Budd SPV-2000

SPV-2000
The Federal Railroad Administration's SPV-2000 inspection car at Union Station in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1990.
Manufacturer	Budd Company
Constructed	1978–1981
Number built	31 (plus 14 unassembled shells)
Capacity	86–109
Operator(s)	Federal Railroad Administration ONCF CDOT/Amtrak MTA/Metro-North Caltrain (used as inspection cars)
Specifications
Car length	85 feet 4 inches (26.01 m)
Width	10 feet 6 inches (3.20 m)
Height	14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m)
Maximum speed	80 to 120 miles per hour (130 to 190 km/h)
Weight	127,000 pounds (58,000 kg)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Notes

The Budd SPV-2000 is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar built by the Budd Company between 1978 and 1981 for use on North American commuter railroads. The design was a successor to Budd's popular Rail Diesel Car (RDC) but based on the body of the Amfleet passenger car. It did not prove a success: Budd built 31 cars and they proved mechanically unreliable.

Budd announced the design in 1976. At the time it contemplated multiple unit operation of up to six cars with a top speed of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). Power would be provided by 360 horsepower (270 kW) General Motors diesel engines. Popular Science depicted a tapered cab similar to the power car of the Advanced Passenger Train; the SPV-2000 would enter service with a more traditional blunt-end operator's cab. Budd said that SPV stood for "Special Purpose Vehicle" (Self-Propelled Vehicle became common), and emphasized the design's suitability for both intercity and commuter rail service.

The body shell of the SPV-2000 was very similar to the Amfleet passenger coach, which in turn was based on the Metroliner electric multiple unit. The SPV-2000 featured operator cabs at both ends and (in the standard configuration) 86 seats in 22 rows. There was an accessible toilet at one end and a small space to store luggage at the other.Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) cars could seat 109.

Budd unveiled the first SPV-2000 in Philadelphia on February 9, 1978, and then sent it on a demonstration tour around the United States. Budd eventually sold SPV-2000s to four customers: the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), ONCF (Morocco state railways), the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT), and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In 1978 Los Angeles County Supervisor Baxter Ward proposed using SPV-2000s on the former Pacific Electric line to Long Beach, California, but nothing came of this proposal. The SPV-2000s were considered for a resumption of Cape Cod rail service via Braintree, Massachusetts and an SPV-2000 made a demonstration run in August 1979, but nothing came of this either. Beyond the 30 cars it sold, Budd constructed the demonstrator and 14 incomplete shells. In the early 1990s the North American Carriages Company proposed to complete some of these shells as standard passenger cars for use in a new service between San Antonio, Texas and Monterrey, Neuvo Leon, to be called the Royal Eagle, but nothing came of the proposal.