On New Jersey Transit’s Morris-Essex line, we have four basic types of passenger rail cars. They all look pretty much the same from the outside, so here’s an inside look!
Firstly, and featured above, is the top level of one of the double-decker Bombardier Multilevel Coaches. It’s pretty much the newest thing on NJTransit lines! There is bench-style seating in the vestibules between cars—especially useful if you can’t go up or down stairs.
Next, above, we have the oldest of the bunch. (I’m not going in any perceptible order.) These shoddy old poorly-lit brown cars are Arrow IIIs! They were originally built in 1978, but near the doors, there’s a little plate that says “1994″ (or thereabouts), because that’s when they were rebuilt. Many/most of the Hoboken-Gladstone trains are Arrow IIIs.
The next two images are cheats; the first photo was taken a few years ago, on the North Jersey Coast line, and the second photo is from Wikipedia.
Much of the fleet is comprised of various models of Comets. They all look pretty much the same, until you start looking for a center door or a lavatory, and realize THERE ISN’T ONE. I take a Comet IIM to work every morning (and usually home, too. The same exact train! Car 5321, BOTH WAYS! How weird is that?) Comet IIs were built around 1983 but rebuilt to look new and shiny around the turn of the century.
Finally, we have the Comet Vs, which are very different from the other Comets. They’ve got maroon seats! On the Morris-Essex line, they’re usually mixed in with other blue-seated Comets. I haven’t been in one in YEARS. Photo credit NHRHS2010.
This concludes our insider tour of train interiors. Was it exciting for you? All this talk of blue seats, brown seats, and maroon seats? I sure hope so.
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