Orange Empire Ry Museum - LA Rwy Carhouse #1

When we visited the former Orange Empire RR Museum in 2013, this was the building that held a lot of LA Raiway rolling stock and MOW items. This album has several examples of them.

Interesting history of an unusual car.

Interesting car built by the LA Railway in 1909 to serve a transport for a casket and funeral party to one of the cemeteries on the line. Note the double wood doors below the round window - the casket was carried there. The service was ended in 1924.

Casket storage for the trip to the cemetery was the open below the round stained glass window flanked by the two doors.

Front of the Los Angeles funeral car "Descanso". The car was built in Los Angeles Railway’s 7th and Central shops by Master Car Builder E.L. Stephens. It is of particular interest to railway historians that this car resembles Los Angeles & Redondo Railway’s finest, numbers 201 through 216. It was placed in service on February 20, 1909, painted light grey and bearing the name Paraiso in script accompanied by some elaborate scroll work. Following are the car’s mechanical details: Designated Type D, Length- 39' 2?, Width- 9' 1?, Height- 12' 0?, Weight- 32,450 lbs., Seating- 20 rattan armchairs, Motors- two Westinghouse 101-L, Gear Ratio- 15:69, Control- two Westinghouse K-11, Brakes- Christiansen AA-1, Trucks- Los Angeles Ry. standard, and Wheels- 30? diameter. Subsequent changes: Nov. 5, 1911- West. 101-L motors were replaced by West. 306-L. Sept. 10, 1921- Placed in service, after shopping, bearing the name Descanso. Feb. 26, 1925- West. 306-L motors were replaced by GE 249-B. Arc headlight replaced by two Mazda headlights. Date unknown- 20 rattan armchairs were replaced by 20 plush walkover seats. Jan. 26, 1939- Motors and gears were removed. In 1940 the color of the Descanso was Pullman green.

Side view of trolley driver's cab and entrance.

This car was built by the Jewett Car Company of Jewitt, Ohio in the summer of 1913. The car had four Westinghouse 333-A-2 motors (100 hp), capable of 600-1200 volt DC operation for the San Bernardino Line. In 1948, Pacific Electric decided it was in need of a rail grinding car, and selected 1001 to be converted for such use and renumbered 00199. Modifications included the removal of the passenger seats, adding, water tanks for ballast, and converting one of the trucks by adding carborundum blocks for rail grinding. Pacific Electric employee and railfan Walter Abbenseth had grown sentimental about the old wooden interurban car and purchased 00199 from the PE. Walter moved the wooden interurban along with others to a new location - the Orange Empire Traction Company in Perris, CA in 1958. It became a member of the roster and can still run, at least in 2013, it could.

Here is a brief history of the PE steeplecab loco.

Tucked in a corner of the LA Rwy barn is the massive Pacific Electric steeple cab #1624. It was built by PE's Torrance Shops in 1924–1925. It is the sole surviving "home-built" locomotive of its 13-unit class (1619–1631). Operating until the end of PE electric freight in 1958, the 1624 is now preserved and operational at the Southern California Railway Museum (former Orange Empire Rwy Museum - OERM) in Perris, California.

The Southern California Railway Museum (formerly Orange Empire Railway Museum) in Perris, California, holds an historic San Francisco cable car (California Street Cable R.R. Company Car #43) originally donated by Knott’s Berry Farm. This car is housed in the museum's narrow-gauge carbarn and is the only remaining survivor of its kind in Southern California. The antique car has been modified for operation within the museum's collection, featuring a unique conversion to battery power, and is displayed alongside other historic transit, such as Sutter Street Trailer 77.

Here is another view of the San Francisco cable car #43 in the LA Rwy barn at the Orange Empire Rwy Museum (now Southern California Rwy Museum).

This Los Angeles 5ton crane #9225 is now housed in the LA Rwy trolley barn at the former Orange Empire Ry Museum, now the Souhtern California Ry Museum. The crane was built by the LA Rwy Shops in 1912 for maintenance purposes and eventually found its way to the museum. It is still operational in case it's needed at the museum.

This is the builder's plate for the crane part of the car. The LA Ry shops built the parts into the MOW crane now housed at the Southern California Ry Museum (formerly Orange Empire Ry Museum).

Front view of the 5ton crane with its "safety fender" ("cow catcher" type net in front of the wheels)

The Hutchinson & Northern (H&N) #1 is a historic steeplecab electric locomotive currently preserved at the Southern California Railway Museum (formerly known as the Orange Empire Railway Museum) in Perris, California. It was built in 1921 by the General Electric Company (GE) at their Erie, Pennsylvania, works. The locomotive originally operated in Kansas for the Hutchinson & Northern Railway, a short switching line primarily serving salt mines. It remained in service until its initial retirement in 1970. The locomotive was donated to the museum in 1972 and has been part of the collection for over 50 years. It's nickname is "The Electric Pumpkin" for obvious reasons.

Here is another view of the steeple cab #1 in the cramped LA Ry Barn at the former Orange Empire Ry Museum.

LAMTA Bus #3165 is a 1948 trolley coach built by the St. Louis Car Company for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA), currently preserved at the Southern California Railway Museum (formerly Orange Empire Railway Museum) in Perris, California. It represents a key part of the Los Angeles transit history, specifically in the era of electric trolley coaches.