my ESPEE MODELERS ARCHIVE

California's Railroad to the U.S. 1861 - 1996

Pacific Electric
Suburban ??
various Class
steam

According to the ERHA Pacific Electric webpage, PE had 7 steam locmotives for suburban ? service.

One source (listed below) has the steam engines in freight service and states that steam never operated alone due to the trolley operated signals.

The image of 1506 above, is just the tender and there does not seem to be a locomotive attached to it...

1506 with a whaleback tender, this is an interesting photo, and one wonders if contemporary with the image of the bare 1506 tender above ? As the image above shows no loco attached or lettering and looks freshly painted - I wonder if it was being overhauled or repaired and a spare? whaleback tender was fitetd to get the 1506 back out on the road ?

Further research has found:

1500 was actually a 4-4-0 built in 1872 and sold to PE in 1908, vacated in 1913 but not scrapped until 1923.

1501 was a narrow gauge 4-4-0 bought from the LA and Redondo in 1911, apparently never used, onsold to the San Fernando Rock Company in 1913.

These two numbers were later allocated to two gas-electric switchers.

1504 was an exSP S-8 Class 0-6-0 built in 1908 for the Arizona Eastern, purchased 1922, renumbered in 1923, vacated and scrapped in 1949.

1505-1507 were all exSP Class S-8 leased variously from 1938 to 1949 - all scrapped.

1508 was an exSP Class S-5 leased from 1941 to 1947 and scrapped.

References:

• Pacific Electric - A Pictorial Album of Electric Railroading - Donald Duke (C) 1958
• SP Steam Loco Compendium