Is almost every subway or mass transit system custom made right down to the car designs? Besides D.C., Atlanta, Baltimore, and Miami does any other cities have similar mass transit cars? ( Not talking commuter rail)
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During the 1950s, the St. Louis Car Company delivered a fleet of subway cars to Boston that featured the first use of picture windows like those employed on streamlined railroad passenger cars. This design was subsequently copied in the initial order of rapid transit cars supplied to Cleveland when it opened its system in 1955. Later in the decade, a somewhat similar fleet was delivered to the Hudson and Manhattan subway system that connected Newark and New York. This order was also the first all air-conditioned subway fleet in the United States.
During the 1950s, the St. Louis Car Company delivered a fleet of subway cars to Boston that featured the first use of picture windows like those employed on streamlined railroad passenger cars. This design was subsequently copied in the initial order of rapid transit cars supplied to Cleveland when it opened its system in 1955. Later in the decade, a somewhat similar fleet was delivered to the Hudson and Manhattan subway system that connected Newark and New York. This order was also the first all air-conditioned subway fleet in the United States.
San Francisco and Boston bought Boeing streetcars on the same order in about 1970. Both systems run their streetcars in subways. There were several systems that ran PCC cars in subways. LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Newark. Shaker Heights, Dallas, maybe others.
Baltimore and Miami have nearly identical cars built as part of the same order--the two systems were built at the same time so both systems placed a joint order with Budd for economies of scale reasons. LA Metro has similar-looking cars that share propulsion equipment with DC Metro's earliest cars. For the most part all these systems (Atlanta included) only share overall dimensions and to a lesser extent, appearance.
---PCJ
Some of the rail news magazines like RAILPACE and TRAINS cover the transit industry pretty good. Their articles detail similarities of the various equipment. Seems each separate system has their own little favorite things to add. Gives them something to do.
