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California Streetcar Systems |
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San Diego |
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Began Operation: proposed |
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Miles of Line: tbd |
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Stations: tbd |
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Org: tbd |
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Schedule: tbd |
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Photo: A former Muni PCC car (R), newly arrived in San Diego, December 2005. Andy Goddard photo |
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As the home of the pioneering San Diego Trolley, which began the U.S. light rail renaissance in 1980, it only seems natural that the city would also have a vintage trolley service. The non-profit San Diego Vintage Trolley Inc. has obtained several vintage PCC type streetcars and is in the process of restoring them for operation over a portion of the San Diego Trolley system in downtown. Work on the vehicles is taking place at the San Diego Trolley maintenance facility. Click here for a link to a San Diego Union Tribune article covering the arrival of the cars. Also, the San Diego Electric Railway Association has some additional coverage on their website.
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Other Projects In addition to the activities of San Diego Vintage Trolley Inc., the North Park Main Street Association had also proposed a line that would link the world-famous San Diego Zoo with remote parking areas and the North Park neighborhood. The new 3.5-mile line would utilize an historic streetcar routing along University Ave. and Park Blvd.
North Park Main Street is a non-profit neighborhood revitalization organization. In their proposal, they pointed out four primary benefits for the streetcar project:
A grass-roots campaign to engage the local community resulted in an impressive list of local business, planning and historical groups supporting the proposal. North Park Main Street also researched vintage trolley success stories around the country, looking for ideas that have potential for application in San Diego. A formal feasibility was conducted in 2002, but as of late 2007 there has not been any recent activity reported on the group's website. Another local group owns several historic carbodies that it hopes to restore to operation. Check out their website for more details.
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January
2010- Progress continues on the restoration of the
first of San Diego Vintage Trolley's refurbished PCC streetcars.
Harry Mathis reports that car 529 now has all structural repairs,
exterior and interior painting and undercoat virtually complete.
A new floor has been installed and the roof has been
reinforced to accommodate the new pantograph. New doors have
been fabricated and are being installed, and new upholstery is in
progress. Truck work is proceeding off-site. All work to date has
been donated in-kind or paid for by cash contributions to SDVT. 
