After I got my wake up call, I
headed down to the lobby for a free continental breakfast, but found it less
than decent as they only had small bagels and muffins. After breakfast, I got my
duffle bag and headed to a gas station across the street to get a carton of
milk. After that, I caught a Sun Tran bus to the Greyhound station for my day
trip to
After getting off at the downtown
terminal, I immediately noticed Toronto PCC #4608 which I was planning on
visiting the next day. I went to the Greyhound terminal and bought a round trip
ticket for the next bus to
Upon walking to the area where PCC 4608 was being stored, I was horrified to see that one side of the car had had been extensively graffitied! However the other sides had very little to no graffiti at all.
I knew that 4608 was part of Old Pueblo Trolley’s collection of historical streetcars, but at first, I could not see any streetcar tracks nearby. As I walked east, I saw that a block away there were streetcar tracks and Old Pueblo Trolley’s carbarn. I then headed back to the Greyhound station.
After getting my stuff out of the
locker, I headed to the boarding area where security was checking people with a
metal detector, which I have never seen the times I rode highway coaches in the
past. However, since buses are arriving and departing for
The bus to
Upon getting to
After I took some photos of 4607, I
decided to walk to a nearby Subway restaurant for lunch. On the way, a woman walked
up to me. She was giving me the middle finger with both her hands and she
started speaking gibberish to me! I had no idea what she was trying to say. I
think she needs psychological help. I walked a couple blocks to a Subway
restaurant for lunch which I took back with me. I took another bus back to the
Greyhound station where I discovered I had lost the combination to the locker.
I had to pay $10.00 to get my stuff. I checked the departure list for my bus
back to
After taking a few photos and
buying some snacks, my bus finally left. By now, it was after dark. Shortly
after we left, a woman realized she was on the wrong bus, as she was going to
We finally arrived into
After I got my wake up call, I
again went to the lobby for a poor continental breakfast. I hopped on a Sun
Tran bus to take me downtown. Today, I was going to visit Old Pueblo Trolley.
When I got downtown, I wandered upon the Dillinger Days festival. This festival
marks the date that gang leader John Dillinger was arrested in
After I took a photo of the 1673, I walked over to Old Pueblo Trolley’s carbarn. I had arranged to have a tour of the yard where PCC 4608 is, as well as their bus collection. I arrived a few minutes early and started talking with the volunteers at OPT. One of them told me he was going to give someone a tour. I told him that someone was me! Soon, we entered the yard where PCC 4608 was. I learned that despite the fact that 4608 had been graffitied on one side, earlier, both sides of the car were graffitied, but they had cleaned up one side. He also pointed to me some other long term projects for OPT. I took some more photos of 4608 while I was in there.
After, we walked back to the
carbarn and the two of us drove to where Old Pueblo Trolley keeps their bus
collection. The actually have more buses than streetcars! Some of the more
interesting buses in their collection are a former Sun Tran AM General, two
fishbowls, one of
When I arrived at the bus yard, I saw a cat that was friendly. During the tour of the yard, I also discovered former San Francisco PCC streetcar #1121. This car was bought for its trucks to be placed under the Toronto PCC because the TTC’s track gauge is wider than the standard railway gauge. The car was in poor shape when I saw it and it’s pretty safe to say that the car will never run again.
During the tour, I learned that Old
Pueblo Trolley was hoping to acquire a 1989 vintage RTS from Sun Trans as they
are all about to be retired if it hasn’t happened already. During the tour, I told the OPT member about
how I know someone who actually owns a fishbowl, and he asked me to ask my
friend to contact him once I got back to
After the tour, the member drove me back to the carbarn. They were expecting to meet up with someone from Sun Trans and head to the Sun Trans bus garage. I wished them luck in acquiring the 1989 vintage RTS.
I then decided to ride the trolley along its route. As per usual, OPT ran their Japanese tram which I rode to the other end of the line which is located a block away from the University of Arizona. I took a photo of the trolley and video of the car departing. I then went into Johnny Rocket’s for lunch.
After lunch, I decided to go to that 76 gas station with its logo on a large rotating ball. I decided to wait to see what would come first, a Sun Trans bus or the trolley. The winner was the trolley! I rode it back to the carbarn where I photographed the other car they use which is a single truck tram from Belgium. (The Toronto PCC is operational, but the car is single ended and OPT only had a wye on one end of their line. So until a loop or wye is built at the other end of the line, it can’t be used).
Once I was downtown, I got on Sun Trans bus route 3 to ride to that 76 gas station. Upon getting to where the gas station, I filmed the sign.
After I left the gas station, I walked a few blocks to the Union Pacific main line. I was hoping to see a train. Eventually, a westbound freight passed by. There were four diesels on the head end, including two former Southern Pacific tunnel motors that had been repainted into the Union Pacific livery.
Once the freight had passed by, I wandered over to the bus stop where I got onto a bus then transferred at the downtown terminal to a New Flyer D40 bus. I rode that bus to a mall where I got off and headed into a Krispy Kreme donut store. There were a few Krispy Kreme donut stores in my area for a time, but they mostly went under.
After I left the donut store, I headed into a Target department store. After looking around, I bought a bowl of fruit loops that I would eat the next morning as well as some plastic spoons. Upon paying for my purchases, the cashier only rang up one item. I quickly noticed after I paid and the cashier rang the second item! I thought that it was close. I didn’t want to be arrested for shoplifting! Especially in Arizona!
After I wandered around the mall for a few minutes, I took a bus back downtown where I noticed crime scene tape in front of a Sun Trans bus. I inquired about what happened, and later learned that a teenager in a stolen car had rammed the barricades blocking off the road for the Dillinger Days celebration and hit an off-duty police officer. Shots were fired. I was lucky to have missed that, being the second time today I had dodged disaster!
Sun Trans bus #9441 sits in front of the
scene where an off duty cop was hit by a teenager driving a stolen car.
After I took a picture of the crime scene, I went back to see Southern Pacific steam locomotive #1673 again. I also saw a Union Pacific train pass by with a diesel still painted and lettered for the Southern Pacific. I headed back to my hotel for dinner. I didn’t want to eat at the same place as last night. After walking several blocks, I eventually found a Jack in the Box. After I got my food, I called a cab from a nearby gas station. By luck, a taxi had come to refuel. I asked the driver if he would take me back to the hotel which he did. I thanked him and headed back to my room where I cancelled my original call for a taxi. After watching the show “America’s Most Wanted”, I decided to turn in for the night shortly thereafter.
Click here to read about the next three days: Arizona trip part 4.htm
