We had our Compass card and were prepared to reload it with a day
pass. However, the lady on the left informed us that the Compass
cards were out and we needed to purchase a new card for $2 and an
all-day pass for $6. Then at each transfer to another line, or to
return on the same line, to scan our card on the photo right above. She said the scan may show that we are paying more than $6, it would still be good for the day.
Our Green Line trolley arrived and took us to Santee, but the wrap
prevented any good photos. We took a
group photo at the end of the line in Santee before going back a few stops to Arnele Avenue to catch the
Orange Line.
At Arnele Avenue, we transferred to the Orange Line. Their
units had not been wrapped and were better for photography.
(Click the map for a larger image.)
Inside the trolley were these posters. We were using the Pronto
system, but not on the iPhone. We tapped our day pass cards each
time we transferred to a different line.
On the Orange Line trip, I spotted a window seat behind the operator and took some photos as if I were on a cab ride.
Above, the Green Line sign in the window had been reversed so outside it said Orange Line.
I could easily see the control panel through the window, but wanted to ask the operator how much of the operation was automated.
L to R: Interior of our trolley with low center boarding making it easy for wheeled conveyances.
Underground San Diego State trolley stop. Using the bars for
exercise a passenger does some chin ups.
Left, View past the operator of an approaching trolley. Above, Downtown La Mesa.
No. 3* at La Mesa is the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum with a Pacific Fruit
Express car and a caboose. Right: Northbound Orange Line on
adjacent track.
*Mojave Northern Railroad #3 (Above left)
As fuel and water for this
six-wheel switch engine with no pilot or trailing wheels are carried in
an 800-gallon oil tank and a 2,000-gallon water tank on the
locomotive’s frame, “saddling” the boiler instead of in a tender, it’s
called an 0-6-OT saddle tank engine. This gives it excellent rear
visibility for switching. Builder’s No. 1972, it weighs 118,000 lbs (59
tons), has 42″ drivers, 17″ x 24 cylinders, 190-lb.boiler pressure, and
15,275-lb. tractive effort.
The “teakettle” went new to the Mojave Northern Railroad, built in
1915-16 by the Southwestern Portland Cement Company from its plant at
Leon (for MN builder Carl Leonhart) in northern Victorville, CA, 5.5
miles to Sidewinder valley in the Mojave desert (extended five miles to
Bell in 1947 and seven more to Reserve Quarry (lime rock) in 1951). The
plant, quarry, and equipment were owned by SWPC, which leased the MN
until 1925, when its status was changed from “Common Carrier” to “Plant
Facility”. Never lettered SWPC, MN No. 3 was used mainly in the Leon
cement plant area until replaced by diesels in 1957. It was painted
black with silver running board, cab stripes, boiler front, and
lettering: “MNRR” on its tanksides and small “3” in large cab side
boxes. In 1956 the headlight, drivers, and wheel rims were painted
silver and the cab numbers repainted with larger ones in small boxes.
MN No. 3 pulled a flatcar with wood guard rails on a Railway &
Locomotive Historical Society (Southern California Chapter) excursion
on May 5, 1956, and was rarely used after that.
MN No. 3 was donated to the PSRMA on Friday, the 13th of May, 1966
by the SWPC. Because the PSRMA had no facilities of its own at that
time, storage space was rented at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum (now
Railway Museum) near Perris, California. MN No. 3 was taken there by
the Santa Fe, and snap-tracked the final half-mile to OETM rails July
30, 1966. As MN No. 3 had a damaged crown sheet in its firebox which
required major repairs and was condemned by state inspectors after
April 1967 hydrostatic tests, it was not restored. Its photo was in a
1967 Trains issue. It was maintained by member Charlie Holcomb until he
died in April 1977. During 14 years of storage in an open unfenced
area, MN No. 3 was vandalized and had some parts stolen. In mid-1980,
MN No. 3 was painted black with silver trim. The wheels and drivers
were painted all-black, the tank side’s “MNRR” not reapplied, and the
cab numbers were repainted in larger rectangular boxes.
On January 9, 1981, MN No. 3 arrived in San Diego with another
museum saddle tanker, E.J. Lavino No. 10, on their own wheels after
weeks of preparation at the OERM, and three days enroute on the Santa
Fe. Transferred to La Mesa by the SD&AE, MN No. 3 was displayed at
the north end of the La Mesa Depot Museum exhibit. An electric cable
was run to it and its headlight turned on at night. Because of its
condition, it was made a permanent part of the inoperable display, and
in 1988 was lifted by crane, turned around, and placed at the south end
of the display track. It was repainted black with silver trim
(including wheel rims & tanksides “MNRR”) in August 1993. It now
stands only a few feet from passing San Diego Trolley LRVs.
It was repainted and lettered again in April 2009.
Source: https://www.psrm.org/trains/steam/mojave/
Lemon Grove trolley station.
We rode to the 12th and Imperial station and transferred to the Blue Line to San Ysidro at the US/Mexico Border.
Blue Line Trolley arriving with the Library dome in the background. Petco Baseball Park is nearby as well.
A sign of the times was COVID-19 Testing sites at many trolley stations.
First photo opportunity on the Blue Line was the Trolley Barn.
As we passed the Pacific Fleet Blue Line Trolley stop, I noted the new camouflage pattern on a passenger.
Left, SDIV (San Diego and Imperial Valley) Switcher 701. Right, A &
C (Arizona and California) 3112 and SDIV 702 in San Ysidro.
The San Diego
and Imperial Valley Railroad is a class III railroad operating freight
rail service in the San Diego area, providing service to customers in
the region and moving railcars between the end of the BNSF Railway in
Downtown San Diego and the Mexico–United States border in San Ysidro.
More at: Wikipedia
Founded: 1984
Main region(s): San Diego
Length: 38.8 miles (62.4 km) (7.2 miles (11.6 km) currently unused)
Fleet size: Two NRE 3GS21B diesel-powered genset locomotives
Parent organization: Genesee & Wyoming (I have
seen this color scheme on other locomotives around the country. A
nice interactive map of all their shortlines in the US:
https://www.gwrr.com/
At the end of the Blue Line, Chris waits to board our ride back north to San Diego. There are some shops and a walkway and highway entrance to Tijuana, Mexico, at this stop.
Returning to San Diego and the America Plaza Station on the Blue Line, we pass close to Petco Park at 12th and Imperial.
We noticed this beautifully restored building along the route at Park and G Streets.
Back at the Santa Fe depot, we walked west on Broadway to the embarcadero and noticed the Disney Wonder cruise ship in port. Click here for More information on Disney Wonder.
Farther south along the docks is the Midway.
The USS Midway Museum is a
historical naval aircraft carrier museum located in downtown San Diego,
California at Navy Pier. The museum consists of the aircraft carrier
Midway. The ship houses an extensive collection of aircraft, many of
which were built in Southern California. More Information.
Referred to by many as The Kiss,
this huge sculpture was created by the artist Seward Johnson. Its
proper name is Unconditional Surrender. It’s based on a photograph
taken during V-J day in New York’s Times Square. An American sailor,
overjoyed at the news of the war’s end, grabbed a random nurse nearby
and gave her a spontaneous kiss. The photograph became world famous.
A temporary Unconditional Surrender statue was originally placed at
this site, but it was replaced with a permanent bronze version in 2012.
Unlike most other monuments and memorials located on the Greatest
Generation Walk, just south of the USS Midway, this statue is so
enormous it can be glimpsed from several points on San Diego Bay.
Source.
This yacht looks large until, (right) it gets near the USS midway.
Across the bay, from our window table at the Fish Market, was the modern carrier No. 72.
USS
Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is the fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in
the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship to have been named
after the former President Abraham Lincoln. Her home port is NAS North
Island, San Diego, California; she is a member of the United States
Pacific Fleet. She is administratively responsible to Commander, Naval
Air Forces Pacific, and operationally served as the flagship of Carrier
Strike Group Nine and host to Carrier Air Wing Two until 2012. She was
returned to the fleet on 12 May 2017, marking the successful completion
of her refueling and complex overhaul carried out at Newport News
Shipyard. On 1 April 2019 USS Abraham Lincoln was deployed to the
Middle East as the flagship for Carrier Strike Group 12 and Carrier Air
Wing Seven assigned to her. More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Abraham_Lincoln_(CVN-72)
There are several harbor cruises to chose from docking between World Pier and Broadway Pier.
Lunch at Fish Market and a short walk to Seaport Village.
While seated at bay's edge at Seaport Village, this large Navy ship passed with a harbor cruise ship as a size indicator.
After people-watching from the seawall, we searched out Spill the Beans for a coffee.
It was nearing time to return to the Tioga Pass. We walked to the
trolley stop near Kansas City Barbeque, where the piano scene in Top
Gun was filmed, and caught our trolley back to the Santa Fe Station.
Back at the Tioga Pass I thought the light was good for a few portraits of Tioga Pass.
Rest in Peace my friend, Chris Parker, I know your favorite spot in the world was on the platform of this very rail car - the Tioga Pass.
