TRACTION AROUND NORTH AMERICA
Pacific Electric #498 is the only "Blimp" interurban combine preserved.  It was built in 1913 by Pullman as Interurban Electric Railway #672 (later IER #627, later IER #302).  In 1946 the car was acquired by the Pacific Electric; as #498 (and later as Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority #1546) it operated until 1959, when it was acquired by the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California.  It is currently undergoing a complete rebuilding.
August 7, 2004
Photo by Frank Hicks
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