Location: Bay Marina Drive & Harrison Street

You can almost hear that steam whistle blowin’ as the City of National City and the Port of San Diego dedicate the latest and largest public art project on Port tidelands. Linking a colorful past with a promising future, the new National City Historic Railcar Plaza is a symbol of civic pride and a catalyst for redevelopment and increased public access in a long-underutilized section of National City’s industrial west side.

Railcar Plaza is located a block west of I-5 at the corner of Bay Marina Boulevard (formerly 24th Street) and Harrison Avenue, adjacent to existing railroad tracks and just across the street from National City’s historic “Old Depot.” Its focal point is a distinctive new railcar “barn” especially designed by San Diego architects Anderson, Koch & Smith to house and showcase a 113-year-old railway passenger coach that was recently restored through the Port of San Diego’s public art program.

The hip-roofed, lantern-topped car barn is reminiscent of old-time railroad architecture. It is in the center of an attractively landscaped public plaza with a grassy lawn, exterior lighting and artistic tile accents. Large windows on all sides permit public viewing of the railcar at all times, even when the building is not open. Interior lighting will illuminate the car at night, giving the building the appearance of a lantern with the car highlighted inside. A roll-up door on one end permits the railcar to be rolled outside on tracks for special occasions. Four display rooms will showcase artifacts and interpretive exhibits relating to the early railroads and local history.

Passenger Coach No. 1 (left) of the old National City & Otay Railway (NC&O) is the centerpiece of Railcar Plaza. Built in 1887, retired in 1914, and rediscovered after serving nearly sixty years as part of a house in Descanso, this historic railcar has been faithfully restored by David Lathrop and Associates at the Historic Railroad Shops in Atlanta, Georgia. Over half of the railcar’s mostly wood fabric has survived the ravages of time and has been carefully refurbished and preserved. Many other missing or damaged components had to be procured or refabricated. Lathrop’s meticulous research and skilled craftsmanship have seamlessly melded the new with the old to achieve a beautiful restoration that is as true to the original as possible.

The thirty-two foot long railcar is an open-sided coach with transverse bench seating, full-length running boards, varnished redwood and sugar pine ceiling, oak wainscoting, celestory windows, and two brass oil lamps. It could seat fifty-eight people. During its active service, it traversed regularly between San Diego, National City and other fledgling South Bay villages, drawn by steam locomotive (right)on the tracks of the NC&O Railway.

The Railcar Plaza project is an excellent example of the diverse ways the Port’s Public Art Program, working in partnership with the community, achieves its goal of contributing to the quality and identity of the region. “There’s a lot more to public art than simply plopping sculptures in city parks,” says Catherine Sass, the Port’s Public Art Director, “It’s essential for the program to find out what’s really important to a community and to facilitate that interest through appropriate projects.” In the case of National City, the preservation of a unique and colorful Victorian past was already a compelling community priority. The idea of restoring and displaying one of the last remaining artifacts of the NC&O Railway nicely complemented this existing community theme.

Sited at the virtual epicenter of nineteenth century railroading activity in National City, Historic Railcar Plaza, together with the Old Depot, is sure to become a mecca for rail buffs and tourists alike. And secure in her new home, Coach No.1 proudly displays her freshly-restored NC&O livery and stands ready to transport our imaginations back over a hundred years to the rough and ready pioneering days of the old South Bay. (Black & white photos from San Diego Historical Society Photo Collection.)

Ceramic tile elements by well-known artist Marlo Bartels add an appropropriately colorful and historic accent to Railcar Plaza. Bartels specializes in historic tile restorations and is particularly familiar with tiles manufactured by the California China Products Company that once operated in National City. Samples of the tiles they produced can still be seen in the interior of the current Santa Fe Depot downtown and on the dome of the California Building at Balboa Park.