San Pedro Trolley & California Great American Train Shows

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Both railfans and traction fans had a lot to cheer about during August 2002. August is usually one of the quieter months for the hobby, with the public enjoying the last month of summer vacation and heading for the back-to-school sales.

Nevertheless, The Port of Los Angeles held its most informative open house to date on August 3, showing the replica cars 500 and 500 in their latest stages at Wilmington and car 1058 in San Pedro in the completed, operational state.

Car 1058 has been operational since mid-June and the next car that will probably be seen in San Pedro in car 501. Note the interior and exterior views shown below:

As has become customary, the Southern California Traction Club was on hand with several modules to demonstrate to the public.

By the way, that is an actual model of the 1058 in the background.

            GATS conducted shows in San Francisco, Victorville and Ventura on three successive weekends beginning with August 10-11.

Trolleyville vendors Holland Traction Supply, Custom Traxx and Railway/Traction Miniatures participated in the San Francisco and Ventura shows. Trolleyville's sponsored traction club, the Southern California Traction Club participated in the Victorville Show.

The San Francisco show occurred during the now infamous heat wave in San Francisco. But that did not stop the usual number of rail and traction fans from checking out the show. Custom Traxx reported that an unusual number of brass traction items were sold at this show.

Above is a portion of the Custom Traxx display at the show. Note the large-scale trolley in the upper left corner of the photo. This is a preview of the 8 window 'box' type trolley that Karl Johnson's Light Rail Products Company is developing. Custom Traxx is working on a set of decals for this car. The first set will be for a Boston car. Most of the Corgi PCC cars and some of the HO brass shown in the photo were sold at the show.

[Cont'd in column 2]

San Pedro Trolley moves forward with Herzog Transit Services

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As we have mentioned in many of our previous articles, change is being made in San Pedro, namely, a "ten" and 2 "fives".

The "ten", mainly ex Richard Fellows car 1058, is now on the rails and has been operational since mid-June. The car was created some time ago by its former owner from ex-Venice car 963.

The car is shown below in front of its temporary (we hope) home at 22^nd & Miner Streets in San Pedro and partially over the pit made for servicing until decisions concerning the barn/ maintenance facility can be made.

Herzog Transit Services, Inc has been retained by the Port of Los Angeles to operate the line. Being an aggressive company, Herzog began looking for motormen and conductors for this heritage transit operation last May when E-mail was sent to most of the internet trolley sites.

After receiving authority to proceed in mid-August, interviews of candidates were conducted; selections were made and training began on Monday, August 26^th.

Norman Jester, Vice-President - Eastern Region, Herzog Transit Services (shown above on car 1058) has been on hand almost daily and has taken a personal interest in the developing operations. He conducted the interviews of the motorman/conductor candidates personally. He even remarked after the interviews were completed as to how knowledgeable and dedicated all the candidates were.

The mainstays of the fleet will be the two "fives", namely two replica 500 class Pacific Electric cars now being completed in Wilmington. The 500 class vanished from the rails in the mid-1930s. Replica Car 501 shown below is getting close to operational status and should be able to run sometime in September.

Operations should be open to the public by the end of the year. Stay tuned!

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[Cont'd from column 1]

The Southern California Traction Club took their modules to Victorville for the first time. Other than the 96 to 104 degree heat, the show was enjoyable and the local residents enjoyed seeing models running from a live overhead wire.

During this show, a new module was operated for the first time. This module featured a double track crossing in an urban environment as shown below:

In the photo, heading away from the viewer is SEPTA 9038. Two "Readers Digest" New Orleans Desire St cars are in the center and at the extreme right is one of the Model Tramway NOPSI 800 series streetcars dressed in Custom Traxx' new CN-451 decals for the original Riverfront line cars. The club will next be at the Orange Empire Railway Museum on Saturday. September 14, 2002; at the Descanso Gardens in Arcadia on October 26-27, 2002; the Pomona Fairflex Great American Train Show on November 9-10, 2002 and the Del Mar Fairgrounds on December 7-8, 2002. Be sure to catch one of the appearances.