Vintage Tahoe streetcar gets new life in San Diego
By Robert J. Hawkins, San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — As early as mid-July, downtown San Diegans should begin spotting a ghost from a past most never knew.
A painstakingly restored electric streetcar, the likes of which last ran here in 1949, will begin operating on a downtown loop on weekends and holidays.
When state regulatory approval is given, the streetcar will run on what will be called The Silver Line, a clockwise loop starting at the 12th & Imperial Transit Station to America Plaza, east on C Street to City College before returning to 12th & Imperial.
The Silver Line streetcar will run on existing track in between Blue and Orange line trolleys. A special stop at the 12th & Imperial station will have a canopy that echoes the coloring and design of the streetcar era.
The stylishly art-deco streetcar, which once plied the streets of San Francisco, was among three purchased in 2005 and 2006 from a South Lake Tahoe entrepreneur whose vision of a lakeside trolley system never materialized.