How many are still in service? I occasionally still see them in consists, yet are usually restricted to coaches. Do any still lead inbound trains?
Where do you go to see those?
Anyway, no–they wouldn’t be used in cab-car service any more, because they are not ADA-compliant. The cab car is one coach that you want to be wheelchair-accessible, because it’s the nearest to the gate in the Chicago terminals.
I think there’s also the matter of conformance with APTA PRESS standards and the latest FRA crashworthiness requirements that have seen the Budd cab cars superseded by the Nippon Sharyo cars on all lines. I see Budd cab cars in the middle of some Metra trains (as recently as last week), but others have obviously had the cab windows blocked over and the side marker lamps removed. Hope this helps! Art
I’ve also seen them on random consists, but always immediately behind the engine.
Concur with Carl re the ADA issue. In fact, when the Nippon Sharyo cars were beginning to come on line, they were first placed as the cab cars on all trainsets…this way, Metra could ensure at least 1 ADA-compliant (and apparently crash-compliant too, as Art mentioned) car on each train. As such, for a period of time, you’d see 1 Nippon Sharyo cab car in an otherwise all-Budd consist.
Occasionally on the Milw. Lines.