[BulletBob]

Why is this PE car, apparently heading east on Venice Boulevard (at Catalina) toward the Hill Street Station downtown, traveling on the north side of the street? And while it's probably an optical illusion, why is it so close to the curb? (or is it for some strange reason Photoshopped?).

- There is a passing track at that location to let the faster and bigger
interurbans pass. That type of car is a local car and it appears to have
simply changed direction heading back toward downtown. I don't think it
is photshopped though the tracks and that car in the background look
like there could be a clearance problem. The shot is from the very late
40's. PE lines and streetcars needed periodic passing tracks on their
lines and they always looked strange in street running segments.

- My parents when they lived in West LA and before the Santa Monica Fwy
drove past Gilfillan regularly on Venice Blvd all the way out to the
Inglewood Blvd area. It was a busy place with cars parked everywhere.
By the time my kiddie memory kicked in the PE Venice line was through
operating but everything including the signals was intact for a rather
surreal scene. As Ralph pointed out the rails on that line were rolled in
the early 1900's and the entire line, actually the entire PE was in dire need
of a thorough upgrade and refurbishing.

Also-- your PE interests remind me of Ralph Cantos, the great foamer (meant as a total compliment) of the PE, who appears in This Was the Pacific Electric with his tour of PE remnants. Do you know him? He is easily Googlable, with a good many items to his credit, about the PE as well as other subjects of L.A. history. (And Edsels!) It would be great to see your material.[/QUOTE]

- Yes, I throughly enjoyed Ralph's segment on This Was Pacific Electric.
My first info/pictorial post will have the cover of original PE booklet
This Is Pacific Electric. No doubt the production did a nice play on words
with the title. Where Ralph ended up in Azusa is but blocks from where my
brother now lives and I'd seen many of the locations Ralph visited. I can
well identify and sympathize with his anguish at LA missing a terrific
opportunity to utilize what the PE had built. It's ironic that so many
original PE traffic corridors have been rebuilt with light rail and even the
subway.

- I live in Mississippi now and away from LA for decades which makes this
thread so special to me. It has raked my memory.

- So I'm building some info now and it will probably have to be in a series
but it will be fun to revisit my PE material and the videos to provide
something of interest to everyone.

- No offense taken at the term foamer. There could be worse. This is just a
nice relaxing and highly divergent and contrasting-to-work hobby for me.