Southern
California Traction Club
to embrace DCC!
***
Of the original members that formed the club back in 1995, only one remains. Because of the turnover, new members with new ideas have joined the club and the direction has slowly changed from the traditional to the contemporary. Digital Command Control (DCC) is about as contemporary as you can get today, especially since model train manufacturers are offering DCC ready and DCC compatible locomotives and accessories.
To ease the changeover to DCC, the club will employ this method of control only on the three city modules currently being constructed.
Two modules, one 48" by 28" (Module 060) and 48" by 24" (Module 996), placed behind each other to form a 48" by 52" surface, will contain a downtown city loop with all the turnouts and crossings attendant to a trolley system in the 1940's and 1950's. Shown below are both modules placed together during construction of track and sidewalks. Trackwork is completed on module 060 using techniques covered in the Trolleyville Schoolhouse and was in process on module 996 (rear module) when the photo was taken on March 29, 2006.
The surface of the module will be a mixture of New Orleans and Philadelphia, so chosen due to the importance trolley cars have had in both cities and also due to the same track gauge that the cities share. Note both Crescent City and Philly cars on the modules. But modeling New orleans allows three tracks on at least one block and modeling Philadelphia permits single track streets only 26 ft wide and double track streets only 39 ft wide, allowing much more scenery per square inch of modeling.
Under module 060 will be another is module 061, which will contain an operating two-track subway system with a detailed station. The photo below was taken on March 26, 2006 during a club work session.
Eventually the trains will slow down and stop and the station and then resume their journey. There is even talk of expanding the subway under additional modules. As work on these modules progress, we will report the status to you.
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Trolley
Modeling - The cure for many
of life's irritations!
A
Trolleyville Times Editorial
***
Almost every trolley lover has a favorite time and place that we remember with fond memories. Some of us would love to be able to spend some time back in those wonderful times. Those were the 'good ole days'.
For one trolley fan we know, it was Philadelphia locations such as 60th and Market in 1953, 17th & Erie in 1952, Woodland and Spruce in 1950. These were the places where this young man would ride his Schwinn bicycle and lean on a line pole and watch trolleys go by. Another fan loved 6th & Main Sts in Los Angeles. There was no graffiti, no bums, no beggars, just clean, well maintained trolley cars full of happy people going places. You can't even go to some of these locations today without remembering what was and being disgusted.
When San Francisco Municipal Railway opened their F-line in 1995, the general public loved it. Most streetcar fans hailed it, but the modelers found a lot that "...wasn't right.." The paint scheme on the Philadelphia PCC-IIs "...wasn't right"...". The trucks under the 500 series cars on San Pedro Waterfront trolley "...weren't right.." Some of these comments were not well received by those in the industry to had fought very hard just to get something done.
Now most of those involved with those lines know well the reasons why some things "...wasn't right.." "...Wasn't right.." really means today's item when compared strictly to the historical prototype. The reasons for "...wasn't right.." range from parts unavailability to budget limitations to just politics.
The solution for all of this is for you to make it right. Take up modeling. start with that one car that you want "right". Model the neighborhood that you remember "right" and relive the "good ole days"..........right! It sure works for a lot of your fellow modelers!
One modeler that we know took his model of New Orleans 963, went to Carrollton Shops in New Orleans in 1980, got actual paint samples, and painted and lettered the car. He sure felt good about that, knowing he had the right colors.
Choose your scale, get your model and enjoy! Now the level of adherence to the prototype is totally under YOUR control!
Trolleyville
Wants
You & Your Modeling Ideas!
***
If you have a neat way of doing things, share it with us in the Trolleyville Schoolhouse. There are not that many trolley modelers and all of them should not have to re-invent the wheel when starting their model traction layouts. If it works for you, it might work for someone else! We really want to hear for other model traction clubs or the traction portion of model railroad clubs!
Really great models encourage potential modeler to build models. The more models that we show, the more that we can encourage manufacturers to make more traction models and accessories.
Submit articles in most electronic formats, although MS Word for text and jpeg images are preferred. Let the rest of us know what great things that you are doing! To contact us, click here!
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A
Major Milestone for a long-time
avid trolley fan!
***
Trolleyville reporter, George Jones, who interviewed Dave Swanson of CIA Incorporated in our November 2005 issue, told us that on Sunday, March 19, 2005, George Huckaby, who is the owner of Custom Traxx, one of th founders of the Southern California Traction Club and a member of the East Penn Traction Club,completed all training necessary to operate Pacific Electric Interurban 418 at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. George is shown below in the cab of the 418 shaking hands with Instructor John Tait after completion of the qualification trip.
Successfully qualifying on any piece of equipment at the Orange Empire Railway Museum is not an easy task. The Museum stresses detailed knowledge of the car, knowledge of the General Code of Operating Rules (GCOR) and, most importantly, safety in all aspects of operation. The Museum has prepared excellent technical guides to most of the equipment now in use. George, who began his training on this car in June 2005, joined the Orange Empire Railway Museum in 1971 as member 832. By May 1972, he had been qualified to run San Francisco Municipal Railway 171 and New Orleans Public Service 913 by the late Ben Minnich. (Note: Car 913, incidentally, was sold last year to San Francisco Municipal Railway and resides now at Geneva Car House along with sister 952.) Subsequently, he could be found at the museum once monthly operating Los Angeles Railway conventional cars 665, 1160, 1201, along with PCC cars 3001, 3100 and 3165. Last year, it was time to train and operate Pacific Electric 331 and 332, both single truck Birney Safety Cars. Ever since the museum got sister combine car 498 running,it was his desire to operate one of the "Big Red Cars". It was not to be until his retirement in 2004 that sufficient time could be devoted to this quest.
Despite operating Custom Traxx, a leading player in the model trolley market, moderating the www.trolleyville.com web site, and twice weekly work sessions with the Southern California Traction Club, George usually gets out to the museum at least one day each month for voluntary operation of the electric railway vehicles.
George is also an active trolley modeler in HO scale, having accumulated over 400 pieces of HO scale rolling stock, including a model of Pacific Electric #418 and many other of the cars now at the Museum. Two of those models, PE 498 and 418, are shown below in the foreground :
The next big event of the Orange Empire Railway Museum is the Train and Trollies Festival on April 22-23, 2006 and George will be there on Saturday, April 22nd. Come on out and join in the festivities. Lots of improvements have been made at the Museum including the large Los Angeles Railway sign recently installed on Car House 1. The photo below could have been taken in 1920, if color film had been available then!
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