The San Diego Trolley
Part E (of A-E)
Fun Crosswalks and Connecting Buses
By the La Mesa Blvd. Trolley Station
An interesting, fun thing to watch was a crosswalk near the station stop. When people would cross, the roadway had yellow lights that would flash!
Those flashing lights add a little spice to the transit seen. One side of the street is the trolley stop, the other a semi-long transit bus stop..
This will conclude this series until K.P. can return and ride the trolleys once again and document some of the more interesting sites on the lines.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
The Orange Line
The “32nd & Commercial” Stop
Part I (of I-IX)
Since the last post series herein from over a year ago the San Diego Trolley as an outfit received additions to its trolley fleet roster, 65 spiffy cars numbered 4001-4065 from Siemens up at Sacramento, CA. Those trolleys were model designated SD70 US and have a sleek, stunning appearance.
The focus this series will be the 32nd & Commercial Station, a curved place where the east-west tracks meets a short section of more or less north-south tracks.
From the key 12th & Imperial Transfer Station …
… the Orange Line heads east on street running all the way over to the 32nd & Commercial stop. The below view looks westward just west of that station stop.
Continued in Part II
Part II (of I-IX)
The curved nature of the stop is seen from across the intersection of 32nd and Commercial Streets (southwest quadrant thereof).
SD70 US cars at the station:
Continued in Part III
Part III (of I-IX)
A contrast in trolley vehicles:
SD70 US 4000’s:
SD100 2000’s:
Continued in Part IV
Part IV (of I-IX)
A 4000 connected to a 2000:
An outbound 4000 series leaves the station stop, and heads north.
Just north of the trolley stop the line bridges over Imperial Ave. in an upside down “U” route.
That upside down “U” is seen below:
AERIAL LINK: Station Stop and Upside Down "U" Route
There are steps down to Imperial Ave.
Continued in Part V
Part V (of I-IX)
Trolley 4045 heads an arriving trolley about to go over Imperial Ave.
While simple and frugal, the stop’s metal benches and coverings are attractive.
“Big Brother” type cameras give the area an atmosphere of security.
Continued in Part VI
Part VI (of I-IX)
A small satellite fare collector (a main ticket dispenser is visible on the upper left):
At the station stop, many disembark the long trolley set.
A view towards downtown:
Note the traffic light on the right …
Continued in Part VII
Part VII (of I-IX)
The 32nd and Commercial Streets traffic light also has a train light too.
The street running of the Orange Line under catenary:
It is unknown if the track needs some alignment attention or if “The Trolley” is trying to attract Six Flags thrill rider types …
Continued in Part VIII
Part VIII (of I-IX)
A coming and going among roadway traffic:
Continued in Part IX
Part IX (of I-IX)
A 2000 SD100 series set comes along street running.
This line was an old single-track freight train branch line years ago, and adding a second track to accommodate high volumes of riders often necessitated shifting alignments in the adding of another bridge.
All is quiet on walkways and seating between the tracks … until boarders come and wait, and the next trolley arrives.
This will conclude this series. Additional, related material will be posted soon, including goblins, spookyville, and trolleys passing the very unimpressed …
K.P.,
Another great photo essay on your part.
Back in the 1950's, I recall seeing a derelict PCC car sitting in a junkyard alongside U.S. 101 north of San Diego. Later I learned that the trolley system there had been abandoned in 1949, and the car at the time of abandonment was only about a dozen years old.
It has always amazed me that San Diego was so quick to restore what they had lost. Who would have thought?
John Timm
desertdog (9-22)
From the inception of the San Diego Trolley in the late 1970’s / earlier 1980’s, the City of San Diego seemed to be more progressive and forward thinking than most other cities.
From the standpoint of interested observers and railfans, the San Diego Trolley is very open about its fleet of trolleys, and spectacularly so! Their website lists all the trolleys on the roster, specifications, even diagrams, in a fleet chronology fashion! A PDF file is even downloadable. If that isn’t a dream come true for fascinated observers, I don’t know what is!
LINK: http://www.sdmts.com/MTS/FS_SDTI_000.pdf.pdf
The San Diego Trolley system was not long ago revamped route-wise, and routes now seem more logical and orientated towards serving the citizenry of San Diego better. For that reason it has been decided to return to San Diego (hopefully soon) and photo document some of those operational changes, as well as highlight for the forum a few fascinating areas of the system.
Take care, John,
K.P.
Through the Land of Spookyville
Part “A” (of A-G)
Heading out from San Diego, the Orange Line of the San Diego Trolley stops briefly at the “32nd & Commercial” trolley stop, and then goes through an upside down reverse “U” on its eastward trek. Towards the eastern side of the upside down “U” the Orange Line goes underneath the State Route 15 (SR-15) Freeway that becomes Interstate 15 (I-15) a few miles to the north.
Just east of SR-15 is the Francis Street grade crossing in a residential area.
From the east Trolley No. 4021 approaches the grade crossing in a pathway traversing much greenery.
Continued in Part B
Part “B” (of A-G)
No. 4017 approaches from the west …
… and heads east to spooky places.
Continued in Part C
Part “C” (of A-G)
On September 4, 2013 K.P. was totally frustrated in getting to Spookyville, because it had closed for the day. This was the closest to the desired spooky place that could be had, at the 43rd Street grade crossing at K Street.
Looking west from 43rd Street:
An eastward oriented shot … with a (“a”) Spookyville in the background.
Spookyville is a play on words … for a cemetery. Come to find out, the San Diego Trolley passes TWO cemeteries in a row, one on the south side (pictured above), and one just to the above one’s west. In the latter, the Trolley actually going THROUGH it!
Continued in Part D
Part “D” (of A-G)
The return to the area was made on Friday, September 13, 2013 … of all days.
This is the Spookyville grade crossing! View looks south.
A westbound to downtown San Diego comes zipping along.
On the last photo above, the north part of the cemetery is visible.
For an “unlucky” day the visit went surprisingly well.
Continued in Part E
Part “E” (of A-G)
The south side looking north:
K.P. got brave … and walked among the dead!
Continued in Part F
Part “F” (of A-G)
San Diego Trolley operators must (“must”) be terrified to pass the cemetery area, for the circuitry for the crossing gates seems to be setup for passing by at 200 M.P.H.!
The gates activate, come down again, and just ding and ding and ding and ding. Finally, a trolley races by …
… and the gates go up, and all is quiet again for five to ten minutes.
Continued in Part G
Part “G” (of A-G)
A few final views:
A last one … of the catenary:
Circa 1982 K.P. rode through here on one of the original trolleys, a 1000 series unit. He did not see the cemetery. From headstones, obviously it was present back then. Matter of fact, K.P. saw a marker this past visit of someone who passed away before his mother was even born! The cemetery was only perceived recently on the trolley line from aerials. The conclusion is that the San Diego Trolley does an excellent job of camouflaging the place of rest with line side trees so riders probably don’t even notice it …
The Mount Hope Cemetery is City owned, and managed by its Parks and Recreation Department. Hours open are very limited, currently only 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday, and closed Saturday and Sunday.
The cemetery crossing gated grade crossing has to be one of the spookiest in the entire West …
This will conclude the series.
Don't those trolleys speed through the curve around that cemetery? I remember between there and Lemon Grove, they run quite fast.
mvs (10-5):
My, my, how time flies! Sorry for the belated reply.
I don’t know what the speed limit is by the cemetery, but they were going at a pretty good clip when I was there. The trolleys go, I believe, a maximum of 50 M.P.H. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did every bit of that by the cemetery!
Best,
Do they really refer this LRT as a "trolley" ? Thats a word that hasn't been in use for 50 years, any indication of the word trolley conjures up the "Toonerville Trolley"
awwrailroad Current US light-rail boom, yes I believe so. We took our lead from Calgary. I believe the Winter Olympics and subsequent "Stampeed" prompted them to go with Light Rail. Any Canadian Light Rail types out there want to weigh in and educate us?
Current US light-rail boom, yes I believe so. We took our lead from Calgary. I believe the Winter Olympics and subsequent "Stampeed" prompted them to go with Light Rail.
Any Canadian Light Rail types out there want to weigh in and educate us?
Started the LRT in 1978, first trains 1981, all German equipment (1948 technology) these were monsters of cars, Calgary took a huge chance on an LRT system in a city that was way under a million people and many warned them it would not work, today the city is completely out of control in it's growth it's that BOOM sound you hear, but they have an LRT. and the word is STAMPEDE.
BTW Calgary had electric rubber tired trolley buses before the LRT.
tatans (11-22):
Oh, yes, San Diego really does call it “The Trolley” big time! And everybody in the town knows it too!
The San Diego Trolley is an outstanding corporate success story, and well known nationally as such among professionals in the know.
To be sure, state Sen Jim Mills didn't like having "trolley" in the name as the cars used pantographs instead of trolley poles. In a bit of history repeating itself, the San Diego Electric railway was experimenting with pantographs in the 1920's, notably on the La Jolla line (still remember seeing the asphalt over the tracks on Fay Avenue in the late 1960's between Muirlands Jr High and La Jolla High).
- Erik
erikem (11-23):
It sounds like Sen. Jim Mills belongs to the Technocrat Party!
Seriously, I like “Trolley” in the name and think it is a super marketing idea.
It has been over three years since this thread was posted in. Recent developments inspired this post series.
A New Line Extension plus a U2 …
… Gets a New Home
Part 1 (of 1 to 4)
Construction started in October 2016 on the San Diego Trolley’s Blue Line extension northward at ground level, then through a tunnel under BNSF, Amtrak, and Coaster used tracks to an elevated tracks loop. The project has been dubbed the Mid-Coast Trolley. Service on the new extension is anticipated in 2021.
And official link is below.
http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?projectid=250&fuseaction=projects.detail
A retired San Diego Trolley U2 got a new home, and is No. 1008, now stationed at the Orange Empire Railway Museum (OERM) in Perris, CA. only a few hours north of San Diego.
Some photos:
Continued in Part 2
Part 2 (of 1 to 4)
More photos:
Continued in Part 3
Part 3 (of 1 to 4)
Near the entrance gate to the OERM:
At photo time, No. 1008 was barely seen in the just above last photo’s center.
The OERM is open most days, and scattered equipment often operates on weekends, and a few times a year big events are held with much equipment running.
Continued in Part 4
Part 4 (of 1 to 4)
OERM staffers said No. 1008 arrived at the museum only a few months ago. This ex-AT&SF line was rebuilt in the last few years, and now sees commuter trains on it, the line called the Perris Valley Line, and goes through to Los Angeles. The servicing tracks in South Perris:
The new interchange track from the Perris Valley Line to the museum is rarely used, but was used for bringing No. 1008 to the museum.
All the above views were from December 18, 2016.
This will end the series.
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