Exploring Los Angeles history: Fascinating vintage photos of streetcars on the railroad
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| We are looking east on Oregon Avenue in 1906, which was the original name of Santa Monica Boulevard in this part of Los Angeles, California. The line going off the left of the frame could be the Westgate Line that ran down the middle of Burton Way through Brentwood Park. The exact location of this photo is somewhere near present-day Santa Monica Boulevard and Purdue Avenue. Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| The final A Line car at 7th and Hill Streets, 4AM on June 30, 1946. Roy Finley Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| An unidentified Pacific Electric interurban rumbles through the sleepy town of Playa Del Rey as a classic PE wig-wag tolls on the same street as the Del Rey Market and Del Rey Drugs. The PE station is visible just up ahead to the right, in this view looking north toward Venice. The date is December 24, 1939 and the image is by the incomparable Ralph Melching. Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| Ralph Melching’s December 24, 1939, image at trackside of the small waterfront community of Playa Del Rey, with the Pacific Electric station to the left and housing development on the iconic bluff/hillside in the background. Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| This amazing Roy Finley photo captures the railfan riders of the final Los Angeles Railway A Line car (no. 90) on June 30th, 1946, at 4AM at the intersection of 7th and Hill streets in downtown Los Angeles. Roy Finley Photo, Chard Walker Collection, Pacific Railroad Society Collection Advertisement
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| View of Vineyard Junction, Sears and Roebuck Pico store and the West Blvd Bridge. Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| Pacific Electric car no. 675 waits at a stoplight at the intersection of Hill Street and West First Street, below a classic Foster & Kleiser billboard advertising the Admiral TV/phonograph/radio combination to watch the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl game on KTTV Channel 11 (now Fox 11). The image is undated. Tom Gray Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| Pacific Electric interurban no. 1217 pauses at Crescent Junction (Fairfax and Santa Monica Blvd.) as part of the Railroad Boosters’ Trip #15 entitled “San Fernando Valley.” The date is February 19, 1939. Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| Los Angeles Railway car no. 449 pauses for this amazing photo in front of the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill & Lumber Company, located at Macy and Alameda Streets in Los Angeles, on June 13, 1937. Check out the terrific US 101 and US 99 shields. Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| It’s January 15, 1939, and the Railroad Boosters’ two-car Los Angeles Railway set featuring nos. 1432 and 1421 pause at the corner of Jefferson and Griffith in Los Angeles, next to “The Alert Sundries Store” which features ultra-crisp painted graphics on the building’s side. Note the conductor in the foreground left and the dropped left-front window. Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection Advertisement
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| Los Angeles Railway cars nos. 1432 and 1421 pause somewhere possibly in Hawthorne during the Railroad Boosters trip held January 15, 1939. Note the “Hawthorne Barrel” liquor store in the background featuring “old Santa Fe Wines.” Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| It’s January 15, 1939, and the Railroad Boosters’ fan trip on Los Angeles Railway cars nos. 1421 and 1432 is paused at what is notated as “Santa Ana and Seville.” Ralph Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| Los Angeles Transit Lines (ex-Los Angeles Railway) U Line car no. 304 is captured at 5th and Wall Streets on May 15, 1947, as an LATL crew installs new overhead for the trackless bus systems that will soon be deployed. Note the “no. 45” and LATL logotype on the door of the overhead truck. Chard Walker Collection, Pacific Railroad Society Collection |
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| Pacific Electric no. 1299 rolls past Claremont Tower on a Railroad Boosters tour held June 2, 1951. Ralph E. Melching Photo, Pacific Railroad Society Museum Collection |
(via Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society)
