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Gallery Car

Bilevel passenger railcar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gallery Car
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The Gallery Car is a bilevel rail car, originally created by the Pullman Company as the Pullman Gallery Car. It has had five total different manufacturers since its creation, including Budd, St. Louis Car Company, Amerail, Nippon Sharyo and Canadian Vickers. These double-decker passenger cars were built by Pullman-Standard during the 1950s to 1970s for various passenger rail operators in the United States.

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The car is designed with the first floor at what would normally be considered "high platform" level, and originally featured bench seating. The second level is actually four separate balconies with single seating that are accessed by four spiral staircases in the central vestibule. The space between the balconies is left open to allow conductors to check tickets without going upstairs. The doors are located in the middle of the car along with a bathroom.

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Design

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Railcar

The Gallery Car is made of the usual stainless steel and is a bilevel, however there is a drop down in the middle to the first floor. This choice was made in particular to allow conductors to make a single pass through the car to collect passenger fares instead of having to go to each floor.[1]

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A Caltrain Bike Car, also showing the dropdown in the middle of the second floor

The car height is near the same as a Superliner (16' 2"), being only approximately four inches shorter, at 15' ~10".[2] The height isn't the same across the brands, such as when comparing a Budd to an Amerail.[3][4][5]

BNSF have their own versions of Budd's design, with differently designed trucks and differences on the outer body, along with text over the doors such as "BURLINGTON" or "BNSF RAILWAY".[6][7]

The windows are not the same across the brands either (with designs building on each other):

  • The Pullman have short-heighted chamfered windows.
  • The Budds/Canadian Vickers shorten them horizontally and round them off.
  • The BNSF Budds are a mix of the previous two, not shortened but rounded off.
  • The Amerails increase them in size vertically.
  • The Nippon Sharyos again increase them in size, making them the largest ones.

Highliner II

An electric multiple unit (EMU) variant of the railcar has been produced by Nippon Sharyo, of which only Metra and the NICTD South Shore Line own and operate. They operate on overhead wires, and only have cab car variants, with each set containing two.[8]

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History

The Gallery Car was constructed originally by Pullman and Budd in between the 1950s-70's, as 4 different models: The 7006A, 7600,[9] 8700,[9] and the Town Cars. The 8700 Series introduced the cab cars, with CN&W being the first customers for it.

As Pullman went bankrupt, other companies began to manufacture the railcar, those mainly being Amerail and Nippon Sharyo.[2] Nippon Sharyo is currently the only manufacturer left as all of its other manufacturers no longer exist.

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Models

There were four types, excluding the Highliner EMUs::[10][11]

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Operators

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Current owners

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† Eight cars ordered in February 2012 with options for 42 more.[21] As of 2018, 21 further cars had been procured from these options.[20]

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EMU current owners

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Metra Highliner IIs, with the retired original Highliners in the background
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Preserved cars

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Future

Eventually this railcar will be phased out. Two large passenger railroads are getting new equipment to phase out the cars, with Metra and Virginia Railway Express purchasing custom Coradia Bi-Levels from Alstom,[26][27] and Caltrain getting Stadler KISS EMUs from Stadler Rail,[28] to become fully electrified.

See also

References

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