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| Re: MIAMI BUDDS RETIRED (Kind of); Spectrum News does story on R32 subway cars (1578622) | |||
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Re: MIAMI BUDDS RETIRED (Kind of); Spectrum News does story on R32 subway cars |
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Posted by R46 5636 on Sun Jun 20 12:49:02 2021, in response to Re: MIAMI BUDDS RETIRED (Kind of); Spectrum News does story on R32 subway cars, posted by Avid Reader on Sat Jun 19 13:51:00 2021. Great pictures especially the last photo! I always appreciate seeing those Miami Budds in their original livery. (Yes I clearly see the respective photo copyrights).I hope a few of these cars are preserved somehow. I did hear of four cars possibly being sent to a railroad museum somewhere in Florida but I'm not sure of the details and it seems there's no moves being made to make that happen so far. Presumably the biggest issue with keeping the Miami Budd cars in service is the fact that parts for these trains haven't been manufactured in many years and basically up until the end some sets were being cannibalized just to keep the others running. Had parts for these trains been continuously readily available there's a chance they may have been rebuilt and still be in service today. The Hitachi order was basically a decision made because it would have cost more to retrofit and rebuilt the Budd cars rather than just order new trains, which they did and we have today. There were several plans over the years to retrofit and upgrade the cars, each time plans falling through. The most notable was a planned slanted front retrofit inspired by the R40 Slant design. There was an order of Budd cars built for another country that had a slanted front end and presumably it would have looked similar to that. This was planned in the 90's and of course it was one of several that never happened and throughout their entire life they never received a general overhaul. The only things that have changed on those trains since day one is the livery on the outside and door chime, that's about it. I hope MDT sees enough value to run a Legacy train retirement ceremony one day, similar to what PATCO did on 6/10/18 for the final run of their unrebuilt Budds & Vickers before retrofit. |
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