Residents of the Route 1 corridor won’t be able to ride the Purple Line just yet, but you can get a sneak peak three years early.

A model railcar for the light rail line is currently on tour and temporarily on display at the Silver Spring Library at 900 Wayne Ave. in downtown Silver Spring.

The 16-mile line will run from New Carrollton through Riverdale Park and College Park on its way to Bethesda when it’s fully open in 2023, although a section near the Route 1 corridor will start running a few months earlier.

The first thing you’ll notice if you stop by the library is how long the railcars are: 136 feet.

That’s really long. By comparison, a Metro railcar is 75 feet long. In fact, as Greater Greater Washington noted, those are the longest railcars currently in service in the United States, just beating Austin Metrorail’s 134-foot railcars.

The size is a cost-cutting move that came after Gov. Larry Hogan demanded the price come down, but it’s not entirely a bad thing.

Having one long railcar instead of two short ones coupled together boosts the number of seats; allows passengers to easily move up and down the train while it’s in motion; reduces back-ups getting on and off; and makes the train safer at times when fewer people are on board, since you’re less likely to be alone.

These kinds of trains are common in other parts of the world, but they’ve been slow to catch on in the U.S., so the Purple Line could be a trendsetter if this works out.

If you’re curious what the line itself will look like, stop by the intersection of East-West Highway and Kenilworth Avenue to see the progress on the extended Baltimore-Washington Parkway bridge that will allow the Purple Line to run beneath.