SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TRACTION CLUB PREPARES FOR AUGUST NATIONAL TRAIN SHOW IN SAN JOSE, CA
A Welcome to New Visitors
Darin Volpe, Editor -
I’d like to use my space this month to welcome all the new visitors to Trolleyville and to offer everyone a little route map through our town.
On the Home page is a picture of our town. Lined up on the left is the list of destinations for all the trolleys that depart from central Trolleyville. All destination signs in blue are the trolleys whose destination are shops within Trolleyville. Those marked in red are LRVs, which will take you to final destinations outside of Trolleyville. If you want more information about the destinations, click on "Route Map" directly above the list. This will show you a description of the various shops.
Visit the Real Estate Office/Info Center if you would like to rent a store in Trolleyville, or if you already have a web site and would like one of our LRVs to connect our visitors with your site. You can also email us from there with any other questions or comments.
The Schoolhouse is one of the most popular places in town. This is where you can actually learn how do do something! Have you been window shopping in downtown, thinking that it would be nice to build a traction layout but have no idea where to start? In the Schoolhouse, we have articles on hanging overhead wire, how to build the operational trolley poles, track-laying hints, and more. We’re always adding new articles, and if you have an idea for an article, or have written an article yourself we’d love to hear from you.
In the Library, you’ll find a listing of books and web sites with historical data. It’s not a “link-o-rama”, but a carefully selected listing of historical resources.
Finally, in the Clubhoue up in the big tree you’ll find a short list of selected web sites, and our newest feature, the Scribbles on the Clubhouse Wall Bulletin Board. That’s were you can get to know your fellow travelers. Ask them questions, offer answers, sell what’s been laying around in your garage, or ask for something in particular you’re looking for. Selling something on eBay? Announce it here, just as long as it’s electric railway specific. Just want to talk about nothing at all? Post to "Mindless Chatter" in the Around the Car Barn.
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George Huckaby -
The Southern California Traction Club reached a major milestone on April 15th by operating its first completely rectangular layout at the NMRA L.A.Division Show at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. This HO scale layout measuring 19 by 22 ft was a portion of the 22 by 26’ ft layout to be operated during the National Train Show in San Jose on August 4, 5 and 6, 2000. Pictured at the show is the club President, George Huckaby.
The club was founded in Torrance in October 1995 and by July 1996 had three operating modules at a local hobby shop in the same city. By 1997, they made their first public appearance at the South Coast Botanic Garden with five modules. By the end of that same year, they would have their own trailer and would have grown to ten operating modules. In 1998,they moved into their own clubhouse, which is located in Baldwin Hills, and by the next year, they had a test track for both two rail and overhead wire powered cars. Today, the SCTC has eleven members in both the United States and Japan.
At the Show in August, not only will they be displaying several models of Pacific Electric cars, but there are models of the San Francisco Municipal Railway “F" Line PCC cars which just this March began operating to Fisherman’s Wharf using supposed worn out 45 year old PCC cars obtained from SEPTA in Philadelphia in 1993. Most of these PCC cars are using the new 1999 Bowser drives. Additionally, they hope to have in operation an eleven track storage yard and maintenance facility shown below.
The layout has several "Four Track" sections made famous on the Pacific Electric along with both rural and city area modeled. All cars must operate from overhead wire as both running rails are grounded.
The club will be in the middle of the main hall at the show so they should be hard to miss. Adjacent to the club will be several Trolleyville merchants, including Alpine Division Scale Models, Custom Traxx and Railway/Traction Miniatures. For more information about the club and its displays, please check the clubhouse in Trolleyville and contact the club President at traxx@earthlink.net.
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