Passenger Coach No. 1 of the old National City & Otay Railway operated in the South Bay during the early years of National City. The coach was part of the Motor Cannon Ball excursion train, created by National City founder Frank Kimball as the region's first commuter-type train dedicated to passengers rather than freight. Kimball used the train to bring prospective real-estate buyers to El Rancho de la Nacion, the land grant ranch that became National City, and it also carried visitors and tourists on popular excursions. The railway ran across the South Bay from San Diego to the border and the Sweetwater Dam, passing hills dotted with olive trees and Victorian homes, including Kimball's Olivewood. A sixty-mile round-trip ticket on the line was once advertised for one dollar, while the fare from National City to downtown San Diego was ten cents. Passenger Coach No. 1 was built in San Francisco in 1887 by the Hammond Car Works, builder of the famed cable cars, remained in service until 1914, and was restored to its 1880s appearance in 2000. The plaza's tile inlays reproduce work made by the California China Products Company between 1911 and 1917, and other tiles by this National City manufacturer appear at Balboa Park and the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego.