San Diego Trolley Breakdown...Nothing to Dance About

An Orange Line trolley came to an abrupt halt as it was rounding the curve crossing 11th Avenue, entering into the City College station shortly before 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 11.

Passengers stood around, assuming that the stoppage was momentary. The engineer could be seen inside the cabin, pushing this button, pulling that lever, trying to get things moving again.

Meanwhile, the following Blue Line trolley, on the same track and unable to get past, was forced to stop a block behind at 12th Avenue on C. The engineer of the Blue Line came to the aid of the Orange Line engineer and entered the second car’s control cabin and attempted to correct the problem that had left the second car immobilized.

Meanwhile, traffic on 11th Avenue, blocked by the Orange Line trolley, had come to a standstill and soon backed up all the way to Petco Park. Drivers began a cacophony of horns a’bleating, but the trolley remained in place.

As the car drivers grew more irate, they began to cut across the parking lot at the corner of 11th and C. Trapped passengers forced the doors open manually on the Orange Line trolley and began exiting. Riders on the stranded Blue Line did the same and soon the junction of C and 11th was filled with scrambling trolley refugees as they abandoned all hope of forward movement.

After 45 minutes, the Orange Line trolley shuddered and lurched forward as electrical functioning was regained. After a few false starts, it went down the line toward 12th and Imperial and the trolley repair yards located next door.