Passenger Trains > Tens, anyone? Electric railway cars, that is.

I was at the Gold Line Foothill Extension Operations Campus dedication this morning in Monrovia CA.  This is the new shops and yard complex which will provide a state of the art maintenance and storage facility for the LA Metro Gold Line, which presently extends from East Pasadena to East LA via LA Union Station.  Part of the expansion program (which also includes the Expo Line between Culver City and Santa Monica, and the Downtown Connector that will tie the whole Los Angeles light rail system together) will be the acquision of about 80 new cars from the Kinki Sharyo company of Japan.  The cars are being assembled in Palmdale, and full production of about four cars a month is expected to begin in late June or July.  The cars will be delivered to the yard in Monrovia, and can be tested on the nearly completed Foothill Extension between East Pasadena and Azusa.  Revenue service on the new section is expected to begin next January.

Metro 1003 was on display at the train-washing building, and because my wife says pictures of me are all too rare because I'm usually behind the camera, one of my fellow PRS/ERHA members took the second shot.

If you say "Ten" to a Pacific Electric fan, the subject of the third photo comes to mind.  1001 is preserved in running condition at Orange Empire, and my memories of Tens are of seeing them go by my home in Monrovia on big race days at Santa Anita, as the three car trains went to the storage track east of downtown Monrovia.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/15 02:23 by DNRY122.

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In San Francisco, Tens are PCC cars.

1010  is one of The City's first PCCs--a double ender built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1948.  It never wore the blue and yellow paint job in its early days, but when it was rebuilt for the "F" line in the 1990, this "retro" livery was applied.

1040  was the very last PCC built in North America.  This photo was taken when it was on a charter trip a few years ago; normally, vintage cars are seen on the "L" line only during testing programs.

1061 is an ex-Philadelphia (SEPTA) PCC painted in tribute to the Pacific Electric.  None of the thirty PCC cars that PE operated have survived; they were of a unique-to-PE double-ended center entrance design.  Also, they were air-electric cars built by Pullman in Worcester MA.  The tribute car in the photo is a single-ended, all-electric St. Louis product, but the front trolley pole and the center door make Muni 1061 as close to a PE PCC as we're likely to see in this century.

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In San Diego, Tens are the original Siemens-Duewag light rail cars that sparked the return of local electric railway service in many American cities, including some that had lost streetcar service in the 1940s.  Here we are on opening day, with two of the fourteen LRVs on "C" street in downtown San Diego.

And here's one of the original set, still in action in 2006.  Two LRVs from the second group of ten are now in museums.

Up north in Solano County, the Western Railway Museum volunteers spent years restored Sacramento Northern 1005.  Here it is on home rails, a surviving section of the old SN main line between Oakland and Sacramento.

 

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Great photos, Sir.  Really enjoyed them.  Regarding PE "Tens"--  I have one in 1/4 " scale, O-gauge that was built by the late Kirby Churchill of EBMES in Oakland and given to my wife Suzie as a "wedding present" some 42-years ago.  I also have one of his Sacramento Northern combines, # 1017.  Unfortunately, neither car was ever completed as far as Trucks and underbody detailing is concerned.  So about five years ago I purchased the necessary hardware for both cars for about $ 300.00 !  However, I didn't find the time to complete the cars.  Now that I am retired, maybe that will change!  Take care.

KRK

During engineering consultations with the San Diego Trolley people, I was told that the choice of "10-series" numbers and red paint was no coincidence.
It seems that Senator James Mills, the founder and long time leader of the system had a true appreciation of the PE "10s".
In the few times I talked with him I did not bring it up though...

The "Nowhere In Particular" destination placard on the San Francisco PCC cracks me up. If I'm correct, that's the placard they put up when the car is full and therefore no one can get on, is that right?

Tor in Eugene

I think the "nowhere in particular" sign is used for charters.       I have seen "take next car" signs used when a car is too full for additional passengers.

Regarding the "Nowhere in Particular" rollsign segment on Muni 1040--the only other Muni car (or any other streetcar, for that matter) that I've seen with that indication is Muni 1, the very first Muni car, built in 1912, and used on many charter trips over the years.  As far as I know, the "Nowhere in Particular" is used for charter trips, possibly when the person arranging the tour keeps the actual route a secret.  One can imagine a trolley buff who's also a Beatles fan setting up a charter run called "The Magical Municipal Mystery Tour",  Here's a closeup of Old Number One taken during the Muni Centennial Day on Dec. 28, 2012.

2)  Here's the other end of No. 1, along with restored Marmon-Herrington trolley bus (trolley coach, trackless trolley or ETB) on that same historic day.

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Great series of photos.  Love all the history, even if it's just starting.

Nathan

The "Nowhere in Particular" thing originated in early BAERA hsitory and has been carried over into today's MunRy.

DNRY-----don't we have a 1003 and 1016....PCC's and S. D. 1018 at WRM up and running.....

had a great maintenance week also---good food....

Don---Napa---still shacking and baking----4.1 last Thursday.

Yes, I think I've even ridden the Magic Carpet car (Muni 1003), but didn't have any photos of it handy.  The San Diego "Ten" arrived after my last visit to RVJ, and I do have photos of Muni 1016 "The first of the last".from Members' Day 2012.  One can imagine an anthropomorphic 1016 saying, "I'm a STREETCAR, designed for city traffic.  What the heck am I doing out in this cow pasture?"  This is one place where Muni's practice of equipping single ended streetcars with front poles really pays off.  The only other system I know of that had front poles on single-ended PCCs was that West Texas town of El Paso.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/15 18:52 by DNRY122.

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Thanks for the photos and coverage Bob.  Glad you were there to document the opening.  I was up in the San Francisco bay area for Memorial Day weekend, which included rides on the Historic F line cars in your pictures.

Rich

You're welcome.  I'll be posting some more photos from the Operations Campus dedication soon.