HO scale Double-End PCC Models!
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In the previous issue, we talked about Double-End PCC cars and included in that article the 14 Quasi-PCC cars delivered to the Philadelphia Suburban Trans'n Company (PSTCo) in 1949. We will continue to include those unique cars in this discussion. There are several HO scale trolley modelers have a point-to-point lines for which double end cars would be preferable. However, models of double-end PCC cars were as rare as the prototype until the last few years, thanks to some vendors of resin shells. These shells ranged in quality from poor to excellent but in any case, with a good paint job and powered with the proven Bowser traction drive, they could be made into some great models.

Double End PCC cars fall into five groups for this discussion:

The first were the 30 cars, series 5000 to 5029, built by Pullman Standard in 1940 for the Pacific Electric Railway. They were capable of multiple unit (MU) operation and were operated in three cars trains. They were the longest PCC cars built, being 50' 10" long. Suydam imported HO scale models of these cars at one time. Also Miniatures by Eric offered a resin shell for a while. Funaro & Camerlengo, Honesdale, PA, fandckits@verizon.net has a resin shell available as their kit 701.

The second were the 25 cars, series 601 to 625, built by Pullman Standard in 1945 for the Dallas Railway & Terminal Company. These cars were the only double-end PCC cars built on the normal PCC frame and had the same truck king-pin to king-pin distance as the single-end PCC car. They were 47 feet long as opposed to most double-end PCC cars. All 25 cars ended up in Boston by 1959 and most lasted until the end of PCC service. A few years back, Miniatures by Eric provided some HO scale resin shells of the cars after they became the Boston 3322-3346 series. When combined with a Bowser/Custom Traxx metal floor, the Bowser 125100 mechanism and an A-line 20040 Bowser Trolley Flywheel kit, a very nice model could be made.

The third were the 10 cars, series 1006 to 1015, built by Saint Louis Car Co in 1948 for the San Francisco Municipal Railway. These 50' 5" long cars followed five pre-PCC "Magic Carpet" cars provided by Saint Louis Car Co in 1939. GHB imported some HO scale models in the 1980s of these cars in two separate runs with the bodies in the second run being better than those in the first run. A suburban Philadelphia vendor, IHP, also provided resin cast shells of these cars. When combined with a Bowser/Custom Traxx metal floor, the Bowser 125100 mechanism and an A-line 20040 Bowser Trolley Flywheel kit, a very credible model could result. We have heard rumors that an unpainted shell may soon be available in plastic, manufactured by the 3D printed process. if we can obtain one, we will report on these in a later issue. We assume that floors will be available from Shapeways. We have used Shapeways floors and found that they are quite nice and strong. However, they will need considerable weight added to perform reliably in operation. Modelers need to keep an eye on technology as it will make a lot of items available that were not expected. A complete Custom Traxx decal set including the "wings" and all destination signs was 90% complete but the project scuttled when the resin kit manufacturer became uncooperative and refused to provide a shell for final measurements.

The fourth group are the 8 cars, series 450 to 457, built by Saint Louis Car Company for the Illinois Terminal Railway Company. These 50' 5" long cars were as unique as double truck Birney cars as they had doors only at the front, the only PCC cars ever built in that configuration. But they were also capable of multiple unit (MU) operation. These were also also offered in HO scale by GHB in two separate runs with the bodies in the second run being better than those in the first. The drive trains were also revised in the second GHB run. Shells of these cars have also have been offered by IHP. Custom Traxx had floors made for this car by Bowser which accommodated the Bowser 125100 traction drive and A-line 20040 flywheel. These floors also worked for the San Francisco cars.

Finally, there are the 14 "Quasi PCC" cars, series 11 to 24, 50' 5" long, built by Saint Louis Car Company for the PSTCo. The term "Quasi-PCC" is used for these cars because as they did have some PCC car features, there were several differences. Most noticeable is that the cars did not use PCC trucks. They rode on Saint Louis MCB trucks with 26" wheels. They were also capable of MU operation. Some time ago, GHB offered this car in brass and IHP offered kits of this car with resin cast shells and the most recent shells were of excellent quality. These car kits came with a metal floor which was workable and accommodated the Bowser 125100 drive and A-line Flywheel kit. Readers should note that the Bowser 125100 mechanism has undergone several upgrades over the years to eliminate any peculiarities.

The following photo was taken on a 1975 module done by George Huckaby (Custom Traxx) while in military service. Visible are models of seven double-end PCC cars owned by members of the Southern California Traction Club.

Starting at the rear of the photo is a resin shelled model of San Francisco 1007, one of their 1006-1015 series painted to represent the PST 11-24 series on their heritage F-line. The car has a Bowser drive. The next car is a resin shelled model of San Francisco 1008, also in its original scheme. This car is Bowser powered and is an original resin shelled model of one of the San Francisco 11-24 series. Moving forward, the next car is a resin shelled model of San Francisco 1006, in its original scheme. This model was converted from an IHP model of an Illinois Terminal PCC car. It also has a Bowser drive. The next car is another resin shelled, Bowser powered, model of the PST 11-24 series in the original 1949 paint scheme. The fifth car is an Illinois Terminal PCC model, also with a resin shell and Bowser power. One the main street are a brass model of Pacific Electric 5026 and a Miniatures by Eric, Bowser-powered model of the ex-Dallas car 3333 after it migrated to Boston. Many of these cars have various Train Control Systems DCC decoders installed, with car 1008 having working tail lights and brake lights on both ends.

Work continues at an increased pace on Phase II of the Exposition (Expo) Line in Culver City, West Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The name was derived from the Boulevard, Exposition Boulevard, that the line follows for most of its route from downtown Los Angeles to 4th and Colorado in Santa Monica. The Line follows most of the right-of-way of the old Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line, which stopped running in October 1953. Freight service continued in the line by the Southern Pacific Railroad until about 1987. Phase 2 has kept grade crossings to a minimum, having them only at Bagley in Palms, and Westwood Blvd, Overland Blvd and Barrington Blvd in West Los Angeles. There are bridges over Venice Blvd, Palms Blvd, Motor Avenue, Sepulveda Boulevard, Sawtelle Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, Bundy Avenue, Centinela Blvd, 26th Street and Olympic Boulevard. This should enable a trip from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angels in 47 minutes, something that can not be done in rush hour today by car.

Phase I of the Expo line opened from in April 2012. Vehicles currently used the Nippon-Sharyo 1990 and 1995 P865 and P2020 vehicles (100 series) along with several of the 1995 Siemens P2000 (200 series) vehicles. It is currently supported by the Blue Line yard but will have its own facility at Bergamot which is under construction at the present time.

The Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority is an independent transportation planning, design and construction agency created by state legislation in 2003. The Authority was created for the purpose of awarding and overseeing final design and construction contracts for completion of the 15.2 mile, $2.5 billion Exposition Light Rail Line from Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. Construction on Phase 1 of the line, from downtown Los Angeles (7th & Flower) to Culver City (Venice & Robertson), began in 2006 and the line opened to the public in summer of 2012. Phase 2 of the project, which will extend the line out to Santa Monica, is now underway and construction is expected to be completed by 2015. Once Phase 2 is completed, the line will be operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) as part of the countywide rail network.

In March 2011, the Exposition Construction Authority awarded the design-build contract for Phase 2 to Skanska-Rados, Joint Venture. Major construction began in 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The light rail bridge over Venice Boulevard, which links Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Expo Line project, was built by Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc. Extensive utility work took place in 2012 and major work on the bridge structure began in spring 2013. Construction of the bridge included columns in the center of the street, which required the widening of Venice Boulevard, including the reconstruction of the median and reconfiguration of traffic lanes between Culver Boulevard and Ivy Street. The Operations and Maintenance Facility for the Expo Line project will be located at Stewart Street and Exposition Boulevard in Santa Monica. In May 2013, the Expo Board awarded the contract to construct the facility to Kiewit Building Group, Inc. Pre-construction work began Summer 2013 and construction is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2014.

Phase 2 begins at Venice and Robertson and has stops at National/Palms, Exposition/Westwood, Exposition/Sepulveda, Exposition/Bundy, Olympic/26th Street, Colorado/17th Street and Colorado/4th Street directly southeast of the Santa Monica Mall

George Flowers of the Phase 2 Expo Construction Authority, gave Trolleyville a tour of the entire Phase 2 line on Thursday January 8th. Beginning at the new bridge at Venice and Robertson in Culver City and ending at the three-track terminal in Santa Monica

1. Looking east at the new bridge at Venice & Robertson. You can see a train at the station inn the distance almost ready to return to Los Angeles.	2. Looking west toward the tunnel under the I-10 (Santa Monica) Freeway just east of Overland Boulevard in West Los Angeles. This former single track freight tunnel was found to be wide enough for a two track LRV line. Seen in the photo is George Flowers of the Construction Authority. This is not far from the location where the original Palms Depot was once located.
3. Looking west into the tunnel under the I-10 freeway. This is before the graffiti was removed (the first time). All under track conduits were installed before foundation for track was poured.	4. Looking east into the same tunnel after the first graffiti removal and after track and the overhead catenary system (OCS) supports were installed. Notice in the photo that the graffiti was starting to reappear.
5. This is the right of way north of the I-10 Freeway in Cheviot Hills, where a portion of the crybaby NIMBYs who fought the building of this vital transportation artery were located.	6. Another view of the Right Of Way in Cheviot Hills. This is all between the National/Palms and Exposition/Westwood Stations. This station will serve the Westside Pavilion Mall located just two blocks north of the station.
7. This is the right of way between the Westwood and Sepulveda stations. This is the location of the Military Interlocking where there are both facing and trailing crossovers with spring frogs to minimize track noise during normal operations.	8. A spring frog used on all four switches at Military interlocking. Note the concrete ties now used under the switches.
9. During our tour, the crew was working a punch list from a previous MTA inspection. We learned that the catenary is staggered plus or minus nine inches from track center to promote even wear on the pantograph blades.	10. Reminiscent of the old "plumb bob" days with simple trolley wire, this is the technique used to measure such offset.

The Electrical portion of the system including the Overhead Catenary System (OCS), the signals and the grade crossing signals and apparatus are all handled by the Mass. Electric Construction Company, Transportation District, whose Construction Manager for Phase 2 of the Expo Line is David Leuchter, an executive that obviously loves his job. It was a distinct pleasure to talk with this gentleman on January 16th during the time we were allowed to spend at their facility in the Los Angeles/Marina Del Rey area.