Category Archives: Traction

Off my trolley – North Hollywood yet again

Posted on March 14, 2017 by snitchthebudgie

Noticed recently that the restoration of the old Pacific Electric / Southern Pacific depot at North Hollywood has been completed and reopened as a commuter café on the Metro Orange Line.  This article gives the details, including: The official grand … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – redux – interurban branchlines – 1

Posted on November 20, 2016 by snitchthebudgie

This post has always been popular, too…. A good, if rather conventional, place to start with interurban layouts, is the conventional branch line.  Some electric railroads were no more than a branch line in total.  Others, like the Pacific Electric, … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – redux – streetcars and trolley layouts

Posted on November 18, 2016 by snitchthebudgie

As I’m in Stuttgart this week, I thought I’d repost the three most popular posts since I started blogging three or more years ago.  I’ve updated them a little, too.  One difference I note from starting blogging – I cut … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – wig wag’s

Posted on September 1, 2016 by snitchthebudgie

And our UK readers will say, “What’s a wig-wag?”  Well it’s not related to a wigwam, or even to wiff-waff (better known as ping-pong or table tennis.   It’s s visual and audible signal for ungated railroad crossings.   The … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – a bargain (I think)

Posted on January 27, 2016 by snitchthebudgie

Reading a blog recently, the writer recommended the ‘Model Train Stuff’ shop and internet shop.  I couldn’t resist a browse, and the site made me an offer I couldn’t refuse – Bachmann ‘Peter Witt’ trolleys in Los Angeles Railways livery … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – North Hollywood revisited

Posted on January 7, 2016 by snitchthebudgie

A frequently-used phrase in railway modelling is ‘selective compression.’  Most usually it applies to station track layouts, shortening them and losing a few sidings to fit a reasonable representation of a piece of railway in our usually too small rooms.  … Continue reading →

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San Fernando Valley Branch, 1973 (Part II)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Originally posted on Rails West:
In an earlier post, I shared B. Smith’s excellent coverage SP action in the San Fernando Valley in the early 1970s.  In this post, we will drill down a little further into the nuts and bolts…

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Off my trolley – Southern Pacific San Fernando Valley branch

Posted on December 13, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Not quite ‘Off my trolley’ but in the vicinity.  Some while back I looked at the Pacific Electric station at North Hollywood as a potential modular layout.  Running closely parallel to the Pacific Electric at this location is the Southern … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – Toronto 1995

Posted on October 30, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

As I carry on digitizing my slides and old family photographs, I continue to come across pictures I never knew I’d taken.  Not least these two very smart Toronto PCC cars, taken on a 1995 visit to Maxine’s family.  I’d … Continue reading →

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Off my trolley – Pacific Electric at its best

Posted on July 30, 2015 by snitchthebudgie

Browsing (as one does) I came across a New York Subway site with this excellent picture of a Pacific Electric PCC car at an unknown, but very modellable location.  (OK, New York site, PE picture, does not compute…..  but it’s still … Continue reading →

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