The San Diego Trolley
Santee to Gillespie Field to Arnele Ave.
Part I (of I-XII)
The Land of Single-Track Funsville
We begin at the beginning of the Green Line (or end, depending on one's perspective), at a shopping center in the heart of the City of Santee.
A trolley approaches the two-track stop over a bidirectional single-track route.
Most trolleys here take the turnout route.
Throngs alight, and are replaced by new boarders.
And afterward, the operator goes to the other end, and the trolley heads back to the other end of the line at Old Town, a section of San Diego.
Continued in Part II
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Part II (of I-XII)
Let us take a brief detour, and look at the interiors of the equipment, first the 3000 series S-70 (Avanto) trolley by Siemens, the newest on the roster, numbered 3001-3011. (See the second through fourth photos of Part I above.) Many more are reportedly on order, but are supposedly to be of a shorter version in order to be more compatible with current San Diego Trolley operating stops.
S-70's have split level flooring.
The operator's cabin and its center seat:
Looking back, the center swivel is observable between the ‘two' section of the ‘one' trolley.
In the above photo, note the yellow vertical grab rails in the photo's center.
Continued in Part III
Part III (of I-XII)
An overview of the split flooring (photo bottom) on the S-70's:
Now, the 2000 series SD-100 also by Siemens, numbers 2001-2052. These are boxier, and have much less of an exotic streamlined appearance than the S-70, and look more traditional. Even so, they are radically different in appearance from the 1000 series. The SD-100 floor is level throughout, but higher than the S-70.
The operator's cabin can only be viewed from a narrow vertical door window.
The operator's console is more traditional and hardly space-age NASA-like as with the S-70's.
The San Diego Trolley also rosters the 1000-series U2 model by Siemens-Duwag, the original trolley units on the San Diego system, and are numbered 1001-1071. They are dated 1978-1990. No such units were on the Green or Orange Lines during the time the photos for this post series were taken. Rosters show the U2's start at 1001, but this forumist distinctly remembers seeing a number 1000 years ago.
The EXTERIORS of the 1000-series may be viewed in earlier posts of this thread.
Now, back to the line in Santee ...
Continued in Part IV
Part IV (of I-XII)
Unlike the heavy duty bumper posts at the end of the Blue Line down in San Ysidro by the International border with Mexico, the end of the line in Santee has what appear to be very frail stoppers that are anchored to the tracks.
A new development for this photo forumist was the proliferation of new bilingual signs throughout the San Diego Trolley system that leaves no doubt as to their meaning.
For the record, an all-day, $5 pass was possessed by this poster. For all the trolleys this posted rode back and forth between Santee and Arnele Ave., the price was a fantastic bargain! The passes have anti-forgery markings that are seen at certain angles of light.
A mirror for trolley operators is used in the shopping center grade crossing. The center's many retail shops are visible in the background.
Continued in Part V
Part V (of I-XII)
There is a small Greek Theater type place in the shopping center by the Santee Town Center stop. The trolley tracks that end are on the photo upper left.
A single-track route exits the station stop.
The mall has strangely positioned grade crossing warning lights and signs on the FAR side of the track. Traditionally, railroads have warning devices, such flasher units and gates, BEFORE the track, not AFTER it as here in Santee.
Continued in Part VI
Part VI (of I-XII)
"T" lights advise trolley operators. A constantly lit "T" light is for operators to stop, whereas a flashing "T" is to proceed.
At certain angles, the S-70 and its windows, on the left of the photo above, are so shiny that it almost blends in with its surroundings.
A trolley leaves the shopping center and heads back to Old Town, curving through a major vehicle intersection.
At the time the last photo just above was taken, the town's electrical power was out, and the road traffic through the intersection was very slow going ... with an occasion trolley thrown in for even more drama!
Continued in Part VII
Part VII (of I-XII)
The following is a view from the other side of the same intersection that was shown above. Northward trolleys wait at the often heavily congested intersection for the auto stoplights to cycle though so that all the traffic is stopped with red traffic lights, then the trolley receives a favorable signal to proceed. Note the two-lamp trolley signal on the photo top right of the below first photo. A vertical up and down lit line allows a trolley to proceed northward across the intersection, whereas trolleys coming upon a horizontal light bar must stop and wait.
Southward trolleys now are routed through a narrow middle strip on the wide north-south roadway.
In the last photo above, at the intersection, are those white wait and precede trolley lights.
Continued in Part VIII
Part VIII (of I-XII)
The single-track line then curves into the ‘final approach' to the Gillespie Field (small airport) stop.
The single-track line becomes two-tracks at a dual-control switch within a signaled interlocking.
And, we are at the Gillespie Field stop.
Continued in Part IX
Part IX (of I-XII)
Back to the Normal Two-Tracks
As a reminder, the pictured ride above was a Green Line train from Santee southward. At Gillespie Field, we are joined by the Orange Line that comes from downtown San Diego via a southeastern route that terminates here. The Green Line continues south for a bit before turning westward to the end of the line at Old Town where it meets on through tracks the terminating Blue Line up from the border town of San Ysidro and downtown San Diego.
Patrons have a nice parking lot to park their cars in. There is some type of channel between the tracks and parking lot, with walkways that bridges the two.
Orange Line trolleys come north and stop at Gillespie Field normally on the EASTERLY track to alight and board patrons. The above Orange Line trolley was preparing to offload a wheelchair passenger.
Small planes often take off from the stop's namesake airport. In the view below, a barely visible plane (center) is about to sight intersect the catenary.
The Orange Line trolleys then waits to return to downtown San Diego. They soon receive a green light on the four-bulb ‘against the normal traffic flow' dwarf signal.
Continued in Part X
Part X (of I-XII)
As Orange Line trains depart southward and pass the 'wrong way' dwarf signal, it changes to YELLOW and stays that way ...
It is unknown what the fourth lamp is for in the above photo, but fourth lamps of the freight railroads are typically lunar, a whitish variant.
The now southward Orange Line trolley SOON crosses over to the normal right-running flow of traffic. That single-crossover is shown below in a photo shot from a Green Line run.
Continued in Part XI
Part XI (of I-XII)
Both Green Line and Orange Line trolleys make fast running southward.
Continued in Part XII
Part XII (of I-XII)
On the final approach to the Arnele Ave. stop, a SD-100 / S-70 pair make the final turn, and the trolleys steeply descend to the station stop.
The station tracks closely parallel a main street (far right). The track that branches off on the right is a freight only track that goes across the street to serve a freight customer
A pair of S-70's at the Arnele stop await the clock's saying it is the time to head further south.
It is hoped this 12-part series gives out-of-towners a broader picture of the San Diego Trolley ... and the awareness that such a great two-track system even has a stretch of rather rare but highly used "single-track."
Nice pix, KP. Occasionally, between Gillespie Field and Arnele Street, one can find a parked switch engine left from the previous "after midnight" switching of the industries in that area. Toro sprinklers, for instance, has a plant north of Fletcher parkway that seems to have two or three plastic pellet hoppers spotted there most of the time.
schlimm Great pictures! I believe Siemens (the GE of Germany) makes most of the streetcars in use there also. Smooth and reliable.
Great pictures! I believe Siemens (the GE of Germany) makes most of the streetcars in use there also. Smooth and reliable.
I absolutely agree with what the Prof B. says!
Really interesting and Nice photos, K.P. Thanks for sharing with us!
It is very unusual to have a conversation between a Poster/ Photographer here and the men who actually operate the equipment pictured.
A Memo to ChuckCobleigh (7-31) and samfp1943 (8-17):
In a much delayed response ... Thanks for the encouragement.
The San Diego area was visited Monday, November 1, 2010 after checking out the resumption of Union Pacific two-tracking near Arizona for the "Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates" thread. A stop was made at the San Diego Trolley's Grossmont Transit Center that serves both the Green and Orange Lines. Some resultant photos are hoped to be posted by the end of the week.
Best wishes,
K.P.
Grossmont Transit Center
November 1, 2010
Part I (of I-III)
This stop is on the joint Green and Orange Lines. Not far west of here the lines split. The Orange line heads south on a roundabout southern route to downtown San Diego, whereas the Green Line takes a northern route towards downtown, but one has to transfer to the Blue line at Old Town to go all the way downtown.
The Grossmont stop extends under both sides of the Grossmont Center Drive Bridge.
A two-car trolley approaches from the west.
Trolley 2013 arrives from the north/east, and is still moving and will stop in just seconds.
Part II (of I-III)
A trolley waits a few seconds for the departure time, but the signal is green, though it is very difficult to see at this photo angle.
Another trolley soon stops ... and quickly starts again, passing the green signal which goes red.
Trolleys then soon pass the next very nearby signal, which is barely visible just right of the below trolley.
Part III (of I-III)
After the trolley goes further and out of view, the background signal soon goes yellow.
There is some type of structures being constructed on each side of the tracks, just east of the overpass.
An outbound trolley arrives.
This poster's visit to the stop was very brief. Probably too brief to see what this poster always seems to see ... at least one wheelchair-bound passenger boarding or alighting. The blue symbol on the above photo's lower left is where an inbound trolley operator lines his trolley's front door up at for a wheelchair.
For those interested ... A nice security officer questioned this poster as to why I was taking pictures. The security officer seemed to be pacified with the explanation that I was a TRAINS Magazine subscriber and was enjoying my trains/photographing hobby. Osama bin Laden sure changed life for railfans less than a decade ago. Even so, it is still enjoyable to watch trolley operations ... It is almost like watching poetry in motion as one trolley after another keeps coming by all day long!
Edmonton was the first city in North America, with a population of under a million, to have an LRT system, opening to the public in April 1978. Originally it ran from Belvedere to Central Stations, with an extension from Belvedere to Clareview a couple of years later. Currently it runs Clareview, Belvedere, Coliseum, Stadium, Churchill, Central, Bay, Corona, Grandin, University, Health Sciences, McKernan/Belgravia, South Campus, Southgate to Century Park.
A line from Churchill to NAIT is under construction now.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
from the cold outpost of Edmonton, Alberta
microbus (11-21):
Ah, Edmonton! I asked my boy, "Who is in Edmonton?" Right away he said, "The Edmonton Oilers." You can tell he is a big hockey fan!
It sounds like San Diego and Edmonton got their light rail systems going about the same time. I don't know how ridership is in Edmonton, but the San Diego Trolley is very popular, as shown in the following reshown downtown photo of droves waiting for the next frequent trolley.
I have a sister-in-law in the San Diego area, explaining my occasional visits to the San Diego Trolley. And, those visits entail an over 100-mile drive from near Cajon Pass.
Cajon Pass seldom gets snow, but your area likely gets snow often. The next time it snows in your area, the Edmonton trolleys will probably get crowded as people forsake their autos. But, in Southern California, hardly any of us knows how to drive in snow ... but we have such views as the below reshown shot from the San Diego Depot trolley and commuter train stop looking towards the Pacific Ocean.
Quite a contrast, microbus, about cities with a common interest for us!
Take care,
microbus (11-22):
You are welcome!
I had to chuckle at the "frozen switches and false occupancies" that Edmonton experienced this past week of extreme cold. That is quite a contrast to the rather mild weather the San Diego Trolley experiences.
Apparently Edmonton in Alberta Canada hasn't learned what profit minded freight railroads here in the United States learned a long time ago ...
The above is a view of the Union Pacific (UP) triple-track line in Nebraska that sometimes sees 150 freight trains a day. On the far right just below the signal is ducting, where hot air is blown unto the switch points, so that in blizzards and super cold weather switches can quickly (and reliably) be reversed (or normalized).
All along UP's Central Corridor "Overland Route" such heaters are present, as in Laramie, Wyoming at the western foot of Sherman Hill. The double-crossovers shown below is a super important spot, where eastbound trains (going away from the camera) on the foreground right track cross over to the background left track, and westbound trains (coming towards the camera) on the background right track cross over to the foreground left track.
Line side heaters (visible by the turnouts) are invaluable in keeping that important interlocking free flowing. It sounds like Edmonton could use such heaters.
As far as false occupancies are concerned, it is wondered if Edmonton would solve its problems by merely increasing voltage on shuntable track. The Santa Fe Railway years ago did that at one location in a rain storm and all the false occupancies went away.
Obviously, San Diego has no need for switch heaters, and undoubtedly solved any false shunting situations (like in heavy rains) years ago.
Anyway, it is hoped you, microbus, can thaw out quickly ...
Have fun (and hopefully stay warm too),
I don't know what sort of switch heaters Edmonton transit uses, but certainly they are very common here in eastern Canada - and can be completely overwhelmed by the kind of heavy snow followed by deep cold that Edmonton has just had, especially just after a warm and/or wet spell. I note that your photos are of the Overland route - which doesn't run through wet country, I believe. Wetter and colder conditions can require even higher capacity heaters - CN experimented once with a retired jet engine bolted to a flat car to speed switch melting in yards after ice storms.
JE
jkeaton (11-23):
Wow! CN tried a retired jet engine bolted to a flatcar to try to clear snow from yard switches!
I remember years and years ago a big transport jet, as the four jet engines were put in full throttle to go down the runway to take off, well, one of the engines broke loose and shot down the runway a few thousand feet!
I can't help but wonder if CN's use of a retired jet engine to clear snow managed to stay in one spot!
Sometimes Californians (me included) don't appreciate just how wonderful the weather is that the San Diego Trolley operates in!
Edmonton does use switch heaters, the kind that belches out hot air aimed directly at the points. Clareview switches get used a lot as that's the most northerly station, and they've been working fine. Century Park is the most southerly station, and also the newest. I'm not sure if they did anything different with the switch heaters there as I haven't seen the station yet. But the south LRT extension, which opened last April, seems to have more than its fair share of problems.
Good idea about increasing voltage on the shuntable track, KP... I don't know if they've thought of that or not.
La Mesa Blvd. Stop: Where an 'Out of Towner' Might Need a Compass!
Back in January (2011), this poster visited the La Mesa Blvd stop. It is a beautiful stop, but is a very difficult location to photograph. Even though it is just a stop, it has a feel and atmosphere about it that is difficult to put one's finger on ... or even put in words. It is a place that a VISITOR might need a compass to determine which way is which.
The streets and roadways in the vicinity of the La Mesa Blvd stop seem to go all different directions, and twist and curve up and down. K.P. on two separate occasions actually thought the rail line was on a generally east-west alignment. But in reality, it is on a north-south orientation.
As seen in the above photo, a main drag with oftentimes much auto traffic on it parallels the tracks (right). Unseen on the photo left is a lesser road that also parallels the tracks, which roadway right-of-way was utilized for the station stop to be built.
A quickly disoriented visitor also 'feels' that arriving OUTBOUND trains are inbound ...
... even though station signs (below photo's upper right) clearly indicate those trolleys are outbound to Gillespie Field ...
... and that departing INBOUND trolleys are felt to be outbound.
Obviously, trolley operators and regular passengers don't have that weird experience. Nevertheless, it is hoped that sometime in the future more time can be spent at the 'weird sensation' location, so additional photos can be taken and shared with the forum, photos that hopefully will be able to convey the quaintness and the feelings that a visitor gets at the La Mesa Blvd. stop.
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3330333
Part A (of A-E)
Trolley Car Happenings
On February 13, 2010 this photo was taken by Old Town, by where the Green Line ends and Blue Line begins. Note the window behind the last door of the first section.
On Wednesday, July 11, 2012 a similar trolley was photographed by Baltimore Drive in La Mesa. It did NOT have that first section's last window.
So, apparently, since K.P.'s last visit, more trolleys have been delivered, an undated version.
Continued in Part B
Part B (of A-E)
Photography
From aerials, K.P. had plotted out some areas to visit and photograph ... But found everything much more different than anticipated. One was the junction between the Green and Orange Lines in the La Mesa area, by the two-head signal on the lower left.
Aerial of Junction
There was another area too on K.P.'s list, the great curved tunnel, but that proved quite illusive.
A future photo session will have to be planned, and trolley rides taken to document those areas more effectively.
Continued in Part C
Part C (of A-E)
Passenger Stop Alterations
The La Mesa Blvd. Trolley Station
The La Mesa Blvd. Trolley station outbound boarding area was closed ...
... and boarding and alighting patrons had to walk across the other main all along the length of the trolley stop.
The closure was because of construction.
A worker advised that the platform was being raised. Presumably that, as well as with other stops, will allow the new cars to be used on the line.
Continued in Part D
Part D (of A-E)
More Colorful Cars
So many trolley cars now sport advertising vinyl on them, making for some colorful train sets at times ... and odd color combinations.
The second photo in Part C had a totally red set that had showed up. But, so many trolley sets, though, have the vinyl now.
Continued in Part E
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