MTS Rail Upgrades the Old, Prepares for the New

MTS Trolley has some big happenings across many departments that will help modernize our service, improve our state-of-good repair and help bring our storied history to life.                                                  

Traction Power Substation Upgrades

MTS Rail’s Wayside Department is conducting a major retrofit for all 62 traction power substations, which are the electrical source for Trolley traction power. Some of the substations are 40 years old.  Replacement parts are hard to find, so these upgrades are vital.

All of the stations will be upgraded with Siemens Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology, allowing the system to notify Central Control directly when there’s a power issue.

“Right now, we rely on train operators to notify Central Control when they spot the ‘trouble’ light on top of the substation,” said Jeff Love, Wayside’s training supervisor. “With the upgrades, Controllers can get direct notification, and provide Wayside mechanics with some preliminary information about the outage prior to arriving at the substation. Along with that, Wayside mechanics can ensure they have the appropriate tools for the job.”

In addition to retrofitting the older substations, the Mid-Coast Trolley extension project just received the first of many substations necessary for the extension to UTC.

Wayside Maintenance Supervisor Brian Trewin and Auxiliary Wayside Maintenance Supervisor Chris Moser were observing the factory acceptance process of the $2 million substation in November. One of the big differences between the older substations and new substations is safety. “There are more safety devices in place,” said Trewin. “It used to be a 1-to-1 ratio, now it’s a 6-to-1 ratio of safety catches for each network function.” 

Keep Them Coming – New Trolley Cars Continue

Arriving to Modernize Entire Fleet                    

The first of 45 new 5000 series Trolley cars arrived in August. Now, we have six of the new models getting ready for service. “They are going through commissioning right now,” said LRV Maintenance Superintendent Andy Goddard. “We are testing them on the Green Line during non-revenue hours, and the plan is to get them in service in early 2019.” MTS expects to receive 1-2 new 5000 series Trolley cars every month until the Mid-Coast Trolley extension opens in 2021.  

Making the Old - New Again

All Aboard the Silver Line!

Two of the first modern light rail cars (1000 series) that went into service during the inaugural year of Trolley operations in 1981 will soon come out of retirement. Trolley Car 1001 will be put back into service alongside the two 70-year-old restored Vintage Trolley streetcars operating on the SDG&E Silver Line downtown loop. “Preliminary maintenance work is done. She’s now in the paint and body shop for the next few months under CG Inc.’s care,” said Goddard. CG Inc. handled the paint and body work for the first two Vintage Trolley cars, and handles day-to-day body work for the entire MTS Trolley fleet. Trolley Car 1001 should be ready for service in July 2019.

Red Trolley Ale Comes to Life

Trolley Car 1050 will stay in San Diego, but will have a bit of a different calling. It’s reserved for Karl Strauss Brewery, one of San Diego’s flagship breweries. Coincidently, one of their most popular beers, Red Trolley Ale, uses the early Trolley cars for branding. Karl Strauss is in the preliminary stages of building a new taproom behind Santee Trolley Square and plans to use the 1050 car as a centerpiece in the new bar/restaurant space. No date has been set for an opening.