LA in the 1940's

[Mike1939]

San Francisco is lousy with street cars and don't mean cable cars. There's a whole mess of old street cars from around the nation being used on Market street. I remember hopping on one at the Ferry Building and riding all the way down to the Cafe du Nord to see Lavay Smith play. The street car ride was a added bonus of the night.

 

[dr greg]

Tram ways

This is the doco that covers it
http://www.newday.com/films/Taken_for_a_Ride.html
I remember when they got rid of trams where I lived, no reason at all to the outsider, they ran at a huge profit, but my local bus repair shop, a one shed operation, somehow got the contract for the buses to replace them all, and became the biggest coachbuilder in the Southern Hemisphere, I guess them there brown-paper bag investments paid off.

 

[Vornholt]

Trolley buses are still heavily in use here in Dayton, Ohio and the surrounding metro areas. Alongside diesel buses, as well.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

After the trolley cars were gone from L.A. we had some 'trackless trolleys' (busses powered by overhead electrical wires) for a while. I can't remember where they ran.

I used to ride the big Red Cars when I was young - showing my age here but I don't have the faintest idea how to get any place by bus. The trolleys were easy - the went where the tracks went.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[Tourbillion]

If you want to ride a red car for nostalgia, they have one red car line here in San Pedro (part of LA) for the waterfront tourists. It operates on the weekends.

Riders can experience the thrill of a real 1920s-era trolley ride, thanks to the remarkable railcars that have been built to serve the line. Regular operation is conducted with two new replica railcars carefully patterned after an actual 1909 Pacific Electric “Red Car” design. A third car, restored in the 1960’s from an actual 1907-vintage Pacific Electric car, is available for special operations including charters.

 

[Haversack]

San Francisco's Muni also used a lot of electric trolley busses. They usually operate on old trolley routes.

One piece that is left out of the trolley picture are the Interurbans. Once they got out of the city, they had their own rights-of-way and could operate at near freeway speeds in the early 1900s. Nearly every town in the Northeast had a system. It got so that the ends of each line overlapped with the next one and you could go from town to town. The PE was originally an Interurban.

 

[docneg]

I love Art Deco, but there is another older building that you might enjoy seeing in downtown L.A. That is the Bradbury Building with all of its lovely iron filigree. It has been used in a few movies, but I don't recall which ones.

One was the classic 1949 "D.O.A.", with Edmond O'Brien. Another was "Good Neighbor Sam" an early '60s Jack Lemmon flick, and the other I can think of is the 1969 "Marlowe", with James Garner playing Philip Marlowe (updated for the '60s) in an office in the Bradbury Bldg

 

[docneg]

By the way, a great documentary on lost L.A. is "Shotgun Freeway".

 

[JimInSoCalif]

Thanks for posting the picture of the Big Red Car that operates at San Pedro. It sure bring back memories and the copy of an early century model does not look much different from the ones I rode in the 40s and early 50s.

Back in the day, the ones that went to downtown L.A went to the Subway Terminal which I believe was on Hill St. The underground portion was only about a mile or so as I recall. It was only about a half block or so from the telephone office where I had a summer job as a janitor. The work was easy, but I did not care much for the hours of the second shift.

I forget where the end of the tunnel was (maybe that should be the 'start' of the tunnel), but I saw in used in one or two movies a long time ago before it was bricked up. I believe that was the only place that the trolleys ran underground in L.A.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[John in Covina]

I think Huell Howser has an episode where they go down into the Subway Terminal and explore a little.

 

[Red Diabla]

Whenever I had to go for jury duty in downtown LA I took advantage of it by walking down Broadway during lunch. It used to have all kinds of old buildings from the early to mid 1900's. It was a great way to kill time.

However, the last time I had to be in the area I noticed that developers have finally started to make that area as boring as the rest of LA. Quite sad, really.

There's still a lot of cool old houses to see, though. I used to ride my bicycle between Little Tokyo and the Westside, and the amount of 1920's-30's Mediterranean-style homes one could see while cruising down Olympic Blvd. was phenomenal. Also a favorite place for me to ride the bike is north of Montana Ave. in Santa Monica. There's some McMansionesque horrors, but overall the original flavor of the neighborhood architecture is preserved.

Old LA is out there, but it's shrinking and sometimes one has to dig a little to find it.

RD

 

[JimInSoCalif]

I think Huell Howser has an episode where the go down into the Subway Terminal and explore a little.

Hi John,

Huell Howser is certainly no Ralph Storey (sp). It seems to me that he often does not pay attention to what he is being told, asks redundant questions, and thinks everything he sees is wonderful.

None the less, I think his programs are great and he finds some really interesting historical features of our State. The name of his program is California Gold. I think it used to be broadcast on our PBS stations, but that may no longer be the case.

If someone here knows what channel his show is on perhaps they could post the information as I think most people reading this thread would enjoy watching it.

 

[John in Covina]

Huell Howser is broadcast on almost all PBS stations in the state of California. Locally LA / OC PBS stations on open air CH 24, 28, 50, 58. Check your local PBS station for their times.

His original program and still done is VISITING, (originally titled Just Visiting) then he started Road Trip, California's Gold, California's Golden Parks and California's Green amongst others. He has been doing some stuff on LA's Downtown.

His style is just that- repeat for emphesis and is at a level of toe dipping for the uninformed / uninitiated, however he has his own charm and is instrumental for some, instigating a venture into what was formerly unknown territory. So no Ralph Storey but still good at taking an inviting look at stuff most of us don't know about.

(Actually his style and techniques are so regular and predictable they lend themselves to a Huell Howser drinking game. Everytime he says gosh or history, historic etc, you take a drink. Like "Hi Bob" on the Bob Newheart show.)

His site is here: http://www.calgold.com/

 

[JennyLou]

Whenever I had to go for jury duty in downtown LA I took advantage of it by walking down Broadway during lunch. It used to have all kinds of old buildings from the early to mid 1900's. It was a great way to kill time.


RD

One of my favorite thing to do, when I have the time and gas money, is to drive to downtown La and walk or drive around looking for remnants of the 1930s and 1940s.

 

[Forgotten Man]

A little late on this but...

I have a friend who works for MTA and is a historian for MTA. I have asked him before as to why the PE (Pacific Electric) was dismantled. He told me that it wasn't so much a conspiracy of Detroit, tire and oil companies so much; it was mostly the current mayor of LA. He hated the P.E. and felt that they'd be better off having busses and not have to maintain tracks and miles of cables everywhere. There were plenty of cars and tires being sold and made before WWII and yes, there was a boom after the war but, the demise of the wonderful Red cars and the Pacific Electric line was due to the bus.

I will talk to him and see if I can get a write up on this for you guys and gals... he's sharp as a tack when it comes to LA transportation history!

 

[JimInSoCalif]

Coming to a book store near you soon: "Everything You wanted to Know About Huell Houser" by John in Covina.

Seriously, Thanks for all the good information and the correction on the name of his program. I have not seen his show in awhile and I just recently got a DVR so I am going to program it to record his program every week.

Funny about the drinking game. Maybe one should take a double shot when he says 'Louie get a shot of this over here'. Louie is or at least was his camera person.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[John in Covina]

Cameron is the "new guy" and Huell warns him not to trip over stuff mostly.

 

[Forgotten Man]

Can't forget about the one line that he's mostly known for....

THAT'S AMAZING!!! lol

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Los Angeles Almanac is a site I recently stumbled upon, and have found it useful.

 

[Widebrim]

Back in the day, the ones that went to downtown L.A went to the Subway Terminal which I believe was on Hill St. The underground portion was only about a mile or so as I recall. It was only about a half block or so from the telephone office where I had a summer job as a janitor. The work was easy, but I did not care much for the hours of the second shift.

I forget where the end of the tunnel was (maybe that should be the 'start' of the tunnel), but I saw in used in one or two movies a long time ago before it was bricked up. I believe that was the only place that the trolleys ran underground in L.A.

Cheers, Jim.

I believe that the end of the tunnel was in Echo Park, just around the corner from Belmont High School. As a student teacher at that school some years ago, I would always drive past the tunnel opening, enclosed behind an ugly metal fence, and wonder about its history. The opening is now covered by, I believe, condominiums, but undoubtedly the tunnel is still there...