#3584
1–50 series (CTA)
🇺🇸 United States ·built by St. Louis Car Company· from 1961· class of Chicago Transit Authority cars
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. HCRY-Chicago-48: DavidArthur· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. CTACAR1: TriStateGuy· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The 1–50 series was a series of Chicago "L" cars built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1959 and 1960. Unlike cars in the similar 6000 series, which were designed for married pair operation, the 1–50 series cars were double-ended to facilitate single car operation.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 65 years ago, in 1961.
- Weighs about as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 14.6 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 39 years (1959–1998).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1961
- in service from
- 1959
- retired
- 1998
- status
- retired
- number built
- 50
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- St. Louis Car Company
- operators
- Chicago Transit Authority
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- 164 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- Overhead line or third rail
- length
- 14.6 m
- weight
- 22.6 t
- capacity
- 46 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4545748, Wikipedia: 1–50 series (CTA) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.