Gallery Car
Metra Gallery Cars, Captured from Canal St. in Chicago
Manufacturer	Pullman Company,Budd Company,Amerail,Canadian Vickers andNippon Sharyo
Constructed	1950s-present
Entered service	1950-present
Capacity	153-161
Specifications
Car body construction	LAHT steel body on a steel frame
Car length	85 feet (26 m)
Entry	Step
Doors	1 per side
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge

TheGallery Car is abilevel rail car, originally created by thePullman Company as thePullman Gallery Car. It has had five total different manufacturers since its creation, includingBudd,St. Louis Car Company,Amerail,Nippon Sharyo andCanadian Vickers. Thesedouble-deckerpassenger car were built byPullman-Standard during the 1950s to 1970s for various passenger rail operators in the United States.

The car's upper level was accessed by four sets of stairs in the middle vestibule. A narrow walkway with handrail and middle sections open looking below. Passengers disembarked from stairs from the vestibule on both sides. The original bench seating on the lower level was often upgraded to individual seats during rebuilds by operators. The 8700 series cars feature a control cab; this is not found in the 7600 series cars.

The Gallery Car is made of the usual stainless steel and is a bilevel, however there is a drop down in the middle to the first floor. This choice was made in particular to allow conductors to make a single pass through the car to collect passenger fares instead of having to go to each floor.^[1]

The car height is near the same as aSuperliner (16' 2"), being only approximately four inches shorter, at 15' ~10".^[2] The height isn't the same across the brands, such as when comparing a Budd to an Amerail.^[3][4][5]

BNSF have their own versions of Budd's design, with differently designed trucks and differences on the outer body, along with text over the doors such as "BURLINGTON" or "BNSF RAILWAY".^[6][7]

The windows are not the same across the brands either (with designs building on each other):

• ThePullman have short-heighted chamfered windows.
• TheBudds/Canadian Vickers shorten them horizontally and round them off.
• TheBNSFBudds are a mix of the previous two, not shortened but rounded off.
• TheAmerails increase them in size vertically.
• TheNippon Sharyos again increase them in size, making them the largest ones.

Anelectric multiple unit (EMU) variant of the railcar has been produced byNippon Sharyo, of which onlyMetra and theNICTD South Shore Line own and operate. They operate on overhead wires, and only have cab car variants, with each set containing two.^[8]

The Gallery Car was constructed originally by Pullman and Budd in between the 1950s-70's, as 4 different models: The 7006A, 7600,^[9] 8700,^[9] and the Town Cars. The 8700 Series introduced the cab cars, with CN&W being the first customers for it.

AsPullman went bankrupt, other companies began to manufacture the railcar, those mainly beingAmerail andNippon Sharyo.^[2] Nippon Sharyo is currently the only manufacturer left as all of its other manufacturers no longer exist.

There were four types:^[10][11]

• AMT -Canadian Vickers-built gallery cars (all retired)
• Amtrak: Acquired twelve cars from theChicago and North Western Railway in the 1970s; ten coaches and food-service cars. Amtrak converted four of coaches intocontrol cars in 1981–1982. All twelve were off the roster by 1994.^[13]: 192
• Burlington Northern and Santa Fe - acquired the six Transcisco Tours gallery cars and converted them to be used as business cars (BNSF #40–45); two were later converted to track geometry cars.
• Canadian Pacific Railway - Montreal passenger routes and cars transferred to STCUM, and then to AMT (all retired)
• Chicago and North Western - sold cars to Metra and Amtrak
• Foxville and Northern - shortline operator in North Carolina. Owns 7 former VRE cars. Leased to other operations for various events.
• Metra
• WeGo Star - acquired seven Metra gallery cars.
• Southern Pacific -Peninsula Commute, thenCaltrain. Operated 46 gallery cars (SP 3700–3745) until 1985. Sold to Tour Alaska in 1986. Colorado Railcar converted four (SP 3734, 3740, 3744, 3745) into "Ultra Dome" cars at Tillamook, Oregon.^[14][15][16] Six sold to Transcisco Tours (SP 3700–3703; 3707, 3708), subsequently acquired by BNSF.
• Transcisco Tours - acquired six from SP and converted them for tour use (#800532–800537).^[17]
• Utah Transit AuthorityFrontRunner - for parts
• Virginia Railway Express - Operated 50 ex-Metra gallery cars from 2001 until replacement by newNippon Sharyo gallery cars from 2006 to 2017.^[18]
• GO Transit - borrowed bothCP Rail andChicago and North Western cars for trial runs in 1976.
• MARC Train - Acquired 12 Ex-Metra gallery bilevel coaches, often used on the Brunswick Line; replaced by Bombardier MARC IV in early 2015 and returned to Metra.^[19]

† Eight cars ordered in February 2012 with options for 42 more.^[21] As of 2018, 21 further cars had been procured from these options.^[20]

• Three cars, two coaches and a cab car, are preserved at theIllinois Railway Museum. Others serve onheritage railroads like theNorth Shore Scenic Railroad, which has 3, all of which are in the originalC&NW paint scheme. Numerous others survive, but are still in operation on railroads likeMetra.
• Ex-Agence metropolitaine de transport gallery cab coach number 901 is on display at theCanadian Railway Museum inSaint-Constant, Quebec.^[23]
• TheGold Coast Railroad Museum homes 4 Coaches and 2 Cab Control cars, which are used on their bigger, more popular trains.
• Ex-Metra cab car 8758 is stored at thePacific Southwest Railway Museum inCampo, California, withCZRYreporting marks.^[24]
• TheBaja California Railroad also makes use of some gallery cars on theTijuana-Tecate Tourist Train.^[25]

Eventually this railcar will be phased out. Two large passenger railroads are getting new equipment to phase out the cars, with Metra and Virginia Railway Express purchasing customCoradia Bi-Levels fromAlstom,^[26][27] and Caltrain gettingStadler KISS EMUs fromStadler Rail,^[28] to become fully electrified.

• 
  AMetra Train, with the closest two cars beingBudd, the second from the rear beingNippon Sharyo, and the rearmost car beingAmerail.
• 
  ACaltrain Train, All of them beingNippon Sharyo.
• 
  The Upper Level of a Gallery Car. Usually, there is a Rack in the Dropdown for Baggage.
• 
  Metra Cab Car No. 8473 having its plow cut off after theClarendon Hills crash.
• 
  Virginia Railway Express #V425. Originally in service with the C&NW

• Bombardier Bi-Level Coach
• Hi-Level

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