IN THIS ISSUE:

CURRENT EVENTS ..........

Urban Commuter / Light Rail / Modern Streetcar News! by Edward Havens
Louisville PCC Cars (They Came and Went and Almost Nobody Knew)!
Los Angeles New Second Generation Urban Rail Transit Professionals!
More Urban Rail Happenings!

MODELING INFORMATION ........

Arnie's Model Trains Hosts LRV Model Demonstration!

EDITORIAL .........

Spending More Money For What?

Los Angeles New Second Generation
Urban Rail Transit Professionals!
***

At 4:48 PM on Sunday, March 31, 1963, PCC car 3002, dressed as the "Crying Trolley" rolled into its assigned place in the long line of PCC cars in Vernon Yard. The power was then turned off and the last Los Angeles streetcar had run. From that day until July 14, 1990, there would be NO rail mass transit in the city of Los Angeles for over 27 years until the Blue Line started operating between Los Angeles and Long Beach. Warren Sr. had been a motor-coach operator (bus driver to most people...) when the opportunity came to become one of the new breed of Los Angeles first urban rail operators.

On July 14, 1990, Warren Stockton Sr. was assigned to operate the first revenue Blue Line train out of the Long Beach yards, now known as Division 11, using cars 102 and 103. Cars 100 and 101 were the "ribbon cutting" train filled with dignitaries (shown below) that broke through the sign stretched across the tracks on Washington Boulevard that same day.

Cars 100-101 breaking the ribbon on July 14, 1990!

Warren Stockton Sr. (left) on the Blue Line first day, July 14, 1990 shown on the cover of the RTD Employee Magazine.
Extreme right is the operator who would later run the first train through the ribbon shown in the first photo.
Trolleyville has been unable to identify him or the gentleman behind Warren as we went to press.
Behind them is Rita Malone, still at Blue Line but now a manager.

Warren Sr as an operator with P865 car 132!

Above: Warren Sr. as a Supervisor. Warren would be both an Operator and a Supervisor on the Blue Line (Light Rail) and an Operator and Supervisor on the Red Line (Subway) before transferring to the control facility now known as the Rail Operations Center (ROC).

By the time Warren Sr. went to the Blue Line, he had three sons. The middle son, Warren Jr., loved trains and would accompany his Dad to work whenever he could. Despite policies that made it very hard to have young children around the yard, Warren Jr. often accompanied his father to work on the buses and the rail cars. In fact, his father would often try and sneak out to work without Warren Jr., but Warren figured out how to be ready to go and used many tricks to make sure that he got to go with his dad. This trickery included the typical tantrum that all young kids learn how to do.

Warren Sr. would operate the 54 Nippon P865 cars on the Blue Line until 1992 when he transferred to become a trainer for the Red Line, Los Angeles first subway since 1955. At this time, all rail operations were still under the management of the Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD) which was for all intensive purposes an entrenched bus company. The forerunners of the RTD, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA) had gone to great pains to denigrate rail transit, after their Board of Directors in made an arbitrary decision to abandon five still profit-making streetcar lines in 1963. This negative attitude toward rail transit formed the basis of the anti-rail RTD attitude. The anti-rail attitude was so bad that some employees were afraid to let anyone know that they were rail fans, model train enthusiasts or supporter of the local museum. So Warren Sr, badge #1283, was a "pioneer" in Los Angeles transit and was the beginner of the Stockton rail transit family. Fortunately, the rail lines, treated like "red-headed stepchildren" under RTD would come into their own when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA, MTA or Metro as commonly called) came into existence in 1993.

The Blue Line (Los Angeles to Long Beach) essentially followed the original Pacific Electric Long Beach Line that had been abandoned in 1961. Several attempts were made to save the original Pacific Electric line including taking narrow gauge PCC car 3148, borrowing standard gauge trucks from San Francisco's PCC car 1024 and operating the car on the Long Beach line with an extra long trolley pole. Many reasons, including the fact that the test was done with a single-ended car, contributed to the downfall of this idea but the basic reason is rooted in the same bone-headed idea (get rid of the clunky obsolete trolleys) that led to the abandonment of the five Los Angeles city trolley lines.

RTD Blue Line Route - 1990

Pacific Electric Long Beach line - 1961

In 1992, just prior to the creation of Metro, Warren Sr. had transferred to the Red Line (Los Angeles First Subway) in 1992 to become a trainer for the new operators for that line, which opened in 1993. He became one of those operators until 1995. Warren became a Supervisor in 1995 and held that position until 1998. In 1998, he transferred to the Central Control Facility (CCF), now called the Rail Operations Center (ROC) which operates similar to an airport control tower. All rails lines are currently controlled from this facility, located at the intersection of the Blue and Green Lines.

Rail Transit families were common in the streetcar days (1915 to 1965) when being a streetcar motorman (no longer called motormen for another asinine politically-correct reason) was a desired profession. The streetcar was "the thing" up to World War II. Almost everyone over 50 years old has probably has heard the "Trolley Song" by now where it was almost considered "romantic" to take your date out on the "trolley". This song was song by Judy Garland in the 1944 movie "Meet Me In Saint Louis". Dave Brubeck played the same song in jazz in 1946.

Los Angeles now is starting to have generations of rail transit families again now that rail service has been around for 27 years. Warren Jr. used to often go to work with his father when he was out of school during the summer and like many young people before him, develop a love of the trains. Warren Sr. used to try and sneak out of the house without Warren Jr. due to the hassle of 'watching' him at work. But Warren Jr. would have none of that and found ways to catch up to his Dad and would throw a tantrum if Dad would not take him along. He also learned the way the railroads conduct their affairs and brought that knowledge with him when he joined LA Metro several years ago.

Warren Stockton Jr. is currently an operator on the same Los Angeles Blue Line which runs 22 miles from Los Angeles to Long Beach. This line was the first rail connection for many communities since the Red Car quit in 1961. Some of these communities are South Los Angeles, Watts, Willowbrook, Compton, Rancho Dominguez and Long Beach itself. It also passes near other places like Vernon, Huntington Park, South Gate, Lynwood and Carson. The now famous "Watts Towers" can be seen from the Blue Line 103rd Street station. Except the the portion north of Washington Avenue and the trackage in downtown Long Beach, the line follows the right-of-way of the former Pacific Electric Long Beach line which began service in 1902.

Due to some still asinine rules, to be a rail operator, you still today must start as a "bus driver". And Warren did that but when he could go to rail, he did and after four months of training which was completed on September 12, 2011, he became an operator and began operating the same P865 cars once operated by his dad. So we had a second generation Los Angeles Urban Rail Transit Professional. I know there are many more out there, and we continue to met more of them all the time.

Warren reminds us of those professional trolley motormen we knew in Philadelphia in the late 1940s and early 1950s. They wore their uniforms proudly and seemed to enjoy their work. Several of them were members of transit families where their fathers and in some cases their mothers (during World War II) had been trolley operators for the privately-owned and operated Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC). Despite the fact that orange and yellow vests must be worn by today's operators, Warren Jr. looks more professional leaving work than many current operators do when they arrive there. Like father.......like son!

Warren Jr. and Warren Sr. Amtrak F-40 #232 and on the porch at their home in Los Angeles!

Warren Sr. passed away in March 2017 but was fondly remembered my many of the "older" members of the LA Metro! Several senior members of LA Metro attended his funeral. Meanwhile, Warren Jr. has become a key member of the Blue Line operational force, often relied upon by Division management for his knowledge and judgment!

When, beginning in June 2017, LA Metro decided to begin scrapping the worst of the 1989-1990 P865 cars. Warren Jr. was at the controls of the first such "funeral train" that dragged dead car 105 from the Division 11 yard to a tail track just north of Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles. Many Metro employees heard Warren's choked-up voice on their radios announcing the departure of car 105 on June 18. Warren was to head two more funeral trains for cars before other operators started to line up for the trips. Warren would consistently visit the tail track for the cars that he did not haul down there. As of today, cars 105, 115, 128, 129, 132, 133 and 147 have gone to the bone yard and cars 116, 122, 134 and 152 have been selected as the next victims.

Warren Stockton, Jr. at the controls of one of his three funeral trains on July 27, 2017!

Warren Stockton, Jr. visiting the tail track after P865 cars 128 and 132 had been taken there for scrapping on August 27, 2017.

 

More Urban Rail Happenings!
***

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on August 30 issued safety recommendations that call for crash-resistant inward- and outward-facing cameras to be installed in all transit agency trains.

Issued to the Federal Transit Administration and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the recommendations call for recorders with a minimum 12-hour continuous recording capability that can verify crew actions and train operating conditions, NTSB officials said in a press release.

The board said the recorders must be easily accessible for review — with limits on public release — as part of accident investigations and as a tool to improve transit-rail safety.

"These devices, which are becoming cheaper and more reliable, are critical tools in our investigations," said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt. "In 47 of the 64 rail transit accidents the NTSB investigated between 1976 and 2015, audio and image recorders would have greatly helped in learning what happened by documenting and preserving data describing the actions and conditions leading to an accident."

SEPTA M4 cars in accident, 2-21-17 west of 69th Street Platform!

The recommendations come as NTSB investigators are reviewing a February 21, 2017, accident in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in which one SEPTA train collided with the rear of a second SEPTA train stopped on a loop track near the 69th Street station. The striking train was not equipped with forward-facing cameras or audio or image recorders in the cab. In the post-accident interview, the train's operator said he could not remember his actions just before the collision. The NTSB has long called for broader use of recorders as a transportation safety measure.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The unexpected closure of Los Angeles iconic Angels Flight on September 4th, four days after the funicular’s grand reopening, seemed a fitting twist for a railway that has operated in fits and starts for half a century. Crowds flocked to downtown Los Angeles over Labor Day weekend, braving triple-digit heat to ride the iconic rail. But officials abruptly shut the ride down Monday morning after crews found a damaged part in the system that guides the twin cars along the steep track on Bunker Hill. The part, known as a roller, was “cracked and falling apart,” said Steve DeWitt, a senior vice president at ACS Infrastructure, the majority stakeholder in the group of companies that operates Angels Flight. Before Angels Flight reopened Thursday, railway officials tested the cars more than 2,000 times without any sign of damage, DeWitt said. An initial inspection suggests the damage occurred Sunday night. “We have great confidence in the system,” DeWitt said. “Mechanical things just have problems from time to time.” The line was scheduled to reopen Wednesday afternoon (Sept 6) or Thursday (Sept 7).

State regulators with the Public Utilities Commission will inspect the work before service resumes, spokeswoman Constance Gordon said. Angels Flight, like other historic funiculars, is propelled by a single cable that pulls one car up the steep incline as the other car descends. Rollers are cylindrical parts that rest on the tracks and turn as the cable runs over them, smoothing the car’s journey upward. The rollers are made of Teflon and were not replaced during the six-month restoration process that concluded last week, DeWitt said. The broken roller may have developed a “microscopic crack” during four years of dormancy, he said. The funicular’s twin cars, Sinai and Olivet, were weighed down with more passengers than usual this weekend, DeWitt said. One of the cars likely struck the cracked roller, which had swelled in the weekend’s heat, he said. Previous parts in the same location also have cracked, he said, suggesting a pattern. ACS plans to install a smaller roller, which should prevent a car from striking the part, even in extreme temperatures, he said.

For a system known as the world’s shortest railway and ran for many years without serious incident, Angels Flight has a long list of relatively recent woes. The funicular opened in 1901 to carry wealthy Bunker Hill residents to downtown jobs. The iconic orange cars transported more than 100 million people by the 1950s but closed in 1969, when the homes on Bunker Hill were razed for skyscrapers. The two cars, Sinai and Olivet sat neglected in a warehouse for decades, until redevelopment authorities included funding for the funicular in the California Plaza project.

The line reopened in 1996, half a block south of its original location in a slightly shorter run. Since its reopening, 21 years ago, Angels Flight has been shut down more than half the time. In 2001, Sinai broke loose near the top of the incline and plummeted down the track, striking Olivet. The impact killed one person and injured seven others. The railway was closed for nine years following the crash. Operations were halted again briefly in 2011, and Angels Flight was shut down completely after Sinai derailed again in 2013. Federal investigators later discovered that operators had been using a tree branch to override the funicular’s safety system, which had been causing unexpected stops. In March, the nonprofit that owns Angels Flight signed a deal with a group of firms, including ACS, to maintain, operate and advertise the railway, in exchange for a share of the profits. Officials have said the cost of the work and the contract’s total value are confidential. The repairs included raising the height of the train’s doors to prevent passengers from being flung out during a sudden stop and installing a walkway connected to the track that riders could use if they had to evacuate.

The Angels Flight Railway did reopen for passenger service around 11:30 am Thursday September 7, 2017. The Railway is open daily, seven days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays, from 6:45 in the morning until 10:00 at night. The one-way fare is $1.00. Holders of valid Los Angeles Metro passes may ride for fifty cents. Five-ride and 40-ride discount commuter books, good for one person only and for thirty days, are available for purchase.

NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK - Progressive Railroading reported on Septemer 29th that Members of Congress representing New York and New Jersey have introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to mandate sleep apnea tests for commercial truckers and rail operators.

The legislation would reverse a recent decision by President Donald Trump's administration to reverse the department's proposed rule to require truck drivers and train operators to be tested for sleep apnea and, if diagnosed with the condition, receive treatment for it.

Introducing the bill in the Senate were Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Introducing the bill in the House were U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) and Albio Sires (D-N.J.).

Senator Cory Booker, Democrat, New Jersey

The bill was introduced on the heels of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) findings released last week that confirmed the engineer involved in the deadly 2016 crash of a New Jersey Transit train in Hoboken, New Jersey, was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea after the incident but not tested during an examination two months prior. The NTSB report also confirmed that the operator of an MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train that crashed Jan. 4 at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, New York, was diagnosed with sleep apnea after the incident occurred.

Although the agency has not yet ruled on the cause of the accidents — including whether the operators' sleep apnea conditions were factors — the lawmakers said they believed their legislation was necessary to help prevent fatigue-related accidents in the future. "The recent findings released by NTSB on the Hoboken and LIRR crashes underscore just how shortsighted and reckless the Trump administration's recent decision was to reverse the rule requiring sleep apnea testing and treatment," said Booker, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate subcommittee overseeing U.S. rail infrastructure. "It's imperative that we take immediate steps to strengthen rail safety standards, and sleep apnea testing is a commonsense safety measure that could prevent crashes and save lives."

In March 2016, President Barack Obama's administration proposed a rule that would have expanded sleep apnea testing and treatment required for train operators and commercial truck drivers. Last month, the Trump administration announced the rule was withdrawn. In August, Sens. Booker, Schumer, Menendez and Gillibrand wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to ask for the data that the USDOT relied on to make its decision to withdraw the rule, along with its plan to identify and treat rail operators and truckers diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea.

PHOENIX, AZ - Progressive Railroading reported on September 29th that the Phoenix City Council in late September approved a plan that will add a new Valley Metro light-rail station on Central Avenue in the city's downtown. The plan also calls for shifting some future light-rail platforms east between Central and First avenues. The move is aimed at creating an "easy configuration for riders to transfer from one train to another," according to a press release issued by the City of Phoenix. The changes will be implemented as part of Valley Metro's 5-mile South Central light-rail extension.

Valley Metro two-pak in downtown Phoenix!

The route, which will be funded through the Phoenix Transportation 205o initiative , will connect downtown Phoenix to Baseline Road. "As light rail expands massively, these new platforms make our system more efficient, and maximize connectivity for passengers trying to get downtown, uptown, to the airport and eventually to south Phoenix," said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. For months, city staff have met with downtown stakeholders and Valley Metro to ensure the plan would address needs of drivers, pedestrians, business owners and light-rail riders.

SANTA CLARA VALLEY, CA - Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) later this week will close its Warm Springs/South Fremont Station to prepare for the opening of the Silicon Valley extension. In cooperation with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, BART will install new software at the station and test it. BART also will run test trains on the track, which is why the agency will close the station for a short time.

BART Warm Springs Station - March 2017!

The station will be closed weekends on September 23-24 and September 30 through October 1. During the closures, BART will provide bus service from the closed station to the Fremont Station. After installation and testing work is completed, BART will be ready for the new service, agency officials said in a press release. The first 10-mile phase of the Silicon Valley extension is slated to open in 2018, according to the project's website. The first phase will run from the Warm Springs station in Fremont, California, to the Berryessa District in San Jose, California. BART's Warm Springs Station opened in late March.

SEATTLE, WA - Sound Transit's board yesterday agreed to move forward with the proposed West Seattle and Ballard Link light-rail extensions, and established a $285.9 million preliminary engineering budget for the projects, according to a September 29th report from Progressive Railroading. The extensions will bring light rail to some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the region, Sound Transit officials said in a press release. The extensions will be funded through tax revenue generated through the Sound Transit 3 ballot initiative that local voters approved in November 2016. Sound Transit plans to bring light rail to West Seattle by 2030 and to Seattle's Ballard neighborhood by 2035. The first extension will run 4.7 miles from West Seattle to downtown Seattle; the second one will run 7.1 miles from Ballard to downtown Seattle.

This fall, the agency will initiate technical work. In early 2018, Sound Transit will kick off the community engagement process to reach consensus on a preferred alternative by early 2019. Meanwhile, the board also executed a $24.4 million consultant contract with HNTB Corp. to begin project development services. The firm will be responsible for providing planning, engineering, operational, environmental and community outreach technical services to support the first phase of project development for the extensions. Other firms on the HNTB team include Jacobs Engineering, CH2M, EnviroIssues, Fehr & Peers, Hewiit Architects and LMN Architects.

 

Arnie's Model Trains Hosts LRV Model Demonstration!
***