HomeMy WebLinkAboutPowerpoint PresentationSAN DIEGO ELECTRIC RAILWAY AssocATFor4
Annual Update:
San Diego Electric Railway Association
(SDERA) and
San Diego Vintage Trolley (SDVT)
R. Mitchel Beauchamp
1 April 2014
SAN DIEGO VINTAGE TROLLEY, INC.
Recent SDERA Activities
• National City Depot
• Streetcar assets
• Speeders
• Model railroad exhibit
AND WE HAVE SOME REALLY BIG NEWS!!
SDERA's home
y..
The National City Depot continues to be in great condition
Maintenance and upgrades are done as needed
Streetcar Assets
Restoration work continues on
the former Old Spaghetti Factory Birney car and Vienna cars
Restoration of "Speeders"
We have 3 speeders running including a 1940 Fairmont
(not the one pictured)
Completed Renewal of Rails in our
3-Railer Model Train Layout
• Original Gargraves track (hollow) had worn out
• Replaced with Atlas solid rails -thanks to Tim Lewis's
Eagle Scout project!
• We have been told that ours is the 25th largest model
railroad in the country!
Car 539 -recent addition to SDERA
• Built 1946 in St. Louis, operated in St. Louis
• 1957 - 1982: operated in San Francisco
• 1992 - 2005: sat near Lake Tahoe for a project that never happened
• 2006: acquired by San Diego MTS
- Considerable restoration work done
• 2013: donated to SDERA, moved to National City Depot
• Body work, painting underway "as we speak"
NEWS FLASH!!
• Arrival of Car 54, March 5th, 2014!
• Early 1900's SDERy car
• Transferred from SD History Center to SDERA
• SD County grant for initial preservation / restoration efforts
SDERA Plans for Coming Year
• Preservation of Car 54
- "pole barn" for protection and work space
- Interpretation of this valuable piece of San Diego
history
• Restoration of Car 539
- Body work, painting
- Completion of work started downtown
• Continue cataloging library collection
• Additional grant writing
SDERA Leadership Team
Dave Slater, President
Tom Carnes, Vice President
Jody Surowiec, Secretary
Jeff Trimble, Treasurer
Directors:
Mitch Beauchamp, Jim Anderson,
Mike Reneau, Mike Reading, Ed McCann
Webmaster: Chris Higgins
Gift Shop Manager: Jim Anderson
Newsletter Editor: Richard Finch
Librarian: Tom Sapien
Membership / Docent Coordinator: John DeLalla
Regrettably we lost Tom Matson and Charles Smith recently
SDERA at National City Depot
• Located just west of Bay Marina Drive
exit from 1-5
• Open Thursday —Sunday
-from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Monthly meetings are held on 2nd
Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Depot houses museum, plus large 3-rail
model train layout, and a well -stocked
gift shop
SDVT Background
• Took delivery of 2 former San
Francisco Muni PCC cars on
Dec. 14, 2005
— Harry Mathis addressed a crowd
that day
• Additional cars have been
acquired since
• Cars re -numbered 529, 530, 531,
532, 533 & 534 to pick up SDERy
sequence
• Car 529 now operating as `silver
line' interspersed with today's
trolley system
And we have some really big news!
2009: car 529 had just come
out of the paint shop
2010: Car 529 moved
under its own power!
2011: Silver Line service
began operation
P.
Car 529 - grace and beauty!
Normal Operations on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Restoration work will continue
Recent tour group
— Dave Slater
— Dennis Frazier
— John Tarentino Jr.
— Larry Hall
— Ron Sutch
— Art Aydelotte
— Anthony Carideo
— Chuck Bencik
— Gene Calman
— Harry Mathis
— Mark Weaver
— Bob Recks
— Michael Ballard
— Dan Kelly
— Aaron Donovan
— Paul Kimo McGregor
— Ross Robinson
— George Geyer
— Pauly Burshteyn
— R.L. Thomas
— Nadiya Midgely
— Nancy Dock
— John L. Lewis
— Eddie Herold
— Marge McLaughlin
— And many others
People Who've Made It Happen
L to R: Dan Kelly, Aaron Donovan, Dave Slater - Project Manager,
Dennis Frazier, Pauly Burstyen, (kneeling)
NEWS FLASH!!
Arrival of "new" old car
March 3rd, 2014
Came from PA
Traded for older
SD Trolley cars
Will be numbered 530
Needs only "cosmetics"
Should be 'on track' for
2015 centennial!
March 3.2014
Antique streetcar to ride again
SAN DIEGO -- A 68-year-old trolley car similar to the kind used in San Diego in the 1930s and 1940s was
delivered Monday to the Metropolitan Transit System_
The President's Conference Committee car will be refurbished and placed into service on the MTS' Silver
Line, which is a downtown loop starting at the 12th & Imperial Transit Station and running to America
Plaza, east on C Street to City College before returning to 12th & Imperial_ The line opened in December
2011 with another old, rebuilt trolley car.
"The addition of another PCC car to our vintage trolley fleet means that MTS can offer more reliable
service to passengers who want to experience a piece of San Diego's transportation history first-hand,"
said Harry Mathis, chairman of the MTS board of directors.
"This PCC car is similar to the ones that provided service in San Diego from 1936 until the last car was
retired in 1949," he said_ "Riding one is like stepping back in time.'
The new trolley car was acquired in a trade with United Transportation CorpfRail Air Sources, which
makes parts for railroad and light rail systems. The company is getting two decommissioned San Diego
trolley cars that will be displayed in museums in Suisun City and Ro khiil Furnace, Pa.
The red San Diego trolley cars that have been in service for many years are being retired and replaced by
the sleeker low -floor vehicles.
MTS employees will perform the mostly cosmetic work needed on the newly acquired car, like body
repair and painting. It will be similar in appearance to the current vintage car_
The renovation is being funded by a $50,000 grant from San Diego Gas & Electric. When complete near
the end of this year, the interior will display SDG&E photos showing the history of electricity -powered
transportation in the city.
111 SDVT Plans for coming year
I.
• Continued operations of car 529
• Restoration to full operation for 'new' car 530
- In time for 2015 Centennial
• With 2 operational cars, daily operation of the
Silver Line should be possible
SAN DIEGO ELECTRIC RAILWAY A55oc,ATroN
www.sdera.org
ow UM
www.sdvintagetrolley.com
This brief produced by Jim Price