General
A single car version of the post-World War II 6000 series rapid transit cars which modernized the elevated and subway service of CTA replacing the old wooden L cars. These cars use all-electric power and brake systems adapted from the streamlined PCC streetcars first developed in the late 1930’s. It seats 46 passengers and has four 55 hp 300-volt motors that operate in series pairs to handle the 600-volt DC traction power. These motors also become generators to provide electric braking, a feature of the PCC technology.
History
Car 40 and her museum sisters 43 and 45 were part of the final fifty car order of rapid transit cars based on the 6000 series rapid transit cars which were operated in married pairs after four 5000 series experimental cars of 1947 proved the all-electric control system could be used in an L car environment. The articulated design of the 5000’s turned out to not be practical, so it was not repeated. The Evanston line (the Purple Line) which was primarily a shuttle from the northside Howard Street terminal, needed a car that could be operated by one person who could also collect fares on the car and thus eliminate the need for station attendants to staff the ticket booths as at all others L stations on the rest of the system. The Evanston line was also unique in that the City of Evanston did not allow third rail power collection, so trolley wire had to be used, so a subgroup of the cars (39-50) were trolley pole equipped to cover this service. Eventually the CTA convinced the City of Evanston to change its ordinance in 1974. Those cars not having trolley poles were used primarily on the Ravenswood line (the Brown Line).
As a side note: cars 1-4 were experimental cars, although having the same body, were equipped with trucks, motors and electric control systems that tried out new concepts and were painted a special red and cream paint scheme. These four became the first cars to cover the Skokie Swift operation in 1964 (now the Yellow Line) using former Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee trackage, half of which the CTA needed to continue rail access to their Skokie Shops which was built when the North Shore and Chicago Rapid Transit were under the control of utility magnet Samuel Insull.
Narrative
When car 40 arrived at the museum it no longer had its trolley poles and was in a variation of a “Spirit of Chicago” themed silver paint scheme that was applied during a 1984 mid-life rebuilding. At first it was run with car 43 which was equipped with poles and could provide power to its pole-less mate. When the museum repainted the car in 2018, poles were returned to the roof which gives us more operational flexibility. The pair of 40 and 43 hold down many of our special event trains such as the Bunny Burrow Express, the Ghost Story Trolley, and Santa’s Trolley Express.
Author: Joseph Hazinski, Curator