Wahsington DC Metro

Hi emtp53,

 

Walthers produced DC's Metro cars in HO. According to this link Cappelli Hobbies in Philly may have these hard to get cars. Good luck. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di149nfO7LI

If you prefer O-scale, an outfit called US Toy Train Company came out with a three-rail version of the Metro decades ago.  It's hard to find and somewhat toylike in appearance but it's clearly recognizable and the end caps really aren't too bad.  Good luck.

No one has done the (hellish) WMATA trains. I personally doubt they will. The shape of the trains is unique to Washington. If they wanted to be prototypical, they might as well produce a dummy version that doesn't work. It'd be just like the real one......

Sjc I thought the wmata cars are similar to Baltimore, Atlanta, and Miami?

They are very similar.

 

For the original poster, besides the suggestions above perhaps another route would be to find suitably generic subway cars and have a custom painter paint them in Metro livery?  

Atlanta is somewhat close but Baltimore and Miami are no where close. The cars in Washington are angled in the middle...something unique to those cars. 

Not true the San Francisco BART is the same but for the car ends.  As said above USTTC did make DC Metro as well as BART sets in toy train O scale. I have a BART set as well as some NOS undecorated extruded aluminum shells. 

 

Next time you are in the DC Metro look at the cars builders plate. Some of the cars were made by the same co. that made Farraris so they have the horse symbol. My dad rode these cars to work and liked pointing out that he was commuting in a Farrari.

The Breda's are the ones built in Italy...total junk is what they are. Constant breakdowns. WMATA is looking forward to replacing them (and the 1000s) with the brand new 7000s set to go into service early next year. I've seen them a few times on test trials and they are impressive. I commute daily on WMATA and despise it, the trains, and overall system more and more each day. 

SJC,

Not sure how old you are or how long you have been commuting on Metro.  The system is basically a very good system, limited by its two track configuration due to cost, and run down a bit by years of incompetence and poor financial management.  We used to come to DC over winter break when I was a kid in the 80s -- my parents used it as an opportunity to take us to all the Smithsonian museums, not just Air & Space and the ones the kids always like -- and we rode Metro and it was a pleasure.  When I moved to this area over a decade ago the system was a complete mess -- the first Red Line trip I took to work the train was evacuated because of a traction motor fire.  Now, in the last few years they are trying to rebuild the system and the service is getting better but it is a big system to rebuild and catch up on after years of neglect.  I don't mean this as an insult, but you strike me as a young guy and it is important for young people to not just throw their hands up in the air (although it is understandable here sometimes) and to stay involved and hold officials' feet to the fire with respect to issues such as this one.  I have found that is a far more productive outlet for reasonable and understandable frustration and sometimes is actually productive in terms of bringing about improvements.  WMATA needs to be held accountable for service (talking to local county and state elected representatives is the most effective option in my experience), and as many DC area residents as possible need to pitch in to do this.  Direct your ire there, not here.  Here the poster is looking for a train for his son.  Take care, stay safe.

 

I've been commuting via Metro for now 10 years. In theory, my trip should take about 35 minutes. I can count on one hand the amount of times it actually has. The problem for me, and most people since ridership has declined is the fact that service continues to get worse and fares continue to go up! And I remember the "good old days" when you were pretty much guaranteed to have an uneventful trip. Always some sort of track, signal, train, etc problem. Local officials are aware of it but you only really hear about their concerns when there is a major meltdown. Major trackwork goes on, effectively shutting the system down on weekends but after years of this, no visible improvements in service or quality of ride, etc  can be found. For example, this week, the train I was on rolled up to the platform with the operator reading the newspaper (seriously!). I jotted down the car number and called it in. The WMATA official simply responded, in a typical fashion, "So?, What do you want me to do about it"? 

 

Another thing to consider - 2 weeks commuting via Metro costs me $200 and I'm pretty much guaranteed to be late at least twice. 2 weeks commuting via my personal car - 1 & 1/2 tanks of gas at about $60, I can leave later, never been late, get free parking downtown, don't have to listen to someone else's music, etc, etc, etc. The list goes on and its a no brainer why I and thousands prefer to drive. 

 

Just the way I see it.....

  The first WMATA Metro cars were delivered in 1976 by the Rohr Corpoartion and were the only Metro cars actually manufactured in the USA.  These cars are in the 1000 series, and are slated to be retired when newer cars arrive.   All subsequent Metro cars were manufactured by Breda, an Italian firm.   I remember seeing the words Breda Construzione Ferrovierri(?)on plaques in the cars.   The ends on the Breda cars are more squared off; the Rohr cars had more rounded lines.   

 

   It's been years since I've ridden the DC Metro, but I thought my riding experiences were OK.  I did notice that the interiors on the Rohr cars had been updated more along the lines of the Breda cars.

 

   There's also a couple of books about the DC Metro.  One book was published by Quadrant Press back in the early 90s.  A more recent book is titled "Great Society Subway".