1–50 Series (CTA)

The 1–50 series was a series of Chicago "L" cars built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1959 and 1960. Unlike cars in the similar 6000 series, which were designed for married pair 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 (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 on the high speed Skokie Swift 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 poles for use on the Evanston line. The line was converted to third rail 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 routes. They were usually used as two car sets trained with 6000 series cars.

Preservation

A lot of 1–50, and all of the 61–65 cars were scrapped by the CTA and various other scrap companies. Fortunately, a handful of 1–50 cars survive today in a number of museums in the United States, as well as one in Canada.

Surviving cars include:

1, the first car in the series, is at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.

22, is at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.

30, is at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.

41, is at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.

40, is at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Illinois.

43, is at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Illinois.

45, is at the Fox River Trolley Museum in South Elgin, Illinois.

44, is at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.

48, is at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum in Ontario, Canada.

See also

* Chicago "L"
* 5000 series Chicago "L" cars
* PCC streetcar

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:1-50 series Chicago L
Chicago "L" rolling stock
Train-related introductions in 1961
St. Louis multiple units
PCC rapid transit cars