For whoever is interested in this incident or the LRVs in general, this is for you. Most, if not everyone, knows that in 2014, DART had a serious accident with a train hitting an 18 wheeler in Farmers Branch. But there is a lot of "lore" that hasn't been discussed or is simply unknown beyond the incident itself. So, that's what I'm gonna tell about in this post.
On May 15, 2014, a southbound Green Line train consisting of 1999 SLRV #157 and 1996 SLRV #117 was operating as usual. After departing Farmers Branch Station, the train began operating towards the Royal Lane Station; however at the I-35/LBJ Fwy Service Road grade crossing a semi truck hauling an empty flatbed trailer was attempting to cross. The truck presumably tried to beat the train, but due to the train's speed and distance from the crossing a collision was unavoidable. Consequently, at 40 miles per hour, LRV 157 collided with the trailer which immediately took down infrastructure like a traffic light, a pole, and the collision also pushed the trailer into a bridge support column and wrapped it around that column. The collision caused a few injuries, pinned the train operator between their seat and the cab console, and derailed the lead truck of LRV 157.
157 sustained severe damage while 117 sustained a level of considerable damage (mainly cracked windows throughout the entire LRV). The train was taken to the NWROF yard and an investigation was likely launched. 117 was presumably repaired but 157 remained sitting on chocks at the side of NWROF adjacent to Abernathy Rd (aka the opposite side of the yard from the Green Line tracks). While 157's damage was severe (significantly bent frame, shattered windows, etc) DART was still ordered to rebuild the LRV, apparently because the vehicle was purchased with gov funding. So, 157 was eventually loaded onto roughly four different trailers (three for the A, B, C sections and one for the trucks) and taken to another state for a full rebuild. 5 - 6 years later in 2019 or 2020, 157 returned to DART for what was probably supposed to be final assembly. It was delivered to the CROF yard, I believe on a flatcar delivered by DGNO.
However instead of final assembly and coming back into service by the first (or even second) half of the new decade, the LRV instead remained out of service with not only electrical issues, but the frame was also still bent. Despite that, DART still gave it a brand new pantograph, LED destination signs, and it was constantly in and out of the shop for attempted repairs. But ultimately it just didn't work out, and sometime in 2023 157 was decommissioned before being thrown in the lower tracks at CROF (the place where they store all the bad cars, including 102, 177, etc) and remains there to this day, never to operate again. It no longer has a pantograph, and it is completely disabled. It was even vandalized with graffiti at one point. Ultimately, 157 is now just another junked LRV on the list for scrap, and once again its frame is still bent. If it isn't obvious already, it will never run again.
The pictures I have here (if they show) are of course not mine except for the one labeled "October 8, 2022". 2022 was the period that it was constantly in and out of the shop, got some repairs done but never hit the mainline.