A Slice of Chicago in Texas: A History of the Metra Highliner Cars 

A most interesting video and I'd love to see more. I did miss that you didn't mention that one of the more interesting effects of the 1926 electrification, the ability of the Chicago, South Bend, and South Shore to run all the way into Randolph St. station instead of have to transfer passengers where the two railroads meet on the south side of Chicago. The successor to the South Shore, the NICTD, continues this operation today.

I rode the Highliners when they were brand new in 1971. They were sleek. They were fast. They were definitely a "novelty" because they were the first and only electric (self-propelled) bilevel or gallery cars in that region of the country. And they were air conditioned; a welcomed amenity for IC commuters. The Highliners were also fitted with trucks that were very similar to those used on the "then-new" Budd Metroliners that were placed into service for the Northeast Corridor. The Highliner wheel sets also used secondary air suspension. But as nice as these cars were, they definitely had two major flaws: Their pneumatic-hydraulic brakes and their comparatively lightweight construction and material. The Highliners weighed in at @140,000 lbs. as compared to one of the 1926 Pullman-Green motorized electric units which weighed in at @141,200 lbs.. And this despite the fact that the Highliner car was much longer, wider and taller than the 1926 heavyweights. It was this light weight and comparatively paper-thin construction that contributed to the human carnage of the IC train collision on October 30, 1972.

Very well done! I live just west of Chicago and have ridden the Highliners. I really appreciate you taking the time to put together such a detailed documentary. For those who would like an opportunity to ride the Highliners, the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, acquired a set of them and occasionally operates them on weekends. Hopefully those last few will continue to operate for years to come…

Well done! I grew up in Matteson and fondly remember these cars. I'm happy that some have been preserved and are being put to good use educating the next generation. There's pretty good chance I've ridden one or more of the cars in your collection!

You should talk about Metra's budd cars

I've seen a pair of these cars in Boone, Iowa in 2008 as well as some still in service on Metra electric in 2014. The Illinois Railway museum also now owns a pair You guys should repaint two of them into the RTA orange, and two of the classroom cars in a unique livery.

as a 32 year old, i used to ride the train from my home at the southern point to downtown chicago and take the bus to navy pier. great memories

I lived a stone's throw from the IC practically all my life. One thing she failed to mention was that the new Highliner 2 cars had a feature the original Highliner 1s lacked, and that was lavatories.

It should be noted that the HIghliners are not the first time St. Louis Car has been involved in Chicago transit, they built the North Shore Electroliners, the only electric-powered streamliners produced.

This was a very well done video, and loved all the history. I was only on one once, as I lived off of the UP West line, but you could never miss them when walking around south Michigan Ave. Interestingly METRA just placed an order for 500 Alstom cars that look similar to the Highliner.

I grew up on Chicago's Southeast Side seeing these cars in service on a regular basis throughout my childhood. So happy to see your organization save a handfull these cars! Greetings from the Windy City!

I'm always glad to hear where former Metra Cars end up at! specially the Texas weather will prove beneficial in the longer life of the car body!

love the history of these amazing cars i never got to ride them ive seen em a few times riding the south shore line coming into millenium station then one day they were gone off that side track glad 10 found a good home :)

Since a baby I rode these trains. As excited as I was for the new cars, it was sad seeing less and less highliners come by the south Chicago branch. It brings joy to know that a number of them live on!

Very well produced. As a former Chicagoian, I enjoyed watching this. I never rode the Electric, but did used to ride the C&NW west line.

I remember growing up and taking the train down to university park to see family all the time. so many memories on these rail cars. i was given a conductors cap by a conductor that was retiring which i still have to this day, and got to go up in the cab and honk the horn going into university park. sad to see they’re gone but it’s awesome that some of them are still being preserved.

I really wish metra kept the highliners and converted them into to regular coaches that would have been cool .

Thank you for an excellent presentation, enjoyed every minute to the bell ringing end. Being a native Chicagoan now living in Texas I was very pleased at your explanation on all of the details. I have always enjoyed my numerous rides on the IC's Pullmans thru the Highliner's ending.

The highliner replacements should have been a derivative of the Sydney A/B sets ahead of an EMU derivative of the bi-level push pulls.

My favorite Metra trains

Great video, and I also love Gino’s East pizza, highly recommend it.

This is awesome! I grew up with the IC and Metra and thank you for posting this!

Auto-generated subtitles be like "icees mainline" P.S. This video was recommended right under a video talking about Metra ordering brand new cars that are not of the Gallery design, based on Alstom Coradia. That's why I'm here lol

43:00 not just your cars are preserved. I am aware of 14 more that have been acquired by three other organisations

I live in South Bend, Indiana and we have one of the High Liners at our Fire Department's training facility.

A great video for all metra fans. Greetings from Zurich Switzerland

Corten steel is not noted to be a durable material for preservation.

25:17 October 30 1972

i live in the Chicago area and took ( and still do ) take the IC Metra line as many of us still call it . I have posted this on a few metra and IC related FB groups. All positive feed back from all groups

i love the highliners

First, the line that they were on went from downtown Chicago south to just outside Norte Dame university and north to just south of Milwaukee. It’s the longest line.

ME-D past name is ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD

METRAAA!!! to be specific, the Metra Electric Line.

Great work on the history of the IC and later Metra Highliner, electric, commuter cars. Thanks for sharing! One question, didn't the Chicago & North Western actually pioneer the bilevel, commuter car push/pull, concept in the Chicago area?

At 31:40 or so, the narrator says "The number of stations increased to 49". I don't remember any new stations opening at that time. Does anyone know what stations opened then? The time frame appears to be circa 1987.

Rta is the top in the chain. Pace does buses. Metra does commuter train

What sad is the decline of the south side

🥵

The ic electric were like clock work

catenary is pronounced kuh-teen-er-eey

They were well kept

Contact cera

Just like SEPTAs SilverLiner II & III there's nothing like it only difference is SEPTA on most SilverLiner II & III didn't replace the seats so we had orange & yellow seats with butt indents. Also we can design trains we just can't run them (Dearborn/Detroit still waiting on regional service)

There is two cars in Boone IA and I always wondered about their history.

I used to ride them from chicago loop to mccormick place and museum of science and industry

:D

St. Louis Car also built 10 Interurban coaches for the Chicago Aurora & Elgin Railway ordered in 1941 but not built until after WW II in 1946.