Classy Class 1's

The 1912, San Diego Electric Railway Class 1, Center Entrance, Pay-As-You-Enter Cars. 

Numbers 125 - 148.  Built by the St. Louis Car Company

By the 1910's, San Diego's double deck and other single truck cars, as well as some of their California Cars, were getting pretty old. So the SDERy, looking to update its fleet, developed a new, modern car. The Class 1's:

The new design incorporated the feature that made the old California Cars so popular with riders, an open section on one end to take advantage of San Diego's mild climate and an all weather enclosed section on the other end for when San Diego's mild climate wasn't so mild.

Another feature was the depressed center section. The lower floor meant that passengers didn't have to climb so high to get in the car. This safety feature reduced step accidents dramatically when folks were boarding and exiting the car.

The big innovation was the P.A.Y.E. system (Pay-As-You-Enter).  The conductor was stationed at the center of the car, opening and closing the gates and collecting fares as passengers boarded. This feature would soon be adopted with other cities around the nation. 

The cars are designed in the Art's and Crafts style with tall windows, and an arch roof. This gave the car a very airy, roomy, modern feel to it. 'They were adorned with warm yellow colors, gold-leafed oak leaves, hand-polished cherry wood, and solid bronze hardware -- even the push buttons passengers used to alert the motorman were inlaid with mother-of-pearl'. -Wikipedia

Painting by Ken Eberts

Apparently, with the more efficient loading and unloading as well as more powerful motors, these cars made good time and allowed the company to actually run less cars, thus improving profits.

You know, for such a successful, innovative and attractive car, it sure would be nice if someone came out with a model of these wonderful, stately cars.

Yes sir! Sure would be nice if someone came out with a model of these cars!

Dandy

1926 SDERy Route Map

 Geesh! The San Diego Electric Railway modified it's routes often!

Here is how it appeared in 1926 according to the April 1943 issue of the Railroad Boosters Wheel Clicks publication.

I'm posting it here for posterity considering the rarity and delicacy of this issue. Click to make huge:

My latest effort is fabricating destination dash signs for my San Diego streetcars. So I'm collecting material about the various routes. I'll keep you posted.

Yes sir! Destination Dash Signs!

Dandy

The Real № 9 in Action

Old Photo of № 9 Making Its Way Down 5th Street.

or it could be #10, I can't make out a number. ca1890

But I can make out that I put the headlight in the wrong place. This photo shows it on the roof. I wish I had seen this photo sooner. Installing the headlight on the roof would have been so much easier!

Yes sir! It would have been so much easier!

Dandy

№ 9 ~ Official Portrait

The San Diego Electric Railway opened with great fanfare on September 21st 1892!

But by the time № 9 stopped for its photo much of the fanfare had moved on leaving one official, two patrons, a motorman, and a conductor to pose with it.

San Diego Electric Railway № 9

This marks the first time I've photographed a completed scene on my layout. Finally! But the layout is far from complete.

Here's the set up. Pretty simple.

Some people model historic battle scenes, some people model fantastic sci-fi scenes, I model everyday life of old San Diego. What does that say about me? I don't know. But if you know, don't tell me- I don't want to know.

Yes Sir! I don't want to know.

Dandy

№ 9 ~ Cast and Crew

Painting Up Some Folks to Populate Ol' № 9.

The Usual Suspects

These pewter figures by Andrew C. Stadden are beautifully sculpted, highly detailed, and very much in scale and proportion. They don't come painted though, so I'm going to have to make my first foray into doing that.

I glued them to blocks of wood to help make the painting process easier. First I spray primed them and then painted them by hand. There are plenty of videos on YouTube about painting figures that I watched before I started so I would have a pretty good idea of what I was getting into. This guy did a live stream of painting a Preiser figure in real time that helped a lot.

I chose figures that came closest to looking like these guys in this 1892 photo. I thought I would photograph a "reenactment" of this scene with my models.

Yes Sir! A reenactment!

Dandy

LMB Old Time Trolley

Sizing up an Old Model to Rebuild into SDERy #9

Last post I determined which cars I'm going to use for my fleet. But as I was retrieving them from my collection I came across this old Old Time Trolley "basketcase" model I purchased from George Jones. My first thought was to try out some Tru-Color Reefer Yellow on it to see if its a good color to represent SDERy Mission Yellow. But the more I look at this car...

 

I believe this is be an old LMB "Open End Trolley" model from c1961.

The model is very similar in appearance to SDERy #9 and #10.

Built by Brill in 1892, #9 and #10 ran for 17 years before they were retired in 1909.

A side-by-side comparison reveals that the windows on the model are too short as well as is the roof. Other than that though its pretty darn close.  I think that the model captures the feeling of the prototype quite well.

So into the Pine-Sol bath it went to strip it of paint.

I also fabricated route signs for the sides of the roof.

I guess I'm moving forward with this project! But I'm not sure how far I'm going to be able to get with it, motoring this model seems to be a stumbling point. But so far I'm committed to painting and decaling it. After that, we'll see where this goes

Yes Sir! We'll see where this goes!

Dandy

Determining the Content of the Fleet

This is part 2 of the "Determining the Basic Fleet Series". In part 1 I estimated that 16 cars would be required to fill the layout. Now the question is:

Just Which 16 Cars Should I Model Anyway?

Browsing though the history books of the San Diego Electric Railway and seeing the variety of cars, it is so easy to just want them all!

But that's not practical.

So what is practical? Build models that are commercially available now. Scratch build later.

So using that parameter, here is my breakdown of the 16 cars:

QTY	Make	Model
3	Pacific Traction	400 Series Class 5
3	Andrew Chier	Unannounced project
3	Bachmann	Birney
3	Suydam	Niles
3	TBD	PCC
1	NJ Custom/Orion	3rd Ave Railway 400 Series

Suydam Niles, Pacific Traction 400, WP PCC, Orion 3rd Ave Car, Ken Kidder Birney

You know, seeing this list, suddenly building a fleet doesn't seem like too huge of a project. 

This actually feels downright doable.

Yes Sir! Downright doable!

Dandy

Brand Spanking Pneumatic

Another ad featuring the then state-of-the-art San Diego Class 5, 400 Series car. Taken from the August 1924 issue of the Electric Railway Journal.

 

The Electric Railway Journals are free to read at The Internet Archive. Fascinating reading I tell ya. Yes sir! Fascinating reading!

Dandy

When They Were New

Here is an old ad from the September 27th 1924 edition of the Electric Railway Journal featuring the then state-of-the-art San Diego 400 series Class 5 cars. 

 Thanks once again to the mysterious Fred Gurzeler for pointing these out to me!

I've gots lots to post as soon as I can find some time. Yes sir! Just as soon as I can find some time! So stay tuned!

Dandy

Onward Roll the 400's!

New project! With one of the Niles cars wrapping up, I need to model one more car before I get to the layout. Big, roomy, and modern, the San Diego 400 series Class 5's were a favorite with San Diegans. 

50 of these 1924 vintage cars were ordered from the American Car Co. Numbered 400 - 449, they ran until the end of the San Diego Electric railway in 1949. Originally delivered with the one pantograph, a trolley pole had to be added when the pantographs had a way of collapsing, stranding the car. By 1925 the pantographs were replaced entirely with trolley poles because the pantographs also had a way of pulling down the overhead!

Other than the builders photo, this photo of  426 is the only clear portrait of a 400 car in its original golden yellow and mahogany paint scheme I can find. So this is the car I'm going to model. Fortunately for me...

Pacific Traction imported models of the San Diego 400's in 1969. Ive been collecting them for decades and now have about a half dozen of them. The above car I believe is the first car I purchased back in the early 80's. So finally, after all these years, its time to give it the treatment! Its going the feature the yellow and brown paint scheme, the Diablo mechanism from Hollywood Foundry, Fred Gurzeler floor, full details and decals, DCC decoder, and lighting - the works! Yes sir! The works!

Dandy

Are You Kidding Me!

Oh Dastardly Fates! How did I miss out on an authentic San Diego Electric Railway Trolley Gong on eBay! Why! WHY!!!

I have been building a Dustcover/Lighting Valence/Display Case for my layout that is also housing and displaying SDERy artifacts. Already I have tickets, tokens, passes, and photos to display in it. A virtual shrine to the old SDERy. Not only that, the design of it (what I now refer to as the "Canopy") is that of an old wooden streetcar. So a bell... an authentic trolley gong... oh that would have been the cherry on top!

For years, I have scoured the internet looking for authentic trolley gongs. The only thing I can find are reproductions of San Fransisco's Cable Car Gripman's Bell selling for $600!

So imagine my surprise when not only a trolley gong comes up for auction on ebay, its an authentic SDERy trolley gong!!! Figure the odds! I mean seriously!

But horrors of horrors, the seller included a very low "buy it now" for $129! So of course a savy investor recognized the incredible deal when he saw it and snatched it up.

I'm sure he will relist the bell on eBay knowing full well his profit will be WELL over %100. But because of my dismal financial situation this last year, I can't afford to enter a bidding war. Lousy timing. Yes sir, very lousy timing.

Oh F-ing Fickle Fates! Why do you taunt me so? Why couldn't I have seen this auction just mere hours sooner. Despite my very tight financial situation I could have swung $130 bucks. Never has or will an opportunity like that come my way again!

This photo is actually upside down. The bell would be mounted under the floor. The motorman would step on a pedal to ring the bell. The shaft from the pedal would go through the tube seen in the above photo and push that plate, which would cause the ringer to rotate and strike the bell.

Here is another angle. The tube on the right. Ringer on the left. Counter weight on the bottom center would lift the ringer again when the motorman lifted his foot off the pedal.

Oh rotten day! I just can't live with myself right now. Having something so wonderful appear before me and then snatched away. Its too much to bear!

I guess I should remember whats important. The gong would have been a helluva nice touch, but its a well crafted layout displaying finely tuned, highly detailed, smooth running models, running their routes and making their stops flawlessly that's important, right? If I can achieve that, nobody would really notice the artifacts would they? It should be the show that the visitor remembers. It should be the show that the visitor takes away with them. Yes sir! Its the Show that is important.

This situation still stinks though!

Dandy

SDERy Yellow Caught on Color Film!

For the first time ever, I have come across the infamous yellow in a color photograph.

The San Diego Electric Railway streetcars wore their golden yellow and mahogany paint scheme from the companies inception (1892) to about 1931. Kodachrome wouldn't come out on the market until 1936. So as a result, nothing exists in the way of color photographs of the old paint scheme.

While looking around on eBay I came across this photo of SDERy 408 in the experimental orange paint scheme SDERy was trying out in the 1940s. I almost dismissed the photograph until I noticed that curved white line in the street. It warns of the overhang of the cars while making a turn. Ah, there is a turnout there. Going where? Oh hey, that's the car barn on the right. And whats that parked out front? The company truck!...

...still painted in the original company colors! There it is folks! Photographic evidence of SDERy "Mission Yellow" and "Mahogany Brown". Oh I'm so going to nail this color. Yes sir! Nail it!

Dandy

I Have Seen the Golden Yellow!

I have finally seen San Diego Electric Railway "Mission Yellow" in person!

Over the Fathers Day weekend, the Southern California Traction Club (of which I am a member) set up the modular layout at the Orange Empire Railway Museum.
I have always known that an old San Diego car that was rebuilt into a cabin at some point in its history is stored there. I saw it years ago. Its covered in shingles and is painted a blue/gray color. Not much to see really.

But a fellow I met at the museum there mentioned that the car is an old Exposition car. That really piqued my interest so I made my way over to the car barn that its stored in to take a second look at it.

In a dark back corner of the carbarn there it stands. Still covered in blue/gray shingles, covered in dust, patiently waiting for someone to take an interest in it. I looked closer. I could make out the curved top of the windows. The rounded front end. Its definitely a SDERy Class 2 Pay-As-You-Enter car.

I also noticed that some of its original yellow paint was showing through here and there. But its faded and grimy. I wondered what the chances were of finding the yellow in its original saturated condition. Somewhere where it would have been out of the UV rays of the sun. Somewhere where it would have been out of the rain. Somewhere where it wouldn't get dirty or dusty. Somewhere like... the stairwell!!! Yes! Up underneath a stair! I scraped away some of the house paint (and spider webs) and sure enough, nice, relatively saturated, relatively clean, golden yellow. I ran back and grabbed my Birney car and, with much difficulty, snapped this picture:

Well... I'm within the ballpark. Hard to tell. Still have to make some educated guesses about what that paint looked like when it was shiny. Was it brighter? Or does my car need to be darker? The digital camera is also changing the color. Next time I'm at the OERM, I'm going to have to bring a color matching chart. I am determined to nail this color. Yes sir! I'm determined to nail SDERy Yellow!!!

Dandy

SDERy Niles Cars

With their signature arched windows (even the clerestory windows were arched!), cars built by the Niles Car & Manufacturing Co. were actually a rarity in Southern California. But six of them, built in the "California Car" style with an enclosed "all weather" section in the center and two open sections on the ends to take advantage of the fair southern California weather, did manage to make their way here.

The National City & Otay Railway, in 1908, ordered the six cars from Niles, numbered 105 - 110, to run on the 13 mile electric portion of NC&O's steam line from San Diego south to National City, Chula Vista and eventually Otay. Before the company took possession of the cars, the NC&O and Coronado Railroad were consolidated to become the San Diego Southern Railway.

Cars 105, 106 and 107 were retained by the San Diego Southern, but cars 108, 109 and 110 went to the Point Loma Railroad Co. The Point Loma line came under control of the San Diego Electric between 1909 and 1910, who changed the cars numbers to 401, 402 and 400 respectively. The numbers weren't changed on the cars themselves until 1911.


Around 1910, the Point Loma Railroad had car 110 repainted a chocolate brown and it became a very popular Sight Seeing Car. It ran over much of the San Diego Electrics lines, far from Point Loma.

The San Diego Southern lasted only a short 4 years before merging with the San Diego & Cuyamaca Railway to become the San Diego & South Eastern Railway in 1912. Note the nifty SD&SE monogram on car 105 (above). Car 105 would last the longest of the six. By 1915, San Diego Electric decided that their class 2 cars were more economical than the big interurbans and so retired the Niles cars.

All of the Niles cars were sold to the Pacific Electric in 1918. PE renumbered them 413- 418. Then 413 (ol' #105) was renumbered to 419, and ran under that number until 1933, when the other Niles cars were scrapped. 419 for whatever reason was spared and swapped numbers with PE 474.

Pacific Electrics spec sheet for the Niles cars.

#474 was spared yet again when it was rebuilt by the Pacific Electric as express car #1300. Car #1300 (old #474, and older #419, and yet older #413, and originally #105) was finally scrapped in 1941.

In 1970, Suydam imported HO scale brass models of PE 414 and PE 13oo Niles cars. Of which I have three. I think its time to get these trolleys tricked out next. Yessir! Tricked out trolleys!