LA JOLLA ZEPHYR REVISITED
By Bruce Semelsberger
There are railroads, and then there are railroads. Some are remembered, fondly or otherwise, and others pass beyond memory with scarcely a whimper. The Los Angeles & San Diego Beach railway, steam railroad line to La Jolla from San Diego, should by all rights be one of the latter, and indeed it is little known to the majority of San Diegans today. None the less, the road was such an important link for early residents of La Jolla and the beach areas it served that it remained a fond memory in the minds of some for many years. (How many places can you name where several of the original houses arrived by rail - in one piece!) The following article, reprinted from the September, 1962 issue of the D1SPATCHER, is but one of the many anecdotes concerning this line, It is also an example of the kind of strange coincidence that sometimes occurs to archivists.
I first encountered this story about ten years ago while perusing the Museum's collection of old DISPATCHERS, and enjoyed the personal slice of history it revealed as well as the humor of the incident. What a shame, I thought, that there are never photographs to go along with these tales. In fact, I have never seen a map or photograph which actually
shows the location of the engine house in La Jolla, or indeed any other mention of there even having been one there. Imagine my surprise when an anonymous envelope arrived one Saturday in the library mail containing the photos that accompany this story. Enclosed was a note stating that the pictures were found in a family album and were apparently of some railroad, possibly local, but of no interest to anyone in the family. The amazing thing was that someone took the trouble to send them to the local railroad museum! Of course, I immediately recognized them as belonging with this story, and can only apologize that it took so .long to actually publish this eighty-six-year-old tale with matching photos. I hope the donor, by some second miracle, reads this story, is properly gratified for having sent the pictures, and contacts me with the revelation that the author is a long lost missing relative, the matching of pictures with story providing the clue to the disposition of a vast estate and immense wealth. Is it possible I read too many old stories.
Note: Careful scrutiny of old pictures of this line allows me to place the La Jolla engine shed just south of the present intersection of Silverado and Ivanhoe with reasonable certainty. It apparently was reached via a wye in front of the second depot located on the northwest corner of that intersection. The original
depot was located on Prospect Street just east of Fay (see map}. Some confusion exists as to the builder of LA&SDB locomotive 4. While Mr. Schumacher remembers it as a Forney, R. V. Dodge lists it as a Rhode Island in his roster and Phil Middlebrook, who seems to have the best documentation, insists it is a Schenectady. (Editors note: If the late Mr. Middlebrook said it was a Schenectady Loco than that's what it was. Phil was the greatest railfan San Diego has ever produced!) Probably the builders plate had disappeared by the time of this story and it is obvious the engine had been repainted at some time without even a number in evidence.
The La Jolla line was dismantled and sold to Japan for scrap within a year of the time this story takes place, and it seems very plausible that the accident described was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The photograph of a large heap of boards seems to indicate to me that the partially pulverized engine house no longer served a useful purpose after the incident and met its doom even prior to the remainder of the LA&SDB. The map, incidentally, is derived from an original 1894 map by Howard S.F. Randolph in his fine book La Jolla Year by Year and updated to 1916 by virtue of eliminating references to earlier landmarks. A few of the street names have been changed to modem versions to make orientation a little easier. Thanks to Roy Pickering his assistance in map updating and in scanning and "cleaning up" the photographs on the museum library's new computer system.
LA JOLLA ZEPHYR
by K. Fritz Schumacher
In 1917 the writer lived in Pacific Beach, near San Diego, California. There were no junior high schools then. San Diego High, "The Gray Castle," was the only high school for San Diego and adjoining unincorporated areas. He was already inflicted with a mild case of railfanitis. The pleasant necessity of commuting from "Ocean Front" station to San Diego High on the steam trains of the Los Angeles and San Diego Beach Railroad Company's La Jolla line made him a confirmed addict and ferroequinologist.
The San Diego terminal was at Kettner and Beech Streets. Here passengers changed to an ancient electric combine, operated by the same company. It delivered in-bound students at 6th and C Streets, nearly a mile from the institution of learning. In the afternoon it collected its trainload at a ticket office on Fourth Avenue between Broadway and C Street.
( Continued on page 8)
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