The 2400-series was a series of
Chicago "L"
The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated railway, 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 four ...
cars built between 1976 and 1978 by
Boeing-Vertol of
Ridley Park, Pennsylvania
Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,002 at the 2010 census. Ridley Park is the home of Boeing's CH-47 Chinook helicopter division.
History
Native American
The Lenape inhabited the ...
, with shells fabricated by
Sorefame
Sorefame (an abbreviation of ''Sociedades Reunidas de Fabricações Metálicas'', meaning ''"Reunited Society of Metalwork Fabrications")'' was a Portugal, Portuguese manufacturer of railway rolling stock and industrial equipment, such as dam gat ...
. 200 cars were built (numbered 2401–2600) and on October 31, 2014, the series was retired from revenue service. These cars were in service for 38 years.
History
The 2400-series is the third of five series of Chicago "L" cars known as the High Performance Family. These cars were the first "L" cars built since the
4000 series
The 4000 series is a CMOS logic family of integrated circuits (ICs) first introduced in 1968 by RCA. It was slowly migrated into the 4000B buffered series after about 1975. It had a much wider supply voltage range than any contemporary logic fami ...
of 1914 to feature sliding doors rather than the folding blinker doors featured on the other cars that were in service at the time, with wider doorways allowing the cars to accommodate wheelchair users. The 2400-series cars featured smooth steel exteriors as opposed to the corrugated exteriors of the
previous series, as well as all-fiberglass end bonnets as opposed to the stainless steel end bonnets with fiberglass window/headlight masks found on the previous series cars.
As delivered, the cars featured a red, white and blue color scheme on the front and rear of the cars, as well as stripes along the sides. Cars 2401–2422 were later modified to be used for work service as well as revenue passenger service and given red and white striping along their sides as well as on the front and rear of the cars. The cars were rehabbed at the Skokie Shops in
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a Village (United States), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's dow ...
from 1987 until 1995. These work motor units remained active until at most July 2022.
Beginning in fall 2003, the red, white and blue colors on the ends and sides of the 2400-series cars were removed, giving the cars an unpainted steel appearance similar to the rest of the "L" fleet. This was done so as to give a more unified appearance, as well as to reduce maintenance costs. The work cars retained the red and white striping on their ends, but the stripes on their sides were removed.
Operation
In the 1990s, the 2400-series cars were used on the Red Line in mixed consists with unrehabbed 2600-series cars. While the 2600-series cars were being rebuilt, the 2400-series cars were used temporarily on the Red Line. These cars were used again on the Red Line from 2012 to 2013. From the reopening of the
Green Line on May 12, 1996 until mid-May 2013, these cars were assigned to the Green Line and they were replaced by the
5000-series cars. Until late May 2014, these cars were also assigned to the
Purple Line; for the entire 2000s and early 2010s, the Purple Line fleet consisted entirely, or nearly entirely of these cars. The Purple Line fleet of 2400-series cars were retired in May 2014 and have been replaced by the
2600-series cars which were transferred from the
Red Line as more
5000-series cars were assigned to that line and since April 2014, several 5000-series cars have been assigned to the Purple Line as well. From November 8, 2012 until retirement on October 31, 2014, some of these cars were also assigned to the
Orange Line. During the morning rush hour on October 31, 2014, the 2400-series operated its last revenue run on the Orange Line. The Orange Line cars have been replaced by the 2600-series cars until the Red and Purple Lines are fully equipped with the 5000-series cars. However, as of November 2015, the assignment of 2600-series cars to the Orange Line is now permanent until the delivery of the future
7000-series cars, since all 5000-series cars have been delivered with all cars fully assigned to all lines except for the
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
** Orange juice
*Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
,
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
, and
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
Lines.
These cars were used for the Lake/Dan Ryan, West-Northwest, Ravenswood and Howard/Englewood routes.
Retirement
Retirement of the 2400-series cars began in 2013, after the retirement of the
2200-series cars and was completed in October 2014, 194 of the 200 cars built remained in service into the 21st century.
In addition, 24 cars were modified to continue life as nonrevenue maintenance vehicles until 2023.
A majority of the cars have been scrapped, however, some have been preserved. Preserved cars include:
* 2433-2434, preserved at the
Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago.
Overview
...
in
Union, Illinois
Union is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 551 at the 2020 census.
History
A post office called Union has been in operation since 1852. The village was named for the federal union of the United States.
...
.
* 2455-2456, 2489-2490, 2537-2538, 2543-2544, used for the ceremonial last trip of the 2400-series cars on January 21, 2015, and now for current CTA fantrips.
* 2491, converted to an art exhibit at Wynwood Walls in the
Wynwood Art District
The Wynwood Art District is a district of the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, Florida. It is home to over 10 galleries, museums and collections and is known for its street art. It is roughly bounded by North 36th Street (U.S. Route 27 in Florida, ...
.
* 2503, used for training at the
Muscatatuck Urban Training Center
Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC) is a 1,000 acre urban training facility located near Butlerville, Indiana. MUTC is used to train civilian first responders, Foreign Service Institute, joint civilian/military response operations, and milit ...
.
* 2541, converted to a lounge in an apartment building.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:2400 series Chicago L
Chicago "L" rolling stock
Electric multiple units of the United States
Train-related introductions in 1976
Railway services discontinued in 2014