTA-1 trucks under the car was powered by a pair of 100-horsepower motors, notable for their advanced design, rapid rates of acceleration, and a potential speed of 65 miles per hour, faster than any previous "L" cars. This speed potential, however, was not planned be used on "L" routes that existed at the time, as stations were too close together; it was provided in anticipation of route extensions where station spacing would permit high speed operation. (In practice, the propulsion package, while capable of higher speeds, was limited by the logic of the car controls and the external signal system, with a governed maximum speed of 55mph.) The new CTA-1 type trucks were equipped with steel and rubber springs and shock absorbers, designed by CTA in cooperation with a group of manufacturers to produce maximum safety and riding comfort.

The braking system consisted of three different types of brakes, all electrically activated. The first two sets -- a dynamic brake, used the traction motors as generators for retarding force; and a friction disc brake, -- were applied in normal operation. The third, an electro-magnetic track brake, was applied against the running rail.

The visual design of the cars was decidedly streamlined and modern, with smooth welded sides and a sculpted fiberglass front end whose appearance conformed to the mid-century modern aesthetic of the "New Look" buses that were in vogue at the time. The cars were given a simple but streamlined paint scheme of Alpine White uppers and Mint Green below the windows.

The cars' interiors utilized molded plastic wall panels, stainless steel trim and leather grain aluminum, with an eye toward brightness, durability and ease-of-cleaning. Interior ceiling and side panels were of attractively patterned off-white melamine blending with the decor of the cars. Urethane foam insulation was provided inside the roofs and sidewalls for noise- and weather-proofing. The floors used airplane-type panels made of end-grain balsa wood laminated between aluminum sheets with a light gray rubber floor covering. Large picture windows, approximately 3 by 4 feet each, glazed with tinted, laminated safety glass that filtered out glare and heat rays, added to the feel of a more open car. The seats used tubular stainless steel frames with 36"-wide spring cushion seats -- 3" wider than CTA's other car seats at the time -- and were upholstered with vinyl-coated fabric described at the time as "lake blue" in color.

A new type of fluorescent illumination was provided in the cars, integrated with the car card racks. The backlit advertising sash served the dual purpose of lighting the interior of the car, and producing the effect of continuous rows of color ad transparencies. The continuous row of fluorescent light panels focused 25 to 30 foot candles at the reading plane for, as publicity at time noted, "easy newspaper reading" (belying the era these cars were built in).

A public address system for train stop and passenger information announcements was provided, coordinated with train phones in the motormen's cabs that permitted communication between CTA Operations Control in the Merchandise Mart and in-service trains.

The front and side destination signs were remotely controlled from the motorman's cab, eliminating the need to hand-crank each sign. The electronic system to read and manage the signs limited the length of the roller curtain to just five readings, however.

Car Assembly and Delivery

The 2000-series cars were assembled at Pullman-Standard's plant in the namesake Pullman neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, at 111th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.

The first two cars were previewed by Chairman George L. DeMent and members of Chicago Transit Board at the Pullman plant on Wednesday, April 22, 1964. A two-car unit, cars 2001-2002, was run back and forth on the Pullman-Standard test track to demonstrate the riding comfort of the wide seats and the new-type trucks equipped with steel and rubber springs and shock absorbers.

Delivery of the first 2000-series cars occurred on May 26, 1964. The cars arrived at Skokie Shops by train, via flat car. After each car was unloaded, it was placed in the shop for inspection and testing before CTA officially accepted each car. After all departments at Skokie Shops had completed the new-car inspection, the Transportation Department was notified to move the two-car unit to its route for terminal inspection, then placement in revenue service.

Soon after delivery of the first two-car unit, the general public was able to inspect and ride the new cars. A train was displayed on the Outer Loop track on Wabash avenue on Thursday and Friday, June 11 and 12, 1964, running back and forth between the Randolph/Wabash and Adams/Wabash stations for demonstration rides during the midday period. Among those who test-rode the cars were Mayor Richard J. Daley and Chicago Transit Board members James R. Quinn, Bernice T. Van der Vries, James E. Rutherford, and Board Chairman George L. De Ment. The cars were also displayed at the Harlem/Lake terminal station on Sunday, June 14. More than 12,000 people accepted CTA's public invitation to inspect "New Look" cars over these three days.

The first six cars delivered were used for training operators and shop crews before going into service.

These 2000-series cars were considered quite successful at the time of their introduction. They averaged 50,000 miles per year.

The first of the "New Look" cars were assigned to daily service on the Lake rapid transit route, being phased into the operation as the cars are processed by CTA's shops department.

Approximately 140 of the cars went to the Lake route. When the route had its full complement of cars, the balance of the new units were placed in the Douglas-Milwaukee service on the West-Northwest route. A total of 200 outmoded cars, ranging from 40 to 50 years of age, were retired as a result of the 2000-series cars' delivery.

Cab Signaling Testbed

The 2000-series cars became the first series of "L" cars equipped with cab signaling and automatic train control (ATC), though the cars were not delivered with these features -- the systems were retrofit in a few years after delivery.

Cab signaling is a safety system that communicates track status and condition information through colored lights, as well as allowable and actual speed, to the motorcab on a dynamic display unit. The ATC system is integrated with the cab signaling, determining the maximum speed at which a train may be safely operated based on track conditions and occupancy, comparing this command with the actual speedometer reading, providing visible and audible displays to alert the motorman, and effecting an emergency brake application if the operator doesn't react to the restrictive signal in time. As each train moves along, its steel wheels and axles control a circuit across the rails that tells the system where the train is. Thus informed, trackside equipment operates to send speed commands to each train, so that all trains are kept safely separated, yet are allowed to run as fast as conditions permit. Track occupancy and condition information is conveyed through a coded electrical current through the rails by the wayside equipment, which is detected by coils onboard each train, above the rails at the front of the train.

Testing for the application of cab signaling and ATC on the "L" was performed using car 6454 in 1963-64 (its mate destroyed in 1962, and 6454 was temporarily modified to operate as a single car). Tests were performed on North Main Line track 3 between Bryn Mawr and Thorndale -- General Railway Signal (GRC) cab signal tests in 1963, and Westinghouse (WABCO) ATC system testing in 1964. Based on these tests, an electronic train control package was developed for broad application.

The Lake Street Line was chosen for the initial implementation of ATC, and the necessary wayside equipment was installed along the line. The 140 2000-series cars assigned to the Lake service were equipped with a GRC cab signal/ATC package, including a display unit in each motorcab displaying speed and signal information, as well as the necessary carborne equipment to measure the speed of the train and send, receive and interpret the coded electrical information. Equipment was installed in 1967; on October 8, the first section of cab signaling was put in service between Pulaski and Harlem. On December 2, 1967, installation of cab signals was completed on the whole Lake Line, from Clinton to Harlem. This made CTA the first rapid transit line in the U.S. to be protected by this modern signal and speed control equipment.

The experience with the cab signal-equipped 2000s was deemed successful, and the next series of cars, the 2200-series, were outfitted with it from delivery; the newly-built lines the 2200 were built for, the Dan Ryan and Kennedy extensions, opened in 1969-70, were also equipped with ATC. The remaining 40 2000-series cars were outfitted with cab signaling/ATC, using WABCO equipment, in 1969. Outfitting of the rest of the "L" system was undertaken in the mid-1970s.

Service History

The 2000-series cars were somewhat unique in that, unlike the railcars of most other series, they tended to be split between no more than two different routes at a time, and for much of their lives were all assigned to one route at a time.

When the first cars were delivered, they were assigned to the Lake Line, allowing the 4000-series cars there to be removed and reassigned. The new, modern railcars also complemented the similarly-modern new stations that had just been completed a few years earlier on the outer portion of the Lake Line.

Prototype cars 2001-2004 were demonstrated with free rides on the Loop on June 11, 1964, and were open for public viewing parked at Harlem/Lake station on June 14, 1964. The first cars carried revenue passengers on the Lake Line on June 18, 1964. All of the new cars were assigned to Lake Street until the line was fully-equipped. On November 3, 1964, the last 4000-series cars were removed from the route. The last 40 cars from the order were assigned to the West-Northwest Route. The 2000s were eventually kept off the Douglas branch, however, due to unusual physical characteristics which caused a "rumbling" over the ground-level segment in the town of Cicero, restricting the cars to Congress-Milwaukee service on the West-Northwest Route.

This continued until the opening of the Dan Ryan and Kennedy extensions in 1969-70, at which time the few dozen 2000-series cars on the West-Northwest Route were reassigned to Lake-Dan Ryan service on the West-South Route; the last 2000s were removed from the West-Northwest Route on October 3, 1969. All 180 cars of the series were assigned to the Lake-Dan Ryan for the next decade (with the exception of a brief period in the winter of 1972-73, when 2000s were sent back to the West-Northwest due to sleep scrapper issues) until January 1982, when 50 cars were sent to the North-South Route and the cars were split between that line and the West-South; by the end of 1982, the number of 2000s on the North-South was up to 90, roughly evenly split between the two routes. Beginning in Fall 1983 more 2000s were shifted to the North-South Route until June 1984, when they were all there. At the end of 1984, 40 of the cars were assigned to the Evanston route.

The 2000-series cars remains split between the North-South Route (Howard-Englewood-Jackson Park) and Evanston Line until 1993, until the north-south and west-south through-routes were swapped, creating the Red Line (Howard-Dan Ryan) and Green Line (Lake-Englewood-Jackson Park) in February 1993. By this time, some of the 2000-series cars had been retired as the 3200-series cars were delivered. In the route realignment, all of the remaining 2000s were assigned to the Green Line, where the series lived out its final months until the remaining cars were retired by the end of 1993, their last day of service being December 17.

The cars were delivered in an attractive, sleek mint green and alpine white scheme, and while this livery was later applied en masse to the 6000-series fleet as well as the 1-50s and cars 53 and 54 (making it the dominant paint scheme on the "L"), the 2000s only wore the scheme for less than a decade. In 1972, the 2000s began to be repainted in a platinum/silver mist color with a charcoal band through the windows to make them visually harmonize better with the all-stainless steel 2200-series cars they were frequently paired with on the West-South Route; the dark gray window band was to de-emphasize the difference of window size between them and the 2200-series.

Between 1974 and 1977, eight cars were painted in the commemorative Bicentennial paint scheme, including the very first Bicentennial cars, the "Ben Franklin" -- cars 2175-2176, which were temporarily renumbered the "1776" (used for both cars).

In the early 1980s, the 2000s were all repainted in the red, white and blue Spirit of Chicago scheme. As adapted to the 2000s, it was a modified version of the scheme the 2600-series cars were delivered in beginning in 1981, with platinum/silver mist and a charcoal band through the windows (just as they had been repainted in 1972) and a narrower red, white and blue belt rail stripe, but with the large panels of red and blue on the end cap, as the 2000s pioneered in the Bicentennial scheme (and later picked up by the 2400-series cars a few years later). The 2000-series cars kept this scheme for the rest of their operational life.

Retirement

The basic design of the 2000s would be retained for the next thirty years with modest, evolutionary changes being integrated into each succeeding series in the High-Performance Family (which culminated with the 3200-series in 1991-94). Interestingly, the 2000-series had a shorter service life than any other "L" car series in history. Their retirement came earlier than some older 6000- and 1-50 series cars because aspects of their technology presented both operational and maintenance problems in the long-term, which discouraged their use in work service. But, they did achieve a respectable 29 years of transit service. By the beginning of 1994, all the 2000s had been scrapped or otherwise retired from service, about the same time the last of the new 3200-series cars were put into service.

In-Service, Rehab and Disposition Dates

When the 2000s were retired en masse, the cars were scrapped by William Lans Sons Co. of South Beloit, IL. Some cars that were retired earlier were scrapped by Pielet Bros. of Summit, IL, or by CTA at Skokie Shops.

Notes on the chart below: "Date Delivered" is the first working day when the car was at Skokie Shops, having arrived via flat car. "Date Released" is when the Transportation Department was notified to move the two-car unit to its route for terminal inspection after all departments at Skokie Shops had completed the new-car inspection. Payment to Pullman-Standard was based on this date. "Date in Service" was the first day the car carried revenue passengers. And "Date Left CTA" was the date the car was removed from CTA property, whether bound to a scrapper, museum or elsewhere. The majority of information in this chart came from "The 2000 Tale" from the Winter 1995-96 issue of First & Fastest; thanks to Glenn M. Andersen, Roy G. Benedict, Walter R. Keevil, George Krambles, Andris Kristopans and Art Peterson, who contributed to that article.

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