July 2007

Traction Display at the Banning Museum
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The Southern California Traction Club recently adopted a program of displaying traction models and history at non-railroad type community functions. The idea is to show primarily to the general public, who appear to still have a love of trolley cars, how much fun operating trolley cars from a powered overhead wire can be. Finding such a venue with appropriate space and security is a problem, and the club has to modify its display to fit into the environment of these different places but it appears to be worthwhile in the amount of acceptance that the displays are receiving.

On Saturday, June 2nd, the club was invited to the former residence of Phineas T. Banning in Wilmington, CA to display the history of the Pacific Electric.

The former residence, constructed in 1864, has been turned into a museum and tours of the interior are conducted regularly. The Southern California Live Steamers were also invited and they brought with them a working replica of a Pacific Electric steeple cab locomotive. The locomotive is powered by three automotive batteries placed in series. The next photos will show the locomotive being extracted from the mini-van in which it is transported and being lowered onto the display track.

The next photo shows the interior of the locomotive with the new batteries just installed prior to this showing.

Finally, after considerable effort involving three or four members of the SCLS, the engine is coupled to its passenger cars and readied for its first trip of the day. Also in the background are two large scale replicas of early steam locomotives is a 1/2" scale model of the Pacific Electric 1000 series interurbans, built by Jewett Car Co in 1913. The car is shown with only trolley pole, as originally tried and rejected by the PERy.

As we are quickly learning, the live steam club is much more than just live steam. In addition to the two box motors reported in a previous issue, the club has one other steeple cab locomotive and they can be operated in multiple unit capability.

Meanwhile, George Jones of the Southern California Traction club displayed his extensive photograph collection of the San Pedro-Wilmington area taken during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many visitors stopped to take long hard looks at those photos along with several detailed models also brought to the show.

'New' Allied Model Trains to re-open this month!
Opening set for July 20-21!

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The Times recently learned that Allied Model Trains is planning to re-open by July 21st or the day before. Under the direction of Nick Barone, Brian Brooks and Fred Hill, all knowledgeable and experienced model train folks, this store is expected to be a "...kinder, gentler..." place.

It is not exactly a trade secret that the former owner of Allied Model Trains, Allen Drucker, did not think much of his model railroader customers. He even stated to the Los Angeles Times recently that "...Then there is the looky-loo hobbyist who... comes in, checks out the latest model trains with powerful lights and digital sounds but buys almost nothing...". He also predicted the premature death of the entire model railroading hobby. It never once occurred to him that maybe his attitude towards and his method of dealing with customers affected his sales. Come to think of it, we never saw Allan Drucker with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, during mid-May the new owners started preparing the new store at 4371 Sepulveda Blvd for the grand reopening. By June 23rd the lighted railroad herald drum heads that had adorned the old location were installed and operational on the new store.

On the front of the store are two signs. The smaller says "Opening in July" but the larger one states "Home of the New and Friendly Allied Model Trains". Fortunately, this will be incredibly easy for them to do. They will be in a new store and have already proven to us how friendly that they will be. On Friday, June 15th, our reporter got a tour of the new facilities by Nick Barone, new store manager and one of the owners. Although the construction was in full swing with equipment, stock and construction items all over the place, we could see that this will be a store that will be a pleasure to visit. For a view of the store layout, click here. We visited the store again on June 22nd and even lent a hand with the painting of some of the interior walls. On June 27th, the glass cases for brass and other special models arrived and were installed. Although the Department 56 items will be gone, the European model trains will remain. There will also be a model railroad club support program. The store will be physically organized in a manner very similar to the Original Whistle Stop in Pasadena, a proven winner in the world of model train stores.

Well the situation shapes up like this. Six months ago, there was Allied Model Trains in a "landmark" building with "landmark" prices owned by Allen Drucker. Today, the fine building is still there but the customers of Samy's Camera will be supporting it. Model train lovers will have a new Allied Model Trains, dedicated to their needs, with new and friendly staff that will actually like most of their model railroading customers. Looks like the big change is that all that is gone is Allen Drucker and this is real hard to consider a loss to the model train loving community at all! This may be the best local railroad related event since the opening of the Blue Line. Anyone in the vicinity will want to visit the 'New" Allied Model Trains on opening day, as very pleasant surprises may be in store for a lot of former Allied customers!
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Father's Day at the Orange Empire Railway Museum!
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It was a bright sunny Sunday morning, June 17th, when the OERM celebrated the second day of the Pacific Electric Railway (PERy) weekend.

The main line was occupied by PERy Steeple Cab Locomotive 1624, pulling the passenger carrying freight train. Also used on the main that day was PERy "Blimp" 418. Another car, seldom seen in the past few years, PERy "Hollywood" Car 717, which is seen in the background ready for another trip to Car Barn 4.

The loop line, which basically tours the grounds, was the domain of PERy Birney 332 and Los Angeles Railway (LARy) California Car 665. In the background, is PERy "Blimp" 314, which will be running later in the day. Car 332 is still painted to resemble Tucson #10, due to a ten-year lease to a museum in that city some time ago.

But the highlight of the weekend was the return of the three-car "Blimp" train, involving the only three operational "Blimps" in existence. Passengers were carried only on the 418 as the other two cars are still in renovation but capable of operation.

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New Traction Products !
HO Scale Philadelphia 2004 PCCII, Red Arrow 1949 St. Louis Cars & 1960 "Almond Joy" Subway-Elevated Cars!
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Among many items displayed at the 18th National Trolley Modelers Meet, held during May 2007, there were three new HO scale traction models from International Hobby Productions, P.O. Box 487, Wynnewood, PA 19096. The first model is of the 18 PCC-II vehicles, series 2320-2337, operating since 2005 on the Route 15 - Girard Avenue line in Philadelphia. The PCC-II, catalog #87131A, retails for $195.00, Ready-To-Run, Undecorated. The second model was of the 14 St. Louis Car Co interurbans, series 11-24, delivered in 1949. They operated in the western Philadelphia suburbs until 1982. This model, catalog #87119, retails for $240.00, Ready-To-Run, Undecorated, Ready-To-Finish.  The final model is a two-car set representing 224 of the 270 “Almond Joy” Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated (MFSE) cars, series 701-924, which were built by Budd in 1959-1961. They ran on that line for 42 years until replaced in 2002 by the current Adtrans equipment. The two-car model train, catalog #87130, retails at $380.00, painted, unlettered and without couplers.
The Southern California Traction Club (SCTC) acquired one of each as they are powered with one of the now proven reliable Bowser 1251XX traction units. The SCTC prefers to run units with Bowser power at public displays as parts are available and are expected to be available in the foreseeable future.

The club ran its normal certification type tests on all three models and, for the most part, found them to be a welcome addition to the HO scale traction modeling world. HO scale traction models were almost exclusively brass imports for many years. But traction models with quality resin cast shells continue to have greater detail and thinner walls and should no longer be overlooked by the traditional traction modeler. The SCTC wishes to acquire additional models with Bowser drives for extended running at club displays. As a service to actual and potential trolley modelers, the club has made their review available to the Times. To read the full club review on these products, click here! The Times encourages any other traction clubs to report on their experiences with current traction products! Their views are always welcome!
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Apologies!
The Times intended to publish a review of the impressive HO scale Transit Classics San Francisco Muni Class K/L kit with BullAnt power in this issue. Our test car, completed in April, was seriously damaged in transit to the East Penn Meet in May and we have not been able to obtain replacement parts to restore the car to operation. We will review the car as soon as the replacement parts are obtained!
Coming! Interview with John Kennedy (KND Enterprises), producer of HO scale Lehigh Valley Transit model traction kits!

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