Chicago Transit Authority 45

Facts and Figures

Current Number	45
Railway Represented	Chicago Transit Authority
Builder	St. Louis Car Company
Built In	1959
Builder's order id	1804
Currently in (State)	Illinois
--(Locality)	South Elgin
Totally out of svc date	1998
(Initial retirement date)	1993
Car Type	rapid transit car
-subtype	PCC elevated car
-designation
Status	displayed inoperable
More info
Gauge	4'8.5"
Construction	aluminum/steel
Roof type	AR
Ended	DE
Length	48'0"
Width	9'4"
Height	13'2"
Weight	46000
#Seats	46
#Wheels/Conf.	8
Total HP	220
Trucks	St Louis B3
Brakes	Electric
Compressor	n/a
Control	WH XDA1G (B2A)
Motors	WH 1432LK (4)
Voltage (if not 600DC)

Car 45 on display at FRTM in 2019
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/19531332@N03/48584797002/

Car 45 on display at FRTM in 2018
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/19531332@N03/42626946174/

Car History by Frank Hicks

Chicago Transit Authority 45 Between 1950 and 1959, the CTA took delivery of 670 rapid transit cars of a type generally known as 6000's. The 6000's used modern PCC trucks and control equipment and nearly all extensively used remanufactured components from scrapped Chicago PCC streetcars, which lent them a distinctive look with their small standee windows. The first 620 cars were numbered 6001-6720 and were arranged in permanently-coupled ("married") pairs, but for the last fifty cars CTA chose a more traditional layout. The final 50 cars, numbered 1-50, were single units with an operating cab at each end and designed for one-man operation. This capacity for one-man operation suited the 1-50 series cars to more sparsely-used routes. Car 45 was assigned to the Evanston line for virtually its entire 33-years of operating on the CTA. Retired in 1993 along with the rest of its series, car 45 spent most of the next five years in storage but did see occasional service. It was acquired by ETER in 1998 when the 1-50's were put up for sale as that organization's representative 1-50 series car; later it was joined by two other cars and was painted in 1970's Mint Green and Alpine White CTA colors. The car was sold to FRTM in late 2009 and moved to South Elgin in November of that year.

Ownership History

Owner	Car Num	From	To	Preservation?	Loan?
Chicago Transit Authority (Illinois, Chicago)	45	1959	1998	NO	NO
East Troy Electric Railroad (Wisconsin, East Troy)	45	1998	2009	YES	NO
Fox River Trolley Museum (Illinois, South Elgin)	45	2009	present	YES	NO

Additional Media

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Walkaround tour of car 45 from 2017
YouTube
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioUMjbhaMrE