Known originally as the Bluebirds because of their original blue, white, and gold paint, but were dubbed Redbirds by some, once the fleet was repainted in the early 1980's, here is view inside a cavernous 01400 car.

As past articles have stated, the budget ax swung hard when these cars were built in the early 1960's. Originally to be built with such amenities as fluorescent lights, air conditioning, and comfy cushioned seats. Well, that happened on the next set of cars built for the Red Line, the 01500's and 01600's. Comparing the Bluebirds to their more comfortable contemporaries of the day, such as the 01100 Orange Line 1957 and 1951 Blue Line Type 3 cars, both had similar interiors, though quieter and with cushioned seats. The 01400 fleet offered up riders hard and short plastic seats, and these cars were both loud and harsh riding! Imagine the ride from Braintree to Pahhhk Street in one of these. I well remember riding these cars from Boston to Harvard Square! The big advantage was lots of people can be packed into these cars with four doors on each side. Also by looking at the insides, it is very bright and inviting, unlike the drab generic looking interiors of some of today's subway cars.

These commodious 01400 cars served Red Line riders from 1963 to 1994. As you can see a lot of time was spent, not only getting these cars operational, but applying generous amounts of elbow grease to make this interior shine !!

It was a wonderful sight to see these cars back in operation !

This was inside the spotless interior of car 01450 before it's first run to the public !

Unknown photographer October 7, 2017.
Added to the photo archive by Jay Gadon, October 10, 2017.
Railroad: Seashore Trolley Museum.

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