Have not seen anything here on this yet. The heritage strret car line in San Pedro started running last weekend. It consists of three cars running on former Pacific Electric tracks along the waterfront, near the Maritime Museum, Cruise Ship Terminal and Ports of Call Village.

They have a big web site which documents the building of the two 500 classs street cars and the conversion of a PE Interurban body back to rail operation. If you can believe it, the car was converted to rubber tire operation, for use in parades etc.

They report a good turn out for opening weekend. And in what I believe is a first for a Heritage street car line, the tracks will be used for freight operations at night.

ted_miles@nps.gov

> Have not seen anything here on this yet. The
> heritage strret car line in San Pedro
> started running last weekend. It consists of
> three cars running on former Pacific
> Electric tracks along the waterfront, near
> the Maritime Museum, Cruise Ship Terminal
> and Ports of Call Village.

> They have a big web site which documents the
> building of the two 500 classs street cars
> and the conversion of a PE Interurban body
> back to rail operation. If you can believe
> it, the car was converted to rubber tire
> operation, for use in parades etc.

> They report a good turn out for opening
> weekend. And in what I believe is a first
> for a Heritage street car line, the tracks
> will be used for freight operations at
> night.

As of this time only one of the replica cars is in service. The other one is still under construction.

The two replica cars have steel framing with wood clading. The woodwork on the one completed car is absolutely wonderful.

For more information see John Smatlak's Railway Preservation Resources website.

Brian Norden

Red Cars at Railway Preservation Resources
bnorden49@earthlink.net

> And in what I believe is a first
> for a Heritage street car line, the tracks
> will be used for freight operations at
> night.
Buckinghan Valley Trolley Ass'n./Penn's Landing
Trolley/Electric City Trolley Museum operations
have always been over freight railroads - New
Hope & Ivyland, Philadelphia Belt Line, and
Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley. In the case of
Penn's Landing, the City of Philadelphia's PBL
had half ownership of the track and the city
solicitor thought that they owned the half from
10:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m.!


104577.651@compuserve.com

Jim, Interesting point you make. I lived on Delaware Avenue in 1979. I only saw a handfull of car movements on the Beltline. Strange feeling to be sitting at a traffic light and have a Diesel engine on rubber tires pull up behind you!

Before I left the area I was told that the operation was abandoned. do you know if there are still any trains using the line!

ted_miles@nps.gov

> I was told that the
> operation was abandoned. do you know if
> there are still any trains using the line!
Not any more on the portion North of Pier 38 to
the end of the track at Race St.
In April & May, 2002, I posted messages about a
passenger train that would operate as far North
as Walnut St. Other than M O W equipment, that
was probably the last movement since Penn's
Landing Trolley stopped running at the end of
1996. They were the last freight customer North
of Pier 38 near Christian St. and received Broad
St. Subway car 182 on its own wheels via ConRail.
The Conrail trains were known to use the passing
siding at Market St., possibly because there was a
take-out food place there! PenDot removed the
siding in Feb., 1997, which reduced the possible
excuses for ConRail to run up there.

104577.651@compuserve.com

Our operation on the NHIR and on Delaware Ave. (now Columbus Blvd.) predates the current "temporal separation" regulations.

All operations on Delaware Ave. were on a "see and be seen" basis with CR running at "yard speed" as defined in the pre-NORAC rule book. Occasionally we would find a car in the Market st. siding which we would push to the end of the wire with P&W 46 (which has RR brakes).

Today the Electric City cars run on the Delaware-Lackawanna under a temporal separation system where the freight RR is physically locked out of the trolley line during trolley operations.

Electric City Trolley Museum Association