Trainspotting Part 2: Metro No. 4001

Wehey!  Just found this picture and text from the Tyne & Wear Archive & Museum's Flikr account:

"Prototype Metro Cars - Birmingham Factory 

This photograph shows a prototype rail car being constructed at a Birmingham Factory at some time in 1975.

The photograph is taken from a collection of black and white contact prints documenting the development of the whole of the Metro System in Tyne and Wear.

The images are taken from the Mott, Hay and Anderson Collection, consulting civil engineers responsible for the Tyneside Metro light rail system and the Tyne pedestrian, cyclist and vehicular tunnels.

Most of the photographs were taken by Amber Film Associates and Lambton Visual Aids, 5 and 9 The Side, Newcastle."

https://www.flickr.com/photos/twm_news/8692558512/in/set-72157633362537279/

Trainspotting: Metro No. 4001 still in service

I would recognise that dirty battered livery anywhere, and the old Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority logo is a dead giveaway. I'm waiting at Monument Metro station in the centre of Newcatle, for the first time in a long time, counting down the Metro-time minutes till my train arrives. Metro-Time (the displayed minutes between trains) feels like the ratio of dog years to human years .  A metro pulls into the station and I look up to see if it's mine; it's not, but a cursory glance at the rear carriage in the set (yes, the metro comprises two carriages known as a set) and I get an immediate sense of familiarity and recognition, a certain frisson perhaps.

I checked the number on the side of the carriage, just to be sure, even though deep on my heart I didn't need to. It was indeed the 4001. One of the first metro carriages if not the first one in operation. 35 year old and still going strong. Woohoo!  I was slightly taken aback that I knew this fact and recognised the train, but disturbed at the obvious pleasure it brought me - it was like seeing an old friend. It cheered me up. I think I must be a closet train spotter. Such a perfect day!