• Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Digital Archive
  • Contact
    • Letter to the Editor
  • Find us
San Diego Uptown News
  • A&E
    • Art
    • Photography
    • Film
    • Dance
    • Music
    • Books
    • Theater
  • News & Features
    • News
    • Feature
    • Politics
      • Elected Official Reports
        • Chris Ward
        • Mara Elliott
        • Summer Stephan
        • Susan Davis
        • Toni G. Atkins
    • Community Updates
      • Hillcrest Town Council update
      • SD Zoo News
  • Food & Drink
    • Uptown Food Briefs
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Bars & Happy Hours
    • Uptown Brews
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Fitness
    • History
      • PastMatters
    • Homes & Garden
      • HouseCalls
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Parenting
    • Pets
  • Business
    • Best Of Uptown
    • Business Profiles
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Sponsored links
    • Expert Advice
  • Neighborhoods
    • Adams Avenue
    • Balboa Park
    • Bankers Hill
    • Downtown
    • Golden Hill
    • Hillcrest
    • Kensington
    • Mission Hills
    • North Park
    • Normal Heights
    • Old Town
    • South Park
    • Talmadge
    • University Heights
  • Calendar
  • Experts
No Result
View All Result
  • A&E
    • Art
    • Photography
    • Film
    • Dance
    • Music
    • Books
    • Theater
  • News & Features
    • News
    • Feature
    • Politics
      • Elected Official Reports
        • Chris Ward
        • Mara Elliott
        • Summer Stephan
        • Susan Davis
        • Toni G. Atkins
    • Community Updates
      • Hillcrest Town Council update
      • SD Zoo News
  • Food & Drink
    • Uptown Food Briefs
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Bars & Happy Hours
    • Uptown Brews
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Fitness
    • History
      • PastMatters
    • Homes & Garden
      • HouseCalls
    • Travel
    • Fashion
    • Parenting
    • Pets
  • Business
    • Best Of Uptown
    • Business Profiles
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Sponsored links
    • Expert Advice
  • Neighborhoods
    • Adams Avenue
    • Balboa Park
    • Bankers Hill
    • Downtown
    • Golden Hill
    • Hillcrest
    • Kensington
    • Mission Hills
    • North Park
    • Normal Heights
    • Old Town
    • South Park
    • Talmadge
    • University Heights
  • Calendar
  • Experts
No Result
View All Result
San Diego Uptown News
No Result
View All Result
Home News & Features News

Restored historic streetcar showcased at Trolley Barn Park

SDCNN by SDCNN
June 8, 2012
in News, Top Story
6
Restored historic streetcar showcased at Trolley Barn Park

Members of Lady Mari’s Costume Walkabout pose on the restored streetcar at the Trolley Barn Park on June 1. (Photo by La Vida Creations)

0
SHARES
3.3k
VIEWS

100-year anniversary of Class 1 streetcar service honored by unveiling plans for Balboa Park centennial

Members of Lady Mari’s Costume Walkabout pose on the restored streetcar at the Trolley Barn Park on June 1. (Photo by La Vida Creations)

By Morgan M. Hurley | SDUN Assistant Editor

Through the actions of local historians and dedicated residents, the historic Class 1 streetcars may be once again making their way through the streets of San Diego as early as 2015, one hundred years after the Panama-California Exposition and the initial reason they were built.

On Friday, June 1, on the 100-year anniversary of their first run, historians, local activists and other streetcar supporters met at Trolley Barn Park in University Heights to hear information on the next phase of restoration and reuse efforts of the historic streetcars.

Christian Chaffee, board president of San Diego Historic Streetcars, announced plans for three of the cars, the last remaining from a one-time fleet of 24. Chaffee said his hope is that the streetcars can be brought back, even if temporarily, in time for Balboa Park’s 2015 centennial celebration.

Chaffee, an antique dealer by trade, purchased the three remaining vessels in 1996, salvaging and restoring them himself. A year later, the San Diego Historical Resources board officially designated the cars historic landmarks.

John Spreckles, then president of the San Diego Electric Railway Company, funded and built the first Class 1 streetcar in 1910. The original fleet of 24 streetcars serviced Downtown, North Park, South Park, Golden Hill, Kensington, Normal Heights and University Heights, extending through Bankers Hill, Hillcrest and Mission Hills to La Jolla, Ocean Beach, Chula Vista and the Mexican border.

The fleet was in use through 1939, when most of the cars were demolished. Original Class 1 streetcar #138 is now fully restored and was on display at the anniversary event, available for those in attendance to board and enjoy.  Cars #126 and #128 have undergone minimal restoration and were not available for the June 1 event.

“The wear patterns inside these cars came from our ancestors and the people who built Balboa Park,” Chaffee said from a podium at Trolley Barn Park.  “The Class 1 brought prosperity [to San Diego] and they can do this again. … I can think of no other historic resource that residents enjoyed 100 years ago that could be brought back today. We will work hard to make this a reality.”

Chaffe then unveiled a large map of Balboa Park with the markings of a proposed rail route for the streetcars, saying the tracks to support such a route could be laid and removed quickly and easily. This would facilitate a temporary use period to garner further support for a future, more permanent phase of the project after the Balboa Park centennial.

The June 1 event took on an even more historic feel, with several members of Lady Mari’s Costume Walkabout group mingling in extravagant costumes from the year 1912, and the music of Heliotrope Ragtime Orchestra, which reproduces tunes from the height of the ragtime era.

Helen Helmay of the Congress of History of San Diego told the crowd of a time when she and her husband, now residents of Lemon Grove, lived on Park Boulevard and took long walks through University Heights. She said the couple came to love the area and are big supporters of the project.

District Three Councilmember Todd Gloria also spoke at the event, throwing his full support behind the effort and identifying his hopes of seeing the streetcars back in permanent service “in all of our respective lifetimes,” he said.

Gloria described how grassroots support of the streetcars is currently being driven, starting with the vintage trolley Silver Line. Restored by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), these historic cars are currently in operation Downtown.

Gloria said by bringing back the Silver Line, MTS Chairman Harry Mathis “has created something to give people a taste” of what the Class 1 streetcar project is all about.

“People stop dead in their tracks and stare at the streetcar as it goes by, because it just has that kind of magical effect on people,” Gloria said, adding that he hopes to leverage all existing support for the Silver Line and roll that over to benefit the Class 1 streetcar project.

“If you like it in Downtown,” he said, “why not take it up to Balboa Park? Why not have it service the Uptown communities?”

He then thanked those in support of the project and identified the Adams Avenue Business Association, North Park Main Street and the Hillcrest Business Association as groups in his district willing to help fund and maintain the project.

“They understand that this is economic development at its best. It will attract tourists, it will create jobs and it will support business in their neighborhood,” he said.

Gloria then encouraged everyone interested to get involved by writing letters, sending emails or making appearances at MTS and San Diego Association of Government (SANDAG) board meetings to tell them our community needs this service.

Along with lemonade, apple pie and ice cream served for attendees, there were also approximately a dozen vendors at the event, offering information about various other historic restoration projects around San Diego County, including representative from Save Our Heritage Organisation, Mission Hills Heritage and the Old House Fair.

San Diego Historic Streetcar is a nonprofit formed to restore the streetcars and return them to public service. For more information, visit sandiegohistoricstreetcars.org or call 619-752-0151.

Related Posts

  • Broadway San Diego celebrates 45 yearsBroadway San Diego celebrates 45 years
  • Travel Tips: How To Plan The Perfect Camping Trip In CaliforniaTravel Tips: How To Plan The Perfect Camping Trip In California
  • How To Choose The Ideal Transfer Money Service: 6 Things To Look ForHow To Choose The Ideal Transfer Money Service: 6 Things To Look For
  • Qualities to Look For When Hiring a Moving CompanyQualities to Look For When Hiring a Moving Company
  • Atkins: Celebrating July holidays as California reopensAtkins: Celebrating July holidays as California reopens
  • These Tips Will Help You Properly Dispose Of Old FurnitureThese Tips Will Help You Properly Dispose Of Old Furniture
Previous Post

Community Pocket Garden opens in North Park

Next Post

The star of the West: Rapid City, South Dakota

Next Post
The Global Gumshoe: Travel Accessory Necessities

The star of the West: Rapid City, South Dakota

Comments 6

  1. steven greenwald says:
    10 years ago

    i would be happy to help out steve 6193007229 at 4009 park blvd when is the next san dag meeting..look at my website we need electric mass transit as outlined by mr gloria and my website for the 2015 centennial

  2. highwayman says:
    10 years ago

    Streetcars in Balboa Park agin! What a GREAT idea!!!

    ABSOLUTELY!

  3. Douglas Vernon says:
    7 years ago

    It’s better than an above city cable car line which would just give incentive for some crazy to pull the old dutch act
    and mess up the streets below.

  4. golf clash hack says:
    2 months ago

    BEIJING, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Russian teenager Kamila Valieva surprised the figure skating world by stumbling into fourth place in the women’s single event on Thursday, ensuring the
    Olympic medal ceremony could go ahead at
    the Beijing Games.

  5. video editor says:
    1 month ago

    I am truly grateful to the holder of this web page
    who has shared this impressive post at here.

  6. honeymoon travel packages says:
    1 month ago

    Very nice article, totally what I wanted to find.

    My site: honeymoon travel packages

Category

  • Adams Avenue
  • Art
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Balboa Park
  • Bankers Hill
  • Bars & Happy Hours
  • Best Of Uptown
  • Books
  • Business
  • Business Profiles
  • Calendar
  • Community
  • Community Profile
  • Community Updates
  • Community Voices
  • Congressional Watch
  • D3 Update
  • Dance
  • District 53 Dispatch
  • Downtown
  • Editorials
  • Elected Official Reports
  • Expert Advice
  • Fashion
  • Feature
  • Featured
  • Featured News
  • Film
  • Finance
  • Five Points-Middletown
  • Food & Drink
  • From the Cover
  • Golden Hill
  • Guest Editorial
  • Health & Fitness
  • Hillcrest
  • Hillcrest Town Council update
  • History
  • Homes & Garden
  • HouseCalls
  • Kensington
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Lifestyle
  • Mara Elliott
  • Mission Hills
  • Music
  • Neighborhoods
  • News
  • News & Features
  • Normal Heights
  • North Park
  • Notes from Toni
  • Old Town
  • Opinion
  • Parenting
  • PastMatters
  • Pets
  • Photography
  • Politics
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • SD Zoo News
  • Small Business
  • South Park
  • Suds in the city
  • Summer Stephan
  • Talmadge
  • The Spoken Word
  • Theater
  • Top Story
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • University Heights
  • Uptown Brews
  • Uptown Briefs
  • Uptown Food Briefs

Site Links

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • A&E
    • Art
    • Photography
    • Music
    • Books
    • Dance
    • Film
    • Theater
  • News & Features
    • News
    • Politics
      • Elected Official Reports
    • Feature
  • Food & Drink
    • Bars & Happy Hours
    • Uptown Food Briefs
    • Suds in the city
    • Uptown Brews
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Business
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Expert Advice
      • Sponsored Links
  • Lifestyle
    • Health & Fitness
    • Fashion
    • Pets
    • Travel
    • History
  • Neighborhoods
    • Adams Avenue
    • Bankers Hill
    • Balboa Park
    • Old Town
    • Kensington
    • University Heights
    • Normal Heights
    • South Park
    • Mission Hills
    • Community Updates
      • Hillcrest Town Council update
      • HouseCalls
      • SD Zoo News
  • Best Of Uptown
  • Calendar
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertising
  • Archive

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

desi sex
forced sex stories
desi chut