Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire
Remnants: A Red Car at the great Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris
All photos from This Was Pacific Electric, written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. Sky City Productions, Inc.:
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This interior shot. Wow. In 1961, my mom took me on one of the last Pacific Electric trolley runs down to Long Beach, and even though I was only 6 at the time, I still definitely remember those green seats!
That morning after breakfast, Mom just bundled me in the car and told me we were going Downtown to ride the last of the trolleys. She wanted her son to have that same experience that was so much of a part of her life when she was young. I'm really glad now that she did that! And I still remember a lot of that day...
First we went to Angels Flight. That was the first time I got to ride it, and it was a big thrill. Then we went across to the Grand Central Market. I hated the smells. Then we went back to Hill and Third and we stood there for awhile. (I guess that's where we picked up our ride to the PE station.) I'll never forget the NOISE of that intersection; how LOUD the general hustle-and-bustle of the city was. And I was especially impressed by the electric arcs and the sparks that shot out from the trolleys' contact with the overhead wires. Snap! Crackle! Pop!
The ride to Long Beach was pretty boring, even though it was my first time on a train. (Well, Angels Flight earlier in the day was actually my first train ride, but I digress.) As always, I was fidgety. The car was filled to capacity. I guess nostalgia was thick among the passengers, as there was little talking. Mostly just the sound of the train wheels going clickity-clack, clickity-clack, all along the rail road track.
When we got to Long Beach, Mom took me to this immense old cafeteria downtown. The ceiling was like two stories high. It was crowded and noisy, and kind of dark inside, even though it was mid-day. I don't recall what the name of the big cafeteria was, but I think my mom probably went there a lot when she had relatives living in Long Beach in the '40s.
I don't remember the ride back at all. I probably slept all the way. But overall, it was a very memorable day!
-Scott (really feeling my age right now)