CTA riders may encounter a throwback to the 1970s during their commute on Wednesday, January 21, in the form of 2400-series railcars making their last run before retirement. Two dozen of the vintage cars will make final trips on the Brown, Green and Red Lines, sporting their original red, white and blue exterior decals as well as interior advertisements from the year of cars' debut.
The 2400-series was introduced in 1976, a year when the United States celebrated its bicentennial, Jimmy Carter was elected president and the Band played its Last Waltz in San Francisco. The train cars were the first in CTA fleet to feature sliding doors and were usually found running on the Ravenswood Service (today's Brown Line), the North-South Route (the modern North Side Red Line and South Side Green Line) and the West-Northwest Route (today’s Blue Line). Most of the 2400-series cars were retired during the '90s to make way for newer additions to the fleet, but the CTA held on to some of the cars and used them as maintenance trains. The remaining cars will join the CTA's historic fleet, which is used for special events.
If you're interested in taking one last spin around the Loop on a vintage train, you can find a full schedule of the ceremonial trips on the CTA's website.