Tag: trains

Victorians, mud and birds in National City!

Did you know National City in San Diego’s South Bay has a Historic Railcar Plaza?

The small museum-like building is located at the intersection of Bay Marina Drive and Marina Way. A train track running through the building is home to old Passenger Coach No. 1.

I posted a blog about the National City Historic Railcar Plaza almost ten years ago, after peeking inside. You can revisit that past blog post here.

From outside, anyone can peer through windows into four small display rooms at each corner of the building. When I walked by several weeks ago, it seemed that displays in two of the corner windows had changed. So I took photos!

In one window, dummies of passengers in Victorian-era attire stand or sit on a bench, as if waiting for a train or streetcar.

In a second window I found a variety of educational displays. They’re mostly about protecting the wetlands in National City and around the San Diego region.

According to one sign, the public is invited to participate in Creek Day on the last Saturday of every month, from 8 am to noon. The address where people meet is 1815 Hoover Avenue.

You can check out the Facebook page of Paradise Creek Educational Park by clicking here. (Unfortunately, that page doesn’t seem very active right now.)

Another sign inside the Historic Railcar Plaza indicates: “Display rooms are available to nonprofits to showcase artifacts and interpretive exhibits relating to the early railroads and local history. Contact the Port of San Diego Public Art Department for program information.”

What might I see the next time I walk past?

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Archaic Passage at the Old Town Transit Center.

Travelers at the Old Town Transit Center might find themselves walking through an underground passageway. The tunnel safely crosses beneath the San Diego Trolley and train tracks. In this shadowy place curious eyes will encounter public art titled Archaic Passage.

Not in a hurry to catch your bus or other transportation? There are plaques on either end of the passageway that you can read. They provide information about this unique art…

“ARCHAIC PASSAGE”

COMMISSIONED BY SAN DIEGO METROPOLITAN TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT BOARD JUNE 1996

DESIGNED BY SAN DIEGO ARTIST PAUL HOBSON, “ARCHAIC PASSAGE” CELEBRATES THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF OLD TOWN, FROM NATIVE AMERICAN TO CONTEMPORARY TIMES. ART MATERIALS USED–CARRIZO CANE, WOOD, STUCCO, ADOBE, BRICK, CLAY ROOF AND DECORATIVE TILES–REPRESENT BUILDING MATERIALS USED TO BUILD OLD TOWN. EACH GEOLOGICAL STRATA-LIKE WAVE REFLECTS A SIGNIFICANT ARCHITECTURAL STYLE.

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Century-old locomotive to be restored in La Mesa!

Old No. 3, the 1923 steam locomotive on display outside the La Mesa Depot, is to be restored. I learned that yesterday from Timothy, who is Station Master at the historic old train depot in La Mesa.

No. 3 originally was purchased to haul lime rock on the Mojave Northern Railroad from a quarry near Victorville, California. In 1966 it was retired and donated to the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association in Campo, then made its way to the La Mesa Depot Museum in 1981. Unfortunately, in its outdoor setting, exposed to the weather, the century-old locomotive now needs a little loving care.

Old wood needs to be replaced. Rust has eaten holes in steel. Missing instrumentation in the locomotive’s cab needs to be replaced.

Timothy, after showing me how the steam locomotive operates, told me that La Mesa’s old No. 3 shouldn’t appear like a thing in a junkyard, so its restoration is on the way.

Once the work begins, hopefully I’ll be able to swing by and record another bit of history!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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New model train fun at the La Mesa Depot!

Look what has arrived at the old La Mesa Depot. A super cool model train layout!

During my last visit to the La Mesa Depot several years ago, Station Master Timothy was building a new layout in the historic depot’s baggage room. It has been replaced by a detailed, fully functioning HO scale layout with small town charm and mountain scenery!

Will kids love it?

Yes!

The La Mesa Depot, which can’t be missed at the corner of Spring Street and La Mesa Boulevard, is free to the public. Its doors open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and on Saturdays from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

There’s plenty to explore inside the depot, including an old telegraph, ticket window and the passenger waiting room. Outside, visitors can walk around the depot’s steam locomotive, refrigerator (reefer) car and caboose at any time.

Many years ago I walked around the La Mesa Depot and took photographs. Apart from the cool new model train layout, it appears little has changed. You can see my past photos of the depot here.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Remnants of the original Encinitas train station.

The bright yellow building at 510 North Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas is hard to miss. It was the original train station in Encinitas, as its appearance suggests. Today it’s home of Pannikin Coffee & Tea, a popular community gathering place.

I found few other indications of the building’s interesting railroad history: a marker near the front door (seen above) and an old Encinitas station sign.

I walked inside Pannikin Coffee & Tea and was disappointed there was so little on display specifically concerning the railroad station’s history. I asked two employees about it, who told me about the salvaged Encinitas station sign up near the ceiling.

According to this article, the original Encinitas train station was built in 1887. The building moved from trackside to its present location in the early 1970s and in 1980 became a coffeehouse.

It’s a uniquely attractive building, with its bright color and old Victorian charm.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Shotgun Tom and train fun in Balboa Park!

Can you believe it? Today I met legendary radio personality “Shotgun Tom” Kelly at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park!

Shotgun Tom was running trains as he often does on Wednesday afternoons. His pleasant greeting brought me back to my younger days, when his distinctive radio voice was a part of my life.

Shotgun Tom is a model train enthusiast. He has his own elaborate layout at home. A display at the museum concerns his love for the hobby and how it developed. I blogged about this not too long ago–you can see what I posted by clicking here.

I asked whether he was still on the radio, and the answer was YES! You can catch his 60s Gold program on SiriusXM Channel 73 on week nights 4 -9 pm Pacific Time. He has also written a book titled All I Wanna Do is Play the Hits, which you can check out on Amazon here. The book’s cover shows him with his Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

I went to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum today because they are participating in the San Diego Museum Council’s “Big Exchange,” which allows members of one museum to visit others for free from May 1 to May 18. See which museums are participating by scrolling down this page.

If you’ve never been to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, you’re missing out on a ton of fun! I took a few random photos, some behind glass.

One of the museum’s five amazing layouts (six if you include the outdoor Garden Railroad) is undergoing construction as it expands, as you might notice…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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San Diego radio legend Shotgun Tom’s model train!

San Diego’s legendary radio and television personality “Shotgun Tom” Kelly has created many fond memories. I remember listening to him on B100 back in the 1980s. Other San Diegans I’ve spoken to remember him introducing cartoons on The KUSI Kids Club. Over the years, he worked at KDEO, KPRI, KGB, KCBQ, KOGO, KBZS and KFMB-FM and Los Angeles oldies station KRTH-FM (K-Earth 101).

During my recent visit to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park, I was surprised to see an exhibit concerning Shotgun Tom. Did you know he’s a big fan of model trains? He even has his own cool model train layout! I was told he often visits the museum, operating trains of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern HO layout on Wednesdays!

According to the exhibit, the layout at his home is 10 by 7 feet and includes a radio and television station and a mountain for the TV station’s tower!

(I recall seeing a tiny “Shot Gun” Tom billboard in the Old Town Model Railroad Depot’s big model city, which sadly no longer exists. You can see photos of that incredible layout here.)

“Shot Gun” Tom’s real name is Thomas Joseph Irwin. The museum exhibit includes an old photo of his father J. G. Irwin Sr., a Santa Fe railroad engineer, on the 2357 switch engine in 1955.

Curious about the unusual nickname Shot Gun? It resulted from Tom liking to sit in the front of the family car beside his dad.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Two-inch railroad cars to travel in San Diego!

What is the smallest operating railroad car you’ve ever seen? Have you ever seen a moving train so small that bits of dust on the track can stop it?

Incredibly diminutive trains are coming to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park! Each car is about two inches long–the size of your finger!

A new Z scale permanent exhibit is being built in the museum and should be completed later his year. As a sign in the museum explains, this cool project is being supported by a grant from The Norris Foundation.

Z scale model trains are so tiny a complete oval layout can fit inside a briefcase. They have a scale ratio of 1:220. They’re even smaller than the N scale trains one can see in the museum’s incredible Pacific Desert Lines layout, which is operated by the San Diego Society of N Scale.

A sample Z scale layout is already on display (above photo). Plans for the not-yet-built layout can also be viewed…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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La Jolla church used to be a train station!

If you drive up La Jolla Boulevard, just north of Bird Rock, you might see the impressive building in these photographs.

When I visited the La Jolla Historical Society a while back, I learned something very surprising. This ornate building–the main chapel for the La Jolla United Methodist Church–was once a railroad station and power substation for San Diego Electric Railway, the San Diego streetcar line established by John D. Spreckels!

I’ve found several great articles concerning this history. Here and here and here.

The 1924 Spanish Colonial architectural style San Carlos Train Station served streetcar Route 16, which ran from San Diego to La Jolla. Route 16 was the San Diego Electric Railway’s last major rail line expansion. In addition to downtown San Diego and La Jolla, the route included stops in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. The streetcars ran through 1940.

The San Carlos terminal building would then be used for several years as an art school. In 1954, the La Jolla United Methodist Church bought the building.

Check out the first and third links above for a few old photographs. You’ll see how the train station and substation stood alone in undeveloped land a century ago.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Hammering railroad spikes in downtown San Diego!

When I think of railroad workers manually driving spikes with hammers, I think of black-and-white photographs of workers laying tracks across deserts and mountains in the 19th century. I imagine the hammering of that Golden Spike, joining the rails of the first transcontinental railroad.

Well, here in downtown San Diego, in this high technology 21st century, a group of railroad workers were using spike mauls today to hammer (you guessed it) good, dependable spikes!

Tracks that support the Amtrak Surfliner, North County Transit District’s Coaster, and freight trains are undergoing maintenance this weekend. (I saw a big tamping machine in the distance, which is used to pack ballast under the tracks.)

The last time I saw a person swinging a spike maul, a John D. Spreckels impersonator was hammering a Gold Spike at the 100th Anniversary of the San Diego and Arizona Railway event in Campo. See those fun photos by clicking here!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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