This trip came to my attention at this year's Fullerton Railroad Days when I was handed a flyer for the excursion over the newly-built San Diego Green Line extension, while I worked the Orange County Railway Historical Society table. I contacted Jeff Hartmann to see if he would like to join me and he said "Yes!" Our plan would be to take Pacific Surfliner 564 to San Diego that morning, then the first trolley after our arrival over to the shops, with our planned return on the first trolley back to the Santa Fe station and Pacific Surfliner 785 home.
The New San Diego Trolley Green Line InformationThe Metropolitan Transit System has almost finished a 5.9-mile extension of the Trolley east through Mission Valley to La Mesa via an underground tunnel at San Diego State University (SDSU). Funded in part by TransNet, the county's half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, this project fills a critical gap between the existing Blue and Orange lines. Planned by MTS in conjunction with the Cities of San Diego and La Mesa, the $506 million Mission Valley East extension, called the Green Line, will provide an important connection in the region's public transit system for those commuting to work, school, and events at Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park. In addition, transit-oriented developments are planned along the route to co-locate residential and commercial projects around Trolley stations.
There are four new stops along the Green Line. The SDSU underground trolley station is already garnering local, state and national attention and is a gem in the region's transportation system. It is projected that over 4,300 students, faculty, staff and visitors to campus will use the SDSU station each day. Other new stops along the Green Line are Grantville station, complete with a unique architectural design that features a set of 40-foot high elevated platforms and high-capacity elevators. The two ground-level stations are the Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Station and 70th Street Station.
A Brief San Diego Trolley HistoryThe San Diego Trolley was created by Metropolitan Transit Development Board in August 1980 to be the regional light rail transit operator. The Orange Line is the second line in the San Diego Trolley system and service began on March 23, 1986, originally as the East Line and initially operated between downtown San Diego and Euclid Avenue. The East Line kept this name after successive extensions to Spring Street on May 12, 1989, to El Cajon Transit Center on June 23, 1989, along the Bayside in downtown San Diego on June 30, 1990 and finally to Santee Town Center on August 26, 1995. The line was renamed the Orange Line in 1997.
The San Diego TrolleysThe San Diego Trolley has 134 light rail vehicle with 71 Siemens/Duewag U-2s, 52 SD-100s and 11 new S70s. The U2s and SD-100s are equipped with heating and air-conditioning. Each LRV seats 64 passengers and can accommodate 86 standees, totalling 150 per car, 200 crush load. Blue and Orange Line trains may consist of one to four cars. Each LRV is equipped with an Americans with Disabilities Act-approved wheelchair lift that is able to cycle in 90 seconds. They also have air conditioning and heating.
A new S70 car. The Green Line will have 11 of these cars; the biggest innovation is the low floor, which permits passengers to board with a simple step instead of two or three large ones. Passengers in wheelchairs will roll in and out of the cars over a short bridge plate that extends from the car to the station platform, creating a short ramp between the trolley station platform and the car. The procedure is faster and easier than the mechanical lifts used on existing trolleys.
Two bridge plates are on each side of the vehicle, serving the middle two doors. Passengers operate them by pressing an illuminated button off to the side of the door and the door remains shut while the plate moves in and out of position. The bridge plate is the reason trolley stations have to be raised two inches to accommodate the S70s. Otherwise, the ramp will be too steep for wheelchairs. Inside, the low floor accounts for 70 percent of the interior of the car, hence the S70 model designation. These cars seat 68 passengers with space for 4 wheelchairs.
Pacific Surfliner 564Jeff met me early at my house while I was watching Classic VH1's Classic Connection. We drove to Santa Ana station where we watched the 4th Street crossing gates malfunction then Pacific Surfliner 763 arrived a few minutes late and once he departed eight minutes later, our Pacific Surfliner 564 came into view. We boarded and walked back to a Superliner coach for our ride to San Diego. Ken Ruben quickly found me and had some things he needed to discuss. Normally, Richard Hamilton, the host of "Let's Talk Trains" would join us in San Diego for such a trip, but since he was broadcasting the show from Pasadena at the Santa Fe Historical and Modelling Society Annual Convention, he could not be in two places at once. South of Irvine, Chris Parker came back to talk with me about next week's Trains Unlimited trip to Portland. The Pacific Surfliner ran a perfect trip to San Diego where we detrained and went straight to the American Plaza trolley station to wait for the first trolley to 12th/Imperial. A Blue Line trolley arrived and we boarded for the six-stop trip.
We walked from the trolley station to the check-in area, which was the outdoor trolley employee break area. Here we were given name badges and after I talked to many people that I knew, the group was given an introduction and a safety lecture. Here I met our trolley operator, Barry, then our Tour Guide, John Taratona. After a few more minutes of safety tips, our group of 100 began our shop tour in the "A" building.
Inside the "A" shop were U2 cars.
The wheel true pit.
Car N1 Class 6888, nee 2882, from Vienna, Austria.
Car N1 Class 6891 from Vienna, Austria. While the bodies were designed and built in the early 1950's, the years after World War II required frugality. Their electrical and mechanical operating equipment consists of recycled parts of the type N cars built from 1925 to 1927. Our yellow NH 6888, is the oldest of the surviving N1 cars and the second N1 delivered to Vienna in 1954.
In 1924, when Vienna's government decided to electrify the City railway, leasing its rolling stock for 10 years, it became a separate entity from the National Railway. A two-axle wooden-bodied car, designated class N, was built in the Railway Carriage Works, along with a trailer car, the n1. The inaugural run occurred on June 3, 1925. Trains of nine cars, three of them motorized, ran in multiple unit-control, with air brakes, electromechanical signal boxes, signal towers to supervise crossing and switching and automatic signaling section switching. While safer, faster and cleaner than the steam trains, the Viennese were disappointed by their looks. The Viennese called them "the red shoe boxes". They had special modern equipment, but they were merely two-axle streetcars, instead of the hoped-for four-axle high speed cars with individual compartments. Gradually, the Viennese took to liking their punctuality, and Sunday excursion loads came to be especially large. Originally painted red and white, the N cars got so badly begrimed by their brake pad dust that their livery was changed to all-red, from 1929 until 1983.
All areas of Vienna, including track systems and rolling stock of the City Railway rapid transit routes, were so badly damaged during World War II, that not until fall of 1954 were the lines completely restored. Damaged and abandoned City Railway cars were eventually brought by United States Army flatbed trucks, then driven over streetcar tracks, to the maintenance works. The firm of Simmering-Graz-Pauker designed an unimposing steel body, easily mistaken for a maintenance service (or helper) car. The first of these, the N1 cars, and their n2 trailers, went into service July 12, 1954.
They were a curious mixture of the old and the new. Mechanical and electrical components of the older 1920s-period cars were reused in the construction of the main components of the N1s. There were both technological and passenger comfort improvements. The steel bodies had electro-pneumatic doors, and a fast-acting electro-pneumatic brake system, for convenience and safety. In their wooden single-compartment interior arrangement, seats were made of Durofol – a wood impregnated with resin, formed under pressure. Other improvements meant the new cars could not operate with the old: the new Sharfenberg couplings for one-man operation. All trains had to be Vienna Streetcar Logonine-car trains. The sidewalls originally covered the trucks, or bogies, but soon new sidewalls were installed which exposed the bogies for easier accessibility by the brake inspection teams. N1 cars 2881 thru 2922, and trailer cars 5821 thru 5875 were delivered in 1954. The SDERA N1 cars were numbered 2882, 2950 and 2951, as passenger cars. New N1s were added until 1961, when they totalled 130, with 200 of the n2 type trailer cars.
The N1 cars were experimented with and modified. Cars 2879 and 2880, the last of the N1s, had special high speed motors. In 1965, the N1s were fitted with safety systems based on magnetic train control and dead man control equipment. Meanwhile, some of the street trolley system was being replaced with subways, and some of the N1 cars entered service on the U-bahn, or subway transit system. In 1980, the livery of the Vienna tramways went to the red-and-white paint scheme.
Equipment on most of the N1s was standardized in 1966. Cars 2879 and 2880 received permanent roof resistors for low speed operation and snow ploughing – the roof being the only place where they could be installed. A third N1, 2878, was modified for operation with two herbicide tank cars with a chemical agitator. Car 2880 received the ELIN 10-pole receptacle with a pre-resistor. This receptacle allowed electrical control of the special track maintenance cars. The City Railway modernized its usable hopper cars with the ELIN receptacle. In 1977, car No. 2880 was designated an "NH" or service car and became the first of sixteen N1 cars reassigned the NH number.
On October 30, 1981, San Diego's three N1 cars were redesignated NH 6888, NH 6890 and NH 6891. One of them, NH 6891 has the ELIN receptacle, a feature not found on all the NH service cars. Some cars, like NH 6888, were painted yellow, the remainder stayed red. The red cars with a fast-acting brake valve, for service with trailer cars, rendered those cars not suitable for passenger service. These special brake-quipped cars received a yellow stripe painted under their number – San Diego's NH 6888 and NH 6890 being among them.
SDERA's three NH cars were retired September 13, 1981, while the remainder of Vienna's N1 passenger cars were retired by July 1, 1983. In 1992, Senator Jim Mills, who was then chairman of MTDB, had the idea for some pleasant, interesting European cars to run in downtown San Diego. He contacted Gehrhardt Schroeder, one of the officials of Siemens. After checking around, Schroeder found three cars at the Mariazell Museum in Austria. They were willing to give San Diego's MTDB three N1 cars, provided that (1) they would be operated and (2) Mariazell Museum would be credited as the donating institution.
Brad Saunders of Starboard Properties took care of the costs of shipping and in fall of 1992, the cars were transported on rail cars to Bremerhaven, loaded aboard the ship Canada Express, and delivered to San Diego. The intent had been to have two cars run in tandem in the downtown triangle, with Austrian markings and advertisements. The third car was be used for spare parts. However, when the cars were landed and placed on the tracks, they derailed on their way to the depot. All ideas for solving this problem of "railability" were exhausted: the modifications needed were far more extensive and costly than originally planned and, besides, there was the matter of boarding features for the handicapped. As the discretionary funds assigned evaporated – MTDB needed all it could for the expansion of the San Diego Trolley system – the euphoria also evaporated. The cars were relegated to a siding at the 12th and Imperial trolley yard and covered in green tarpaulins, becoming known as "The Green Mummies.
This state continued until about 2003 when the prospect of additional MTDB/MTS rolling stock for the projected Green Line raised its head. All track space in the trolley yard was at a premium. Was SDERA able, and willing, to take over the three orphaned Vienna cars? The legal issue centered on whether SDERA could take custody, given the assumed original terms of transfer and title. Finally, the issues were resolved and on August 6, 2005, C & D Towing moved the cars to the north end of the National City Historic Depot property, together with a collection of parts removed, principally pantograph parts. The badly corroded roofs were later scraped, sanded, cleaned and repainted.
A brand new S70 car enjoying a beautiful San Diego day.
One really neat thing about the tour was they showed us how the car washer worked by running SD100 2031 through it.
Next, John explained the solar-powered switches and demonstrated how one worked; several of the group photographed San Diego and Imperial Valley GP40-2L(W) 9520, nee Canadian National 9520 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1974.
A brand new S-70 car.
A U2 car with Petco Park as its destination sign, the first time for its use. After getting the clearance from Trolley Operations, we walked across the Blue Line to the newer shop, also known as the "C" shops which was recently named the "Langley C. Powell Maintenance Building" in honor of the first President of San Diego Trolley, Inc.
Interior views of "C" Shop.
A trolley in primer ready for the paint shop.
The truck washing area. That concluded our tour of the 'C" Shop and we walked as a group to the new S70 cars that would be used on our tour.
San Diego Electric Railway Association San Diego Trolley Green Line TourWhile I wanted to tour the shops, we were now at the main reason I came, a ride over the newly-built Green Line. Our train was S70 305 and 306. Since I was going to be at the National Railway Historical Society convention in Portland the day the line was opening to the public on July 9th, I wanted the chance to ride and write a story. Free rides would be given on that day then fare-paying passengers after that. The Green Line would stretch from Santee to Old Town, the Blue Line would now run from Old Town to San Ysidro, while the Orange Line would run from Gillespie Field to the Convention Center and 12th/Imperial.
Once we received our clearance to depart, we slowly went out of the yard to the junction with the Orange Line.
San Diego and Imperial Valley 9520 again. We waited for a westbound Orange Line train on its way to 12th/Imperial and there was a baseball game at Petco Field, with the San Diego Padres defeating the Seattle Mariners 8-5 later in the afternoon. Once we cleared, we crossed over onto the Orange Line to start our journey to the new Green Line. We were going to run non-stop, but slowed down for all the stations as they were crowded with baseball fans going to the game. The Gaslamp station had a large crowd as it was the main stop for Petco Park from the north.
We ran through the Convention Center and by Seaport Village then moments later, slowed at the junction of the Orange and Blue Lines that make a wye with no normal service over the connection between the two. The exception are deadhead moves to the yard or the baseball game at Petco Park. We went by the Santa Fe Depot as I saw Pacific Surfliner 775 disappear into the distance. Moving north, we went by the County Center/Little Italy station, went under two streets then climbed over another street then descended, going by Middletown and onto Washington Street. We slowly cruised through the Old Town Transit Center, where there were plenty of Padres baseball fans before turning as we crossed the San Diego River to the Moreno/Linda Vista station.
Making an "S" curve that took us over the San Diego River and along a golf course to the Fashion Valley Transit Center, we continued on through Hazard Center, crossed up and over the San Diego River to Mission Valley Center then crossed the San Diego River again we ran through the Rio Vista and Fenton Parkway. Our route then became elevated, taking us to Qualcomm Stadium before we neared Mission San Diego. For the first time, we did not cross over to the north track as we proceeded into and through San Diego Mission station.
From here we entered the newly-built line and continued elevated over the San Diego River.
The trolley approached the Grantville station, which is located 40 feet above the ground.
The S70s at the Grantville station.
A photo runby occurred but I chose to stay on in order to take pictures of our group taking pictures of the train entering the station.
A second photo runby with the S70s heading east over Interstate 8 and up the steep grade.
We all reboarded and took off again, crossing Interstate 8 and starting up 4.4 percent grade.
The climb up the grade.
As we approached the West Portal of the tunnel, we turned into a small canyon and crossed a bridge.
We slowed to 10 miles an hour as we entered the 4,000 foot tunnel, the first for the San Diego Trolley.
In the middle of the tunnel is the SDSU Transit Center, where we paused for a bathroom break, taking the escalator or stairs into the upper part of the station and to some bathrooms outside the station.
Our S70s in the SDSU station. As we left the "I" indicator was lit, which meant there was an intruder in the tunnel. This could be a person, bird, rat or the like, which caused us to run at restricted speed. We exited the tunnel back into the light of the day.
Our trolleys continued climbing along the canyon wall in order to reach the valley floor ahead.
Crossing a small creek on a bridge.
We raced along the valley floor.
Under the roads.
The S70s ran through Alvarado Medical Center, which has a riddle along the top of north embankment wall.
Next we ran through the 70th Street station.
Rolling along the hillsides.
We climbed up and over Interstate 8.
We rejoined the Orange Line at Baltimore Junction before rolling to a stop at Grossmount Center, where Ken and another passenger detrained; Ken had to be on Pacific Surfliner 583 in order to attend the Santa Fe Historical and Modelling Society Annual Convention banquet in Pasadena tonight. I must say that this new Green Line is the most dramatic and engineered light rail line that I have ever ridden and was very impressed by the whole construction. Our S70s continued rolling through the Amaya Drive station and onto the El Cajon Transit Center where we flew over Interstate 8 on a bridge to Amele Drive before climbing up and over the last of the freight line and the Fletcher Parkway. The line then made a series of curves to the former Weld Boulevard station, now known as Gillespie Field station before turning onto North Cuyamaca Street, which we travelled in the middle of to Mission Gorge Road, turning into Santee Town Center, where our tour paused an hour for lunch.
The S70s at rest at Santee Town Center while our group ate lunch with Jeff, Chris and I going to Quizno's.
The time was now beginning to get critical for people taking Pacific Surfliner 785 home so it was decided that we would run non-stop to the Santa Fe depot so no one would miss their train. We waited after the Orange Line train left for the next one to arrive and the switch was thrown by hand and then restored after we departed. Barry did a great job of running back to the depot and we all saw how good a trolley operator he was. When we reached the tunnel, the "I" indictor light was still on, so we ran under restricted speed to the station, where we found the other end of the tunnel "I" light was also lit, so we continued running restricted until we left the tunnel.
If you thought the grade was steep climbing, just wait till you see it descending. One word: "Impressive!" Nearing Grantville, we came to a red signal which Barry had to get permission to pass then once we neared the San Diego Mission station, we encountered another red and learned that we would be following a Blue Line train. At Mission Station, we dropped off one of my favorite friends, but for some reason, I can never remember his name then Barry did a perfect job of running up to red signals and having them turn to yellow just after we arrived. After Fashion Center, the yellows turned to greens and we were off to Old Town where a few more passengers were let off. We then made a quick trip to the Santa Fe station, arriving there after a near miss of a man crossing in front of our trolley. Jeff and I, as well as a few others, left the group and walked over to Pacific Surfliner 785 with four minutes to spare.
Pacific Surfliner 785It took us home right on time to Santa Ana, where this picture was taken, ending a wonderful day with the San Diego Electric Railway Association on their Green Line Tour. A big thank you to not only them, but to all at San Diego Trolley, especially Barry and John.
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