April 9, 1961, the MTA closed the chapter of interurban passenger service in Southern California. Today saw the return of interurban passenger service…in my garage. Looks like I need to do a little bit more track cleaning!
I was born in time to see the last of the red cars. Time frame 1949, but have no recollection of them. Mom said of me I'd lean out of my crib, watching out the window, to see the cars trundle by our apartment in Pasadena, Ca. She said I could hear the clanging bell before she did. She took me on short trips to go shopping, visit my aunt and uncle and various parks for a picnic. Still no recollection. Every-time I climb into a trolley or red car at the Paris Railroad Museum. I don't know if it's the bell, the smell, the operator or the view out of the window but it triggers something in my memory. Feels like home.
I spent some time running 1445 today, made me wish that I had DCC in my interurban fleet...now I need to figure out how to do this. I also thought about scraping the layout in the past and rebuilding it with code 55, the Tomix chassis are not code55 friendly, so glad that I stuck with code 80
Don't scrap the code 80...if you wait just a bit a conglomeration of GM, Shell, and Firestone will come buy the layout from you and scrap it themselves
Have you looked into Peco Code 55? I've been told that wheels with larger flanges will operate OK on the Peco code 55 track. Might be something worth looking into if you want to convert your interurban lines to code 55 track.
thought about it, however, the Peco code 80 small switch will work the best for an interurban line...when I make the street running section
