The Metroliner After Life. When the Pennsylvania Railroad ordered 61 Metroliner Electric MU cars from Budd in 1966, it likely could not have been imagined that 57 years later that they would still be running. The cars ran with limited success after initial delivery of cars in 1969, but a significant rebuild just a few year later improved reliability. The EMU concept fell out of favor as Amtrak opted to instead purchase AmFleet cars and AEM-7s. The Metroliners were retired, and some converted to non-powered cab cars by Amtrak still operate in Keystone and Springfield Line service. Within 12 hours on March 2-3, 2023, it was possible to see the two operable cars that are no longer in regular passenger service within just a few miles of each other. Amtrak 9800 (Metroliner/First Class Conference Car) operates in charter service or special moves while U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration DOTX 216 performs track inspections.

Metroliner By The Semaphore. On March 2, 2023, U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration DOTX 216 was being switched out by the Morristown & Erie Railway in Whippany, New Jersey while visiting for mechanical work. This car, built by Budd in 1967 as Penn Central 803, was later converted to Amtrak 9642. The DOT states that "supplement track geometry inspections performed by the Office of Safety cars". In the background sits former Central Railroad of New Jersey "NE" caboose CNJ 91529. The caboose would survive on the active roster until 1985 and came to Whippany in 1986. It was restored and today is part of the Whippany Railway Museum's caboose hop trains. The semaphore is a transplant by the museum from the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad.