The 1–50 series was a series of

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid tr ...

cars built by the

St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri. History The St. Louis Car Company ...

in 1959 and 1960. Unlike cars in the similar 6000 series, which were designed for

married pair A twin unit or twinset is a set of two railroad cars or locomotives which are permanently coupled and treated as if they were a single unit. A twinset of cars or coaches can also be called a twin car. In US passenger railroad parlance, twin un ...

operation, the 1–50 series cars were double-ended to facilitate single car operation. There was a limited need for single cars, however, so cars 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 19, 21, 23, 24, and 31 were later rebuilt as married units and were renumbered 61a/b–65a/b.

Equipment

Forty-six cars in the series were constructed with components salvaged from Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars which the

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...

(CTA) no longer needed. The majority of the 6000 series also used salvaged components. The streetcar version of the PCC trucks had resilient wheels, instead of the solid wheels intended for rapid transit use, and restricted speed to . The slower speed was adequate for most CTA needs. Replacement wheels were solid, but remained at . Cars 1–4 had high speed test equipment and wheels. In 1964 they were modified with a locally designed “pan trolley” for the

overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

on the high speed

Skokie Swift The Yellow Line, alternatively known as the Skokie Swift, is a branch of the Chicago "L" in Chicago, Illinois. The route runs from the Howard Terminal on the north side of Chicago, through the southern part of Evanston and to the Dempster Ter ...

shuttle. Later, cars 23–26 and 29–30 would also have pan trolleys, and 29–30 were also retrofitted with solid wheels for increased speed. Cars 27–28 and 39–50 had

trolley pole A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. Th ...

s for use on the Evanston line. The line was converted to

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

in 1973, and most trolley equipment was removed.

Routes

The Skokie equipped cars, with their pan trolleys, were too high to operate anywhere else on the system. Up to eight cars were used on this route. The Evanston equipped cars, with their smaller trolley poles, operated into the loop. Up to sixteen cars were used on this route. The remaining cars were used on the Ravenswood then

West-Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

routes. They were usually used as two car sets trained with 6000 series cars.

Surviving cars

Most of the 1–50 cars and all of the 61–65 cars were scrapped by the CTA. Only a handful of 1–50 cars survive today in a number of museums in the United States as well as one in Canada.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1-50 series Chicago L Chicago "L" rolling stock Train-related introductions in 1961 Railway services discontinued in 1998

Equipment

Routes

Surviving cars

See also

References

Bibliography