|
|
Post by losangeles2319 on Apr 3, 2009 20:37:54 GMT -8
I'm not sure how many people on The Transit Coalition are from San Diego but does anyone know of some expansion plans for the trolley system?
|
|
|
|
Post by Transit Coalition on Apr 3, 2009 21:02:08 GMT -8
|
|
|
|
Post by Justin Walker on Apr 3, 2009 21:11:57 GMT -8
The only San Diego Trolley extension being planned at the moment is the Mid-Coast Corridor extension north to the UCSD area, due to open in 2015.  Also, the San Diego Vintage Trolley, Inc., a non-proft group, also wants to get vintage streetcars running on the downtown loop, much like the F-Market line in San Francisco, but they haven't had much luck. Edit: Ah, Bart! You beat me to it!  |
|
|
|
Post by James Fujita on Apr 4, 2009 22:02:50 GMT -8
it seems to me like I've heard about the UCSD extension for a while now but I haven't heard if there's been any progress on it.
for that matter, at one point, proposed extensions of the trolley included a line to the airport and a line through Balboa Park and north from there. either they ran out of funding or they ran into NIMBYs (since a lot of these extensions would not be on existing ROWs like the Tijuana and El Cajon lines) or something because those other projects seem to have vanished into thin air.
|
|
|
|
Post by losangeles2319 on Apr 7, 2009 15:02:51 GMT -8
so San Diego could get its first below grade rail[in reference to the NIMBYs] is that so bad they could at least still have some plans is there a sight for proposed San Diego lines hmmm, i should check up on that  |
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Apr 8, 2009 17:53:20 GMT -8
San Diego has a partly-below-grade line--the San Diego State University station is in a short subway. From the off-the-shelf, bare-bones operation of 27 years ago, SD Trolley has grown into an elaborate (and relatively expensive) system.
|
|
|
|
Post by trackman on Oct 12, 2010 5:40:55 GMT -8
Yes, The Trolley is planning the Mid-Coast Extension and will be seeking Federal New Starts funding very soon. They plan a 2017 opening.
They are also rebuilding the Blue Line from downtown SD to the border and retrofitting all stations for low-floor LRVs.
|
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Oct 12, 2010 21:34:31 GMT -8
The San Diego Vintage Trolley operation is starting to take shape; the group behind it has three ex-San Francisco Muni PCC cars under restoration (and conversion to pantograph-type current collectors), and I think they have some more retired PCC's available.
|
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Oct 12, 2010 21:48:45 GMT -8
Just checked Preserved North American Electric Railway Cars--in addition to the three Muni cars, they also have two from Philadelphia (SEPTA). They are being numbered 529-532 (one of the SEPTA cars hasn't been renumbered and may be for parts). The numbers follow the original San Diego PCC's which were 501-528 (508 and 528 are preserved at Orange Empire)
|
|
|
|
Post by jimrsk on Feb 27, 2012 17:20:38 GMT -8
I live in San Diego and I am getting pretty depressed about the schedule for the Mid-Coast Trolley extension, which would be a huge improvement, since it will connect to the UCSD campus and the UTC mall and the La Jolla Plaza where there are a number of high traffic businesses such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, BJ's, Chipotle, art movies, etc. Here is the depressing part. A year the new line was to be opened by 2015. I was counting the days. Next I saw projected opening date of 2016, the later 2017 and now 2018. That is ridiculous, 6 years for a 3 year project. Somebody tell me that this isn't really true, although all of these announcements have been seen in print. The latest was from the President of UCSD.
|
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Apr 8, 2012 12:49:48 GMT -8
One bit of news from "down south" that escaped my notice: They now have a new set of Siemens low-entry LRV's--the 4000-class. They seem to be used mostly on the Green Line (Old Town to Santee via San Diego State Univ.) I was there last Tuesday, and also noted that after over 30 years of service, LRV 1001 is still running. Back in Oct. 1980, it was the center of attention at the official "roll-out" ceremony, with assistance from a classic Mack big-rig tractor because the wire wasn't up (or at least wasn't energized) yet.
Regarding the UCSD/Mid Coast extension: It seems like the "can do" spirit that got the original Centre City to San Ysidro line built in what now seems like an incredibly short time at amazingly low cost has dried up and blown away. Has San Diego turned into Los Angeles?
|
|
|
|
Post by transitfan on Apr 16, 2012 7:39:51 GMT -8
Glad to hear that 1001 is still running in SD ;D I was afraid that it was one of the cars that went to the new line in Argentina (?) Hopefully, once MTDB decides to retire all of the U2s, that 1001 will find a home in a museum, or will be kept by MTDB as an historic car.
|
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Apr 1, 2014 20:21:09 GMT -8
Latest report is that San Diego 1001 will be kept as an historic car for special excursions on the SD Trolley system. Two of the U-2s have gone to museums in the US: 1018 is at Western Ry. Museum near Fairfield (the BAERA location), and another U2 will go to the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Pennsylvania.
|
|
|
|
Post by transitfan on Apr 2, 2014 7:04:36 GMT -8
Latest report is that San Diego 1001 will be kept as an historic car for special excursions on the SD Trolley system. Two of the U-2s have gone to museums in the US: 1018 is at Western Ry. Museum near Fairfield (the BAERA location), and another U2 will go to the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Pennsylvania.
Hopefully, it will be restored to the original 1980 condition (with the old "T" logo instead of MTS), and maybe even the original block letter rollsigns. |
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Apr 2, 2014 16:18:11 GMT -8
 Here's a photo I took at the official "rollout" in Oct. 1980. |
|
|
|
Post by transitfan on Apr 3, 2014 7:05:26 GMT -8
For those who have forgotten or never knew, here is a pic I took in 1984 of a San Diego Trolley train in the original livery:  (Sorry about the quality, it was taken with a 110 camera). Not 1001, but I think 1015 was the last car in the original 1980 order (either that, or it was the first car in the supplemental 1982 order). That pic was taken near Imperial and 12th. The MTS building had not yet been constructed. |
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Jun 10, 2014 23:33:32 GMT -8
1015 was the first car in the second order. I remember seeing halves of U-2 cars on low-bed trailers parked along I-5 near San Onofre back in 1981 after the first 14 cars had been in service for a few months. I think they came from Germany by ship and were offloaded at Houston and trucked to San Diego, but that batch may have been unloaded at LA-Long Beach harbor.
|
|
|
|
Post by bobdavis on Jun 10, 2014 23:41:29 GMT -8
 Here are some photos from two years ago. I took the Surfliner to San Diego on a Tuesday (Apr. 3) to ride the PCC car around downtown. It's painted in a San Diego Electric Ry. color scheme, but it's really an ex St. Louis Public Service car that spent most of its service years on the San Francisco Muni. I also saw some of the 30-year old U-2s still in service. Attachments:
|
|
