Chicago Transit Authority 44

Facts and Figures

Current Number	44
Railway Represented	Chicago Transit Authority
Builder	St. Louis Car Company
Built In	1959
Builder's order id	1804
Currently in (State)	Missouri
--(Locality)	Kirkwood
Totally out of svc date	1998
(Initial retirement date)	1993
Car Type	rapid transit car
-subtype	PCC elevated car
-designation
Status	operated often
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 44 in operation at NMOT in 2012
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/26329029@N06/7170134179

Car 44 in operation at NMOT in 2014
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ihbmike/15372716842/

Car History by Frank Hicks

Chicago Transit Authority 44 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 44 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 44 spent most of the next five years in storage but did see occasional service. It was acquired by MoT in 1998 and two years later became the second electric car ever to be put into operation by that museum. It now sees occasional use on MoT's short demonstration streetcar line.

Ownership History

Owner	Car Num	From	To	Preservation?	Loan?
Chicago Transit Authority (Illinois, Chicago)	44	1959	1998	NO	NO
National Museum of Transportation (Missouri, Kirkwood)	44	1998	present	YES	NO

Additional Media

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Car 44 in operation at NMOT in 2015
YouTube
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdYrD3DnGyE