The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) was a
mass transit system in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, United States, using 600
volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
Defi ...
DC streetcars and (in later years)
buses.
The SDERy was established by sugar heir and land developer
John D. Spreckels in 1892. The railroad's original network consisted of five routes: the Fifth Street and Logan Heights Lines, the First and "D" Streets Lines, the Depot Line, the Ferry Line, and the "K" Street Shuttle. The company would establish additional operating divisions as traffic demands led to the formation of new lines. The company also engaged in limited freight handling primarily as an interchange with Spreckels'
San Diego and Arizona Railway
The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, ...
(SD&A) from 1923 to 1929.
At its peak, the SDERy's routes would operate throughout the greater
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
area over some of track. Steadily declining ridership, due in large part to the phenomenal rise in popularity of the automobile, ultimately led the company to discontinue all streetcar service in favor of bus routes in 1949. Some see this as related to the
National City Lines
National City Lines, Inc. (NCL) was a public transportation company. The company grew out of the Fitzgerald brothers' bus operations, founded in Minnesota, United States in 1920 as a modest local transport company operating two buses. Part of the ...
's
General Motors streetcar conspiracy
The General Motors streetcar conspiracy refers to the convictions of General Motors (GM) and related companies that were involved in the monopolizing of the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines (NCL) and subsidiaries, as well as to ...
controversy, as the SDERy's president had been with NCL previously.
The few surviving pieces of rolling stock are on display at the
Pacific Southwest Railway Museum
The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum is a railroad museum located in Campo, California, on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway line. The museum also owns and manages a railroad depot located in La Mesa, California.
Facilities
Campo
Sinc ...
in Campo, the
San Diego Electric Railway Association in
National City, and the
Orange Empire Railway Museum
The Southern California Railway Museum (SCRM, reporting mark OERX), formerly known as the Orange Empire Railway Museum, is a railroad museum in Perris, California, United States. It was founded in 1956 at Griffith Park in Los Angeles before movin ...
in
Perris, California
Perris is an old railway city in Riverside County, California, United States, located east-southeast of Los Angeles and north of San Diego. It is known for Lake Perris, an artificial lake, skydiving, and its sunny dry climate. Perris is wit ...
.
History
Predecessors
![Rapid Transit in San Diego, 1886--Original Car and Driver Panama-California Exposition Ground-breaking parade, 1911](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Rapid_Transit_in_San_Diego%2C_1886--Original_Car_and_Driver_Panama-California_Exposition_Ground-breaking_parade%2C_1911.jpg)
On July 3, 1886, the first horse-drawn open-air streetcar of the San Diego Street Car Company (SDSCC) (founded by
H. L. Story and
E. S. Babcock) made its run up 5th Street. The fare was five cents. The following year on November 9, the first electric-powered streetcar made a test run on new tracks up Broadway to Kettner Boulevard and on to "Old Town".
Electric streetcar service was inaugurated on November 19 on the San Diego and Old Town Street Railway, making it the first electric railway on the West Coast and the second in the country to use the "ground return" for electric current. In 1888, the Electric Rapid Transit Company (ERTC) put an electric streetcar into regular operation in San Diego. When ERTC failed, the San Diego Cable Railway (SDCR) was incorporated in July 1889 to replace it. The opening day of the SDCR was June 7, 1890, and it soon opened "Mission Cliffs Gardens", a small recreation park (one of San Diego's first public recreation areas) overlooking Mission Valley, as an end-of-the-line attraction for cable car patrons.
San Diego Electric Railway Company
![Double-decker San Diego Electric Railway, 5th & Market, Sept 21, 1892](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Double-decker_San_Diego_Electric_Railway%2C_5th_%26_Market%2C_Sept_21%2C_1892.jpg)
By November 30, 1891
John D. Spreckels incorporated the San Diego Electric Railway Company (SDERy). On January 30, the SDERy purchased the SDSCC and the majority of its assets for $115,000; over the next few years the company would also acquire the competing Park Belt Line and the Ocean Beach Railroad. Plans were made to convert all existing lines to traction, and ten single-truck, single-trolley, open platform wooden cars were subsequently purchased from the
J. G. Brill and Company
The J.G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars,Young, Andrew D. (1997). ''Veteran & Vintage Transit'', p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. interurban coaches, motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars in the United States for almos ...
. Double-decker Car No. 1, the first such electrically operated car in the United States, made the inaugural run on September 21, 1892, with many of the city's notables aboard. A few weeks later, the SCCR completed its last run, the company having declared bankruptcy earlier in the year. At the end of 1892, the line had grown to of aggregated system track ( of single electrified track with for horse-drawn cars). Many new electrified lines were constructed during the coming years.
In August 1895, the Citizens Traction Company (CTC) was formed and purchased the remains of the SDCR for $17,600, adapting the line to electric operation in order to compete with the SDERy. On July 28, 1896, the first converted trolley car ran the entire length of the long CTC line. However, by February 1897 financial difficulties forced the CTC to go into receivership. Elisa Babcock, as agent for the SDERy, bought the properties and franchises of the CTC in March 1898 for $19,000 plus "fees and costs." The track gauge was subsequently
widened from
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
to .
In 1905 Spreckels had a new power generating plant built to accommodate the additional loads imposed by the expanding streetcar network. He announced the following year the formation of
San Diego and Arizona Railway
The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, ...
(SD&A) and plans for a line between San Diego and
El Centro
El Centro (Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban are ...
. The Third Avenue Streetcar Line began operation. The SDERy logged 798,152 car miles. By 1907 the Third Avenue Streetcar Line was extended to the future community of
Mission Hills, and was briefly renamed the Mission Hills Line. Spreckels forced a ballot initiative in 1910 to amend his charter with the City of San Diego to give him more than 25 years on his leases to operate streetcar service. With this greater security he was able to acquire major loans for service expansion and infrastructure. The next year, the Imperial Avenue operating division was established downtown. Spreckels had a second power generating plant built at Kettner Boulevard and "E" Street, as the 1905 plant could no longer provide sufficient capacity.
Ordered by Spreckels, with guidance by William Clayton and design by Homer MacNutt and Abel A. Butterworth, 24
Arts and Crafts-style streetcars (to be known as the
'Class 1' streetcar) were delivered to San Diego in 1912. The following year, construction of a new brick car barn located at Adams Avenue and Florida Street wa completed. By the end of 1914 the SDERy owned of single track and of double track, for a total of of "equivalent single track".
The 1915
Panama-California Exposition in
Balboa Park spurred the next phase of transportation growth. A new electric car line was constructed up 12th Street to the park's entrance with 101 new cars from the
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri.
History
The St. Louis Car Company ...
, and the Adams Avenue operating division was established in
Normal Heights. San Diego's original
Victorian style
train depot
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing su ...
was demolished and replaced with a new
Mission Revival Style Santa Fe depot building. The SDERy logged 3,521,571 car miles. The "Great Flood" in 1916 caused significant damage, washing out several rail lines.
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
increased the cost of railway construction materials by 50 to 150 percent. There was a significant increase in the private ownership of automobiles, and the SDERy began to lose revenue to private "Jitney Buses". On November 15, 1919, the "golden spike" was driven and construction of the SD&A was ceremonially completed at a cost of $18 million (three times the original estimate). Spreckels announced plans in 1920 to discontinue service on several rail lines to offset expenses, leading to approval of "zone fares". The SDERy purchased new streetcars that requires only one driver/conductor instead of two; older cars were retrofitted to reduce labor costs. Spreckels sold his power generating plants to the Consolidated Gas and Electric Company.
The first motor buses
In 1921 the first motor bus went into service operating between
National City and
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...
. "Number One" had hard rubber tires, two-wheel mechanical brakes, a four-cylinder engine, and a plywood body. On March 17, 1923, the SDERy began its last major rail line expansion to
Mission Beach ("Belmont Park"),
Pacific Beach, and
La Jolla
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781.
La Jolla is surrounded on ...
. $2.5 million were spent on rails, Mission Revival Style terminals and substations, and
Egyptian Revival Style stations, and $800,000 were spent on the acquisition of 50 new cars. Construction was completed in 1925. Car No. 400, an all-steel model with a closed body and the first on the SDERy to feature a
pantograph
A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...
-type current collector, was delivered in December 1923. All 50 pantograph-equipped cars would eventually have trolley poles installed at each end due to the pantographs' poor performance.
By 1930 buses began to replace street cars from Ocean Beach to La Jolla, and 222 new buses were added to the fleet. Ridership and revenue decreased but SDERy was able to weather the economic downturn. The 1935
California Pacific International Exposition
The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large c ...
opened in Balboa Park without the need for expanded transit service. In 1936 SDERy ordered 25 single-end
Presidents Conference Committee (PCC) cars from the
St. Louis Car Company
The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri.
History
The St. Louis Car Company ...
, and was among the first streetcar systems in the United States to use
streamlined
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow.
They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
units. The cars were designated as Class 6. An order for three additional units was placed the following year.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
turned San Diego into a "boom town" again. The population of the city increased due to an influx of military personnel and defense-related industries, and ridership on public transit rose 600 percent during the war years. Used transit vehicles were purchased from around the nation, and more electrical substations were built (one in the basement of the Spreckels Theatre Building on Broadway). The $2.5 million rail line built in the 1920s to the beaches was ripped out, along with the elaborate stations and terminals, and replaced with a bus line. By 1942 the combined streetcar and bus lines carried 94 million people. Additional streetcars were brought in on loan from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
, and
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in th ...
to help keep up with demand. Combined ridership in 1944 led to more than 146 million trips. In 1946 SDERy began to phase out
streetcar line
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s and replace them with
bus route
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
s. By the following year, only three street car lines would remain in operation.
New owners and systematic conversion to buses
On July 26, 1948, the Western Transit Company (WTC), owned by Jesse Haugh, bought SDERy for $5.5 million. Haugh was also president of
Key System
The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area fr ...
and an executive of
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
. The following month 13 new 45-passenger buses were placed into service. In September 1948 the WTC announced that the SDERy would henceforth be known as the San Diego Transit System (SDTS). A new emblem (consisting of a pair of wings with a shield in the center) and slogan, "Safety, Courtesy, Service," were adopted. In January 1949 the SDTS borrowed $720,000 for the purchase of additional new buses, and made an application to the State
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to discontinue streetcar service, which the PUC granted in March. Sponsored by the Pacific Railroad Society of Los Angeles, a "farewell to the streetcars" excursion was held, operated over the remaining trackage.
The following month 45 new
GM buses (each costing $20,000) paraded down Broadway to mark the retirement of the street cars; free rides were offered during the procession. Rail service on the ''SDERy'' came to an end as Car No. 446 pulled into the Adams Avenue car barn, making San Diego the first major
southwestern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
city to eliminate streetcars and convert to an all-bus transit system. In May 1949 work crews began removing the overhead trolley lines and tracks on the loop at Santa Fe Depot. In 1950, 17 of the PCC model cars were sold to the El Paso City Lines (EPCL) for service on the international loop between
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
, and the Mexican border city of
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Juà ...
,
Chihuahua. A few years later, three more PCCs were sold to EPCL. All remaining Class 5 cars and the three "service" cars were purchased by the Allied Salvage Company for scrap. The eight remaining PCCs were purchased in August 1957 by the San Diego Mill Supply Company. Car No. 508 was acquired by the Orange Empire Traction Company for display at
its museum in
Perris, California
Perris is an old railway city in Riverside County, California, United States, located east-southeast of Los Angeles and north of San Diego. It is known for Lake Perris, an artificial lake, skydiving, and its sunny dry climate. Perris is wit ...
, and Car No. 528 was obtained by the San Diego Railway Historical Society for preservation and exhibition.
Revival: San Diego Trolley system
After years of planning and development, the "
San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. It is known colloquially as "The Trolley". The Trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. (SDTI), is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Tra ...
" (a new
interurban
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...
light rail mass transit system) made its inaugural run on July 19, 1981, on the long "South Line" between Downtown and the Mexican border. The following week San Diego Trolley began revenue service; San Diego would become known in transit circles as "The city that started the 'light rail craze' in the United States".
In August 1996, three "Class 1" streetcars were saved for San Diego. These cars, numbered 126, 128, and 138, had been ordered by John Spreckels in anticipation of the 1915 Panama California Exposition. The logo of the SDERy is still visible. The San Diego Historic Site Board recognized the three native "Class 1" streetcars with the official designation of San Diego Landmark #339. In February 2005, the San Diego Electric Railway Association salvaged the body shell of Car No. 357 (formerly of the
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (locat ...
streetcar system) from a Downtown restaurant site where it had been used as a dining room since 1972.
In December 2005, the San Diego Vintage Trolley Co. purchased three former
San Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni), is the public transit system for the City and County of San Francisco. It operates a system of bus routes (including trolleybuses), the Muni Metro light rail system, three historic cabl ...
PCC cars (one numbered 529).
Car No. 529 was later fully restored for public rail service. Three other PCC cars, two from SEPTA and one from New Jersey (531-533), were subsequently purchased.
In March 2014, MTS took possession of a second 1946 PCC streetcar, destined to join public service as Car #530.
It was estimated that the mostly cosmetic restoration work required to restore Car #530 to service would take six to eight months.
The PCC cars were planned to run on a loop route around Downtown using existing San Diego Trolley tracks.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (''SDMTS'' or often simply ''MTS'') is a public transit service provider for Central, South, Northeast and Southeast San Diego County. The agency directly operates a large transit system that includes t ...
, in a partnership with the San Diego historic streetcar society, began select weekday, weekend and holiday mid-day service in August 2011 on this new
heritage streetcar
Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles.
Trains
It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...
Silver Line, which operates around Downtown San Diego using the renovated
PCC streetcar
The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...
#529. By March 2011
MTS began work on a study to evaluate the feasibility of reconnecting Balboa Park, the
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...
, and
Downtown San Diego
Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...
through a fixed-guideway,
electrified streetcar line that might operate as an extension of the Silver Line and might be operated with other restored heritage streetcars.
Routes
Routes in 1925 – roughly the system's largest extent – were as follows:
[Line numbers taken fro]
"Evolution of the San Diego Cityscape" by W.J. Hermiston
detailed description of routes taken by each line from San Diego Electric Railway 1925 map
* 1 – 5th Ave. to
Hillcrest, then via University – Park Blvd. - Adams to 30th St. (just west of Normal Heights)
* 2 – east on Broadway South Park – via 30th St. to North Park
* 3 – via Washington and Fort Stockton Ave. to
Mission Hills
* 4 – Imperial Ave. to 33rd and Commercial,
Stockton
* 5 – north from downtown on 1st Ave.; east form downtown on Market, south on 25th St., east on Ocean View Blvd. to 39th St. in
Mountain View
* 7 – via Park Blvd. through
Balboa Park to
Hillcrest, then east along University Ave. through
North Park to
City Heights, then known as East San Diego
* 9 – serving marina at end of Market St.
* 11 – via 5th Ave. to
Hillcrest, then via University, and 30th to Adams Ave.; along the length of Adams to
Normal Heights and
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
* 12 –
Logan Heights,
National City to
Chula Vista
Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...
* 13 – Kettner/Hancock to Rosecrans to La Playa,
Point Loma
Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...
* 14 – Ocean Beach
* 15 – reserved for holiday use to Mission Beach Amusement Park
* 16 – Ocean Beach – Mission Beach – La Jolla
See also
*
Los Angeles Railway
The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent local ...
*
Pacific Electric Railway Company
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
*
Transportation in San Diego County
The following is a list of transportation options in San Diego County, California.
Rail services
Local
San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail that serves the metropolitan area including central San Diego, East County, Sou ...
*
List of streetcar systems in the United States
This is an all-time list of streetcar (tram), interurban and light rail systems in the United States, by principal city (or cities) served, and separated by political division, with opening and closing dates. It includes all such systems, past a ...
(all-time list)
*
San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway
The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company is a short-line United States, American railroad founded in 1906 as the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) by sugar magnate, developer, and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossi ...
*
San Diego and Arizona Railway
The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, ...
*
San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. It is known colloquially as "The Trolley". The Trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. (SDTI), is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Tra ...
*
North County Transit District
The North County Transit District (typically abbreviated as NCTD) is the agency responsible for public transportation in Northern San Diego County, California. The agency manages the COASTER commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Die ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
The Home of the Historic San Diego Class 1 Streetcars* — report documents the efforts of the North Park Main Street Association to reintroduce "Class 1" streetcar service along a historic 3.5 mile line in the San Diego community of
North Park.
* — documentation of GM front companies and hostile takeovers of "Key System" transit companies in California.
* — photos and text from an article in the January 1956 issue of ''The Journal of San Diego History''.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Public Transportation in Greater San Diego
Defunct California railroads
Transportation in San Diego
Public transportation in San Diego County, California
Passenger rail transportation in California
Electric railways in California
Interurban railways in California
Transportation companies based in California
Defunct public transport operators in the United States
1892 establishments in California
History of San Diego
3 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
600 V DC railway electrification
1949 disestablishments in California