The Southern California Traction Club (SCTC)
at the South Coast Botanic Gardens!
The SCTC appeared at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Rancho Palos Verdes on October 23-24, 2010. This was the 89th club appearance since the cliub was founded in 1995. This is always a favorite show for the club as it was the site of the club's very first appearance in 1997 with five modules. At this show, the club presented twenty-six modules. This was also the eleventh club appearance at this very beautiful and peaceful location. Some photos taken at the show are presented for your enjoyment:


At left, there are visible six Boston PCC cars, two Pacific Electric 1100s, a Shaker Heights PCC and a San Francisco "Torpedo". These are shown in the club main staging yard. The Boston Car at the extreme left, car 3046, has both an operational headlight and brake lights and is equipped with a TCS M4T decoder and a TCS VR1.5-H, which eliminates the need for resistors with the 1.5 volt rear brake lights. This car has a metal shell made yeara ago and was acquired from Kevin Farrell. Car 3322 is a Boston ex-Dallas PCC from a Custom Traxx/Miniatures by Eric kit. this car is equpped with a TCS M1 decoder and has operational headlights and brake lights on both ends. Car 3306 is an MTS resin bodied kit that yet to be equipped for DCC. Car 3178 is another metal shelled kit which is equipped with an M4T decoder. This is the first non-Bowser PCC equipped with the M4T.

Shaker Heights PCC train, Illinois Terminal and San Francisco Double End PCCs, Pacific Electric and Boston Cars in the same yard. All cars shown above are equipped with TCS M1 decoders. The double end cars have operating headlights and rear lights on both ends. All of the cars shown, except the brass Pacific Electric 1100 and the Boston PCC at extreme right, employ cast resin body shells demonstrating the usefulness of such in the traction hobby. When a properly done resin shell is mated with sufficient weight, a fine operating model can result. All such resin models above emply metal floors cast by Bowser.

 
One of the clubs many San Francisco Muni PCC cars, all of which are equipped with the M4T decoder, 1052 dressed in the 1937 colors of the Los Angeles Railway is shown at left emerging from a railroad overpass in an environment more like the Philadelphia surroundings that the car actually operated in from 1948 to 1992 as PTC/SEPTA 2110. Traction displays are not limited to the Southern Calfornia Traction Club. The Orange Country Module Railroaders club, Irvine, CA, had two Bowser PCC cars equipped with the M4T decoders on their layout at the same show. The Bowser PCC was intended to persuade more model railroaders to add some traction as a "fringe" attraction on their layouts and it appears to be happening.
Another local model railroad club, the 20s and 30s Model Railroad Club of Los Angeles, CA, originally founded by Charles Hepperle, displayed a finished brass HO scale Pacific Electric San Bernardino 1200 on one of their corner layouts. the overhead fittings are scale etchings obtained from Proto 87. Howebver, there has yet to be any operation from this overhead. But it does look very good.

The club is in process of revamping it's main staging yard, which was originally constructed in 1996. This will entail the completed of two loops so that cars can be tested prior to being sent out of the main line for operation. Cars will now be able to return to the yard after their runs. Note the photo at right of the current SCTC staging yard. When the club initially constructed the yard modules, the deisre was to display cars to the public without giving the public too much acces to the cars. aftyer all, some of them were very rare models and such modules have been known to vanish during shows attended by those who know of their worth.

However, the angle of the yard caused a lot of logistical problems within the rectangular display. When it was desired to have a test track in the yard area, that was the final straw and the decision was made. A portion of another module was cut into a 24"x30"x16"x31" trapezoid shape (the portion shown without ground cover just behind the structure) and when mated to the other two modules that formed the yard enabled the entire yard to be mounted at 90 degrees to the main line.

Not yet installed are the tracks to and from the three-track car barn.

At right is Boston PCC 3178. This car body is a metal shell produced some time ago for mounting on the original, now obsolete, Bowser traction mechanism. The club obtained the car at the 1995 East Penn Traction Club meet. It was converted to the 1999 mechanism with a flywheel added. Weighing over 12 ounces, this car was chosen for testing the new proposed Bowser electrical pickups, part 1379, which would replace both current parts 1256 and 1257. The car had run over 50 hours on the club test track when it was photographed getting ready to operate on the club City Streetcar Line. The car also ran for hours in the DC mode on the mainline during the show wihtout any hesitations or other problems. This modification appears to be a winner as the rolling qualities of the trailing trauck have been drastically improved and the overall resistance in the power train seems to have been reduced by almost one-third.