Trolley Makes Emergency Stop in Cemetery

A San Diego Trolley was forced to make an emergency 
stop in the middle of Mt. Hope Cemetery early Tuesday, February 3. At the time
, the peak-hour Orange Line trolley was traveling between the 47th Street 
and 32nd/Commercial stations. Since the distance between these stations 
is longer than average, trolleys often increase speed along this area to 
keep on schedule.

A city maintenance vehicle had failed to stop at a
 trolley crossing within the cemetery, breaking off the wooden arm on the 
warning device at the crossing. The trolley operator was forced to make a 
sudden emergency stop to avoid hitting the broken arm. After exiting the 
trolley to move the arm from the tracks, he received applause from 
passengers.

Peak-hour trolleys regularly include four cars to accommodate the
 extra passengers. They are required to reduce the train length to a 
maximum of three cars in the downtown San Diego area to avoid blocking
 intersections. Possibly as a result of the earlier emergency stop, the 
trolley was unable to uncouple its excess car automatically, and this had 
to be done manually.

The trolley operator explained the
 necessity of the emergency stop and the need to manually decouple the extra
 car. Passengers were observed to be grateful for his quick action to 
avoid an accident and possible injuries.