http://www1.arguscourier.com/article/20 ... /894612882

Group claims to own a "California car." Does that term refer to a Los Angeles Railways-style streetcar or a Muni cable car?

Sloan

It's a real streetcar, being restored in Willits, CA.

Here's a link to a poster of their rolling stock:

http://www.petalumatrolley.org/rollingStock.html

A while back Paul Class sent me some information and photos of work being done on this car - it's really impressive, practically a new car. The car had been badly fire-damaged by a vagrant in Portland and there wasn't much left afterwards. The car is Australian; according to Paul it is ex-Ballarat #30, originally Melbourne #183. The car is identical to preserved car Bendigo 19, which was built in the same series but went to Bendigo instead of Ballarat. (I hope that link works!)

and to answer the first question; a California type car was open on the ends and closed in the middle.

They were built as cable cars (some still active on San Francisco's California street line today.

They were used on the Los Angeles Railway and many more lines here in the Golden State.

Several of them have been restored by the folks in Kelly Park, San Jose to run in downtown San Jose.

One of them #135 was restored there and has been sold to the Sacramento Transit It's original home was with the Pacific Gas and Electric there.

At the Western Railway Museum we have a pile of parts including a Peckem truck for such an electric car. It is not a cable car.

Ted Miles

That California car looks to be of the same class as the one that Harry Nichols had for sale a couple of years ago. Old Pueblo Trolley has Los Angeles Railways No. 733 and a sister car-both Huntington style California cars. The sister car will be parted out to permit the restoration of 733, but that's a few years away at this point.

As noted by Ted above, the broadest meaning of "California car" refers to a car design, not specific to any one user or builder.

John Hammond, owner of “The California Car Works” held two patents (d 21042 & 474,736) for the “California Car” design, a double ended car with an open end section, center closed section, open end section.

The original design was used for Cable cars built for the California Street line in San Francisco. It was later applied to single truck electric cars (surviving examples at Orange Empire, SF Muni and fragments at Rio Vista) and double truck electric cars built by a number of builders, including the LARy cars, but also used on cars, both standard and narrow gauge all over the west coast.

Similarly the term "San Francisco Pattern Car" was used in ads to refer to a street car with one open and one closed section.