| |
Largest of the U.S. interurbans was California's Pacific Electric Railway, in its salad days operating over a thousand miles of routes with some 1200 cars. For all that people think of the Southern California megalopolis as an automobile and freeway kingdom, Los Angeles and its satellite communities were laid out and developed largely by the Pacific Electric. As an interesting aside, the entire system, during its greatest extent in the 1930s, was valued at some 35 million dollars. In those days, a good steak dinner could be had for 15 cents. While the steak has inflated 50 or a 100 fold, replacing just part of the PE is going to cost around $35 BILLION, a thousand-fold escalation, heavily benefiting the lawyers, engineers and consultants.
Like many interurbans, Pacific Electric operated city services in a number of towns, including Los Angeles itself, though the standard gauge PE routes tended to reach out further than the narrow gauge lines of the Los Angeles Railway on which Seashore's No. 521 ran. Surely the most legendary of PE's street services was that on Hollywood Boulevard, known during the heyday of the movie capital as "The Boulevard of Red Car". In 1922, Pacific Electric introduced the first 50 of its 600 Class cars on Hollywood Boulevard. Altogether, 160 similar cars would be built, to comprise PE's largest car class, that would displace nearly all the company's wood city cars.
The second order for 50 more, like the first, went to St. Louis Car Company in 1924, though there were minor differences in seating and roof ventilators. Upper door openings were rounded off and seats were upholstered with Pantasote instead of rattan. The third set of 50 was identical to the second, but built by Brill in 1925, one of the few large orders supplied by the Philadelphia firm to the West Coast. The last ten, again from St. Louis in 1927, had a few further improvements, and would be the last traditional streetcars bought new by PE except for the small order of lightweight 100 Class city cars from St. Louis in 1930, aside from an order of double end PCCs in 1940. Seashore's 680 is from the 1924 St. Louis group. The Hollywoods are low and heavy, with cement floors but otherwise all steel, including the arch roof. Initially, they were rather slow, though fast acceleration and wide, quick loading center doors made good schedules possible.
In 1939 modernization, begun under pressure from the public and regulatory bodies alike, resulted in the motors being rewound, nearly doubling top speed from 28 to 45 mph. A concern that there might be a regulatory demand to widen the single front doors at prohibitive cost went unrealized, but other improvements, including tubular rollaround seats with mohair upholstery and bullseye lighting gained wide acceptance. Eclipse Fenders were replaced with Hudson and Bowring Lifeguards. Cosmetic changes included skirting and the introduction of the famous butterfly paint scheme, with orange and silver wings offsetting the Pacific Electric's traditional red.
The program was completed just in time for the vast resurgence of ridership that would come during World War II. With things declining by 1949, most of the 600s were converted for one man operation, with renumberings in the 5050 series to match double end PCCs 5000-5029, purchased in 1940. Seashore's car became No. 5069, only to be sold in 1953 to the Portland Traction Company for service on the Oregon City and Bellrose suburban lines, where the number became 4022. The center doors were permanently closed and side seats were installed across them. Along with seven others, No. 4022 ran in this configuration until the Portland service closed in 1958. Car 4022 was saved for museum purposes, but, after being involved in several unsuccessful projects, it was sold to private collector Eugene Stoller. Mr. Stoller took the car to his property in Woodburn, Oregon, and sold it to Seashore in 1992.
History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
Photos on this website are not to be used elsewhere without permission from the photographer or the Society.
Return to - National Streetcars - Collection Index
|
|
