Trolley Tuesday 8/31/21 - Cars of the San Diego MTS

Welcome to the last Trolley post of this very inconsistent month! On behalf of my editor and I, thank you to all our generous rider and supporters who continue to read our articles and learn more about everything that we write here. We promise September will be a return to form with no gaps or inconsistent posting times.

For our last Trolley Tuesday of the month, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the light-rail cars of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and see how forward-thinking this pioneering system really was. Because they were among the first real light-rail comebacks in America (as systems like Muni never really stopped running at all), San Diego's light rail fleet was able to pioneer a lot of light rail tropes that we take for granted today while also handling eventual problems that many of us see as normal. So, without further ado, let's jump right into the cars!

Siemens Pioneers

Definitely not a trolley I would recommend in San Diego.
(Balboa Park)

Choosing your first car is always going to be hard, especially if you're looking for something particular. Do you go for fast and sporty, or practical? Certainly the same struggle was felt by the members of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) when it came time to choose what kind of rolling stock would serve the MTS. At this time, in the late 1970s, cities that were still using streetcars like San Francisco's Muni and Boston's MBTA were getting by with elderly PCC cars while others like New York City and Chicago had dedicated rapid-transit and subway cars running on third-rail power. Obviously, none of these were going to work for what San Diego was trying, but soon enough, an answer presented itself. The answer came from nowhere near California, but from Germany, where the "U-Bahn" system of converting heavy-rail to light-rail was adapted for San Diego's light rail renaissance. 

The Siemens-Duewag U1 No. 1001 in 1997, at the Frankfurt on Main Transport Museum.
(Urmelbeauftragter)

A Duewag tram in Aachen, showing off its PCC-
derivative appearance in Germany.
(Tom Burnham)

In the city of Frankfurt, a company called Siemens-Duewag (who were basically one of the early pioneers of European electric traction) had built a light-rail vehicle known as the "U2" which bore more than a little resemblance to the PCC car. This was because after World War II, the Duewag Company continued making offshoots of the PCC design, making it thinner and longer into a flexible two-car tram. The U2 was the first production car made for the Frankfurt U-Bahn following a pair of prototype models called the "U1". (There will be more about this next year when we cover German light rail history in full, so stay tuned.) What set the U2 apart from other light rail vehicles in America at the time was its articulation. Articulated cars were tried before by other interurban companies (especially the Key System, who invented the first ones in America) but were never a big thing due to troubles with center bogies or the cars coming in a little too late in time. 

The Siemens U2 on the Frankfurt U-Bahn at Eschersheim station.
(JCornelius)

An AC Transit bus from the Bay Area meets U2 No. 1059
at El Cajon Transit Center, possibly 2015.
(AC Transit)

San Diego had faith in their new German LRVs and quickly commissioned Siemens-Duewag to build 71 new U2s in 1979, with delivery and first-operations beginning in 1981. Nos. 1001-1080 trickled in slowly through 1980 and 1981 as, at the time, Siemens was the only company building streetcars in America, thanks to a little shop in Florin, CA, just outside of Sacramento. When testing on the new South Line between Downtown and San Ysidro, the trolleys often had to be towed by diesels as the overhead was not up yet. Despite this, the U2s proved to be a successful investment as, when the MTS finally opened on July 26, 1981, people flocked to the cars in droves.

A San Diego Trolley U2 (with numbers airbrushed out) poses
for a postcard shot at the Santa Fe Depot, 1980s.
(HipPostcard)

Interior of U2 No. 1008 at the Southern California Railway Museum.
(Sebastian Kasten)

The U2s were 78 feet long, 8 feet wide, and weighed a generous 38 tons. Inside their steel-and-fiberglass body, the cars could sit 264 people, including standees, which made them perfect for rush-hour service. Underneath, Siemens-Duewag outfitted them with two 200-HP DC motors that could propel them to a brisk 50 miles per hour and their Scharfenberg multiple-unit automatic couplers allowed up to three or four sets at a time to run as a single train (though San Diego always ran two or three in a train at any time). The U2s remained mostly unchanged in their service until 2010, when thirty-five cars were sold to Metrotranvia Mendoza in Argentina (long known to be a second home for Californian streetcars) due to the ongoing "Trolley Renewal Project". Eighteen remained in service while the other seventeen were retained for parts. By January 26, 2015, all U2s (which were now pushing thirty-four years old) were retired in favor of newer low-floor cars across the system, with six going to preservation and one retained for limited "heritage streetcar" service. 

U2 No. 1001 at American Plaza, now on the Silver Line beat in 2019.
(GeeStacka KeeRo74 on Youtube)

Lower Your Floors... and Standards

MTS SD100 No. 2037 at El Cajon Transit Center in 2013,
with the "black" area underneath denoting where the platforms
used to be next to the train.
(Dawlish Trains)

Even before the U2s were retired, however, San Diego already had plans to supplant them in 1993 thanks to the opening of the "East Line" (now the Orange Line) in 1986. Due to a stretched-out fleet of U2s, SANDAG and the MTS again turned to Siemens for an answer. Siemens, by this time, now had a well-entrenched presence in Florin and were producing LRVs for Denver, Sacramento, and Calgary, just to name a few, so making a new car for San Diego was no sweat to them. The new order consisted of 52 "SD-100" cars (2001-2052) that were basically an "Americanised" U2. It was just two feet longer, sat thirty-six less people, and used sliding doors instead of folding doors. Like the U2s, these cars were built with high-level platforms in mind but, by the time of the Trolley Renewal Project, "low floor designs" were starting to take hold and the U2s and SD-100s were both rebuilt to be low-floor only by the time of their retirement. The SD-100s are currently being phased out by the end of 2021 to early 2022, with their replacements already working the streets of San Diego.

New LRVs

S70s 3009 and 3004 pose upon delivery in shining red
at Gillespie Field Station in El Cajon.
(So Cal Metro)

Thanks to their similar couplers, the new S70s could operate
with the older SD100s when the Green Line first opened at
San Diego State University.
(SDSU NewsCenter)

The replacements turned out to be yet another Siemens product, the S70. These 21st century cars featured a rounder, modern design and now came with two points of articulation instead of one to reduce overhang. They also heralded the retirement of the last "high floor" cars working on the MTS, as it was in the system's best interest for handicap and general accessibility to dispense with high platforms. The S70s, nicknamed the "Avanto", were purpose-built for US systems like San Diego and featured a modular design that enabled a range of sizes from super-short "streetcar" models to longer rapid transit models. The first eleven S70s (Nos. 3001-3011) arrived in San Diego in 2004 to serve the new Green Line extension to San Diego State University and Santee and were soon followed by sixty-five "ultra short" or "US" S70s (Nos. 4001-4065) in 2009. One more order of "US" S70s came as late as 2016 and began running on April 2019, fully replacing San Diego's heritage fleet of U2s and SD100s with modern equipment. It is determined these LRVs will continue running into the 2030s or 2040s before replacements are needed again.

San Diego Trolley's Langley C. Powell Maintenance Facility
in Sigsbee Row, showing off an SD100 squeezed between two S70US's.
(Mike Yuhas)

The PCCs Return

Muni No. 1123 (now San Diego MTS No. 530) at 30th and Church in 1982.
(Unknown Author)

Muni No. 1123 sheds its San Franciscan identity in this 2009
shot as volunteers at an MTS trolley yard work on repainting it.
(Peter Ehrlich)

Finally, it is worth mentioning the old-age pensioners San Diego keeps around. As mentioned last week, San Diego's historic PCCs returned (in a way) through cars No. 529 and 530. Both cars were originally ex-San Francisco Muni cars purchased from St. Louis Public Service and were built in 1946, being sold to San Diego MTS in 2005. With help from a local non-profit, the cars were retrofitted with new pantographs and air conditioning systems, as well as the revival of their iconic green-cream scheme urging passengers to "RIDE AND RELAX". Both cars were unveiled for operation on the Panama-Pacific Exposition's Centennial in 2015 and can today be found running weekend service along the Silver Line loop between American Plaza and 12th & Imperial Transit Center. As of July 2019, a third member of the Silver Line loop was added in the form of San Diego Trolley No. 1001, the first Siemens-Duewag U2, which now alternates with the two PCC cars, ensuring the U2s remain a constant presence in the city.

The same car as above in current condition, with new pantograph
and updated electrics and paint.
(Mike Armstrong)

Preserved Examples

San Diego MTS Nos. 1003 and 1008 at the Southern California Railway Museum.
(Christopher Baldwin)

San Diego MTS No. 1002 on display outside the San Diego Electric Railway Association's
headquarters in National City, California.
(SDERA)

San Diego MTS Nos. 1017 (left) and 1018 (right) at
the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, CA.
(Hunter Lohse)

Due to the age of the MTS and its equipment, one might be surprised to find out that there are now six of their Siemens U2s preserved all over the United States. No. 1002 is the only one to remain in San Diego as a static museum exhibit, being cared for by the San Diego Electric Railway Association in National City, CA. The other five are kept faithfully running as they would have in service, especially fortuitous as the MTS runs on 600V DC, a common streetcar museum voltage. The Western Railway Museum of Rio Vista, CA, operates Nos. 1017 and 1018 in regular service, as does the Southern California Railway Museum of Perris, CA, whose U2s (Nos. 1003 and 1008) are praised for (and currently out of service due to) their air conditioning system. The final U2 car to enter preservation, No. 1019, is operating regularly at the Rockhill Trolley Museum of Rockhill Furnace, PA. 

San Diego MTS No. 1019 encounters weather unlike Southern California
as it works a Christmas Trolley service at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill, PA.
(Rockhill Trolley Museum)

Thank you for reading today's Trolley post, and watch your step as you alight on the platform. My resources today included the archives and newsletters of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Authority, the volunteers and archives of the Southern California Railway Museum of Perris, CA, the Western Railway Museum of Rio Vista, CA, the Rockhill Trolley Museum of Rockhill Furnace, PA, and the many photo credits listed under each caption. The San Diego Trolley gifs in our posts are made by Alex Stroshane. On Thursday, we start September proper with a biography of Frank J. Sprague and his many innovations in electric traction. For now, you can follow myself or my editor on Twitter, buy a shirt or sticker from our Redbubble stand, or purchase my editor's self-developed board game! It's like Ticket to Ride, but cooler! (and you get to support him through it!) Until next time, ride safe!