Los Angeles Streetcars - The Final Years
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2007
- Los Angeles commuters of the 1950s and earlier fondly referred to their unique narrow-gauge streetcars as "yellow cars." By the mid-fifties, there were six of these yellow car lines being operated by the Los Angeles Transit Lines.
Come along for a trip back in time, to a city that has now faded from all buy memory and film. We'll take you on a complete, end-to-end tour of the W and S lines, which were the last car lines using H Series standard-type streetcars. You'll also catch a glimpse of the two trolley coach lines that graced the city in 1956.
In 1958, the Metropolitan Transit Authority took over from the Los Angeles Transit Lines and converted the whole system to streamlined PCC-type cars. Most of these cars were painted two-tone green. You'll see the entire routes of the system's five remaining lines, which were identified as R, S, V, P and J. This historic presentation then takes you to the Georgia Street Car House on the last day of the system's operation, and to the Vernon Yard as the retired cars are placed in storage.
Railfans, historians, and Angelenos of all ages will be thrilled with the fascinating detail in this remarkable video about the final years of Los Angeles's memorable yellow car lines.
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I'm glad Toronto kept the streetcars. I tried them out once, and they're so much better than buses! I sometimes look back at history and wonder who had the bright idea to replace streetcars with buses...and then I wonder why Toronto is one of the only North American cities to have kept the streetcars!
For what you put on the web yes I do remember this as well in long Beach Calif. That wear the runners as well as thee red cares the buses it didn't matter what color thay got people to and from but it's the not.heads that screwed this up . And look at the mess today thay wear cleaner no smog think on that .
Los Angeles Railways had the BEST overhead system I have ever seen.
I live in Los Angeles and these street cars were gone years before I was born. We are more or less totally reliant on cars here. I would never try to ride a bike anywhere now the way people drive and it takes forever to get anywhere on the slow, unreliable buses. I love visiting European countries and using the subway systems there..what a treat! I'd get out more at night if I didn't always have to worry about parking and traffic.
Some of my earliest memories were ridng the V car on Vermont and the P on Pico, Broadway, and 1st St. with my mom and grandma. According to grandma, we rode the last P on March 31,1963 along Pico. Showed this clip to my aunt recently. She remembered the S going down Avalon and Gage near her house.
I like that story! Sweet...
Melody Customer Service Those P cars were ALWAYS packed too! The entire route on Pico,Broadway and 1st St. Right up to the end. My mom's family lived near 1st & State when they came to LA in the 30's & 40's. The P was their route. We lived near 59th & Vermont,and it took mom 2 buses and 2 streetcars to get to her job in Cheviot Hills. I cried when I first saw this clip a few years ago. And when the Gold Line opened along 1st St in 2009 too,not long after my grandma passed away. She and my mom would have loved seeing this.
Jeanette. Your story just keeps getting better and better! :) I work for Pentrex, and if you would like a copy.. just email me your address and I'll send a Complimentary copy to you.
You can email me at . Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!
Melody
Sure. Didn't know it was still in print. Would love to show the complete video to my aunt this summer when I'm back in LA visiting the family. She rode the Yellow and Red Cars and the #2 and #3 trolley buses as a kid. Thanks.
What a joy to never forget of Old, once upon a time L.A.
For what its worth, I'll add that, in the northern city that we live in, rail vehicles like streetcars and regional rail were working, but a number of bus lines were suspended on account of heavy snow.
This is great. I remember my mom taking me on one of these routes. I loved streetcars!
I've been told by trolley drivers (who were former bus drivers) that the costs of operating buses vs. trolleys is approx equal. Buses require frequent oil changes, tire changes, engine maint. vs. trolley track and overhead line work. The trolley can go places that the bus can't: into subways, through buildings, and go between street running and dedicated rail right-of-ways. It involves more planning, but is more efficient in the end.
I see you forgot track and overhead maintenance costs.
@@jimwalsh233 No, he included them if you actually read his comment
However they have not the same cost, it's a false myth. The cost of bus transport is a lot higher overall, because buses are less efficient and so they consume much more fuel, buses are also a lot less reliable and durable, so they have to be replaced every 8-10 years, while trams have a lifespan of 50-60 or even more years. Also, Also, if you include the rails and overhead maintenance for trams, you should include for the bus the very costly road maintenance (road maintenace costs are a lot higher than tracks ones, and bus also tends to deteriorate the roads where tehy run a lot more of cars because they're heavier).
@@NeldotExcuse me, but just WHERE did you obtain MY line of thought?!
Thanks for the Video, As s little boy I Recall catching Streetcar with my Grandmother on Normandie Ave near W 41St Pl in Los Angeles close to where she lived & taking the Yellow Car into downtown LA Many a Time.... Was Much Fun! Many Neat Memories, Thanks Was The Best Transportation Los Angeles Ever Knew, But, The Big Boys on the Monopoly Board had other ideas.....
Destroying the original mass transit system = worst decision in the history of Los Angeles. I agree with its worked on so many other cities its a shame they took it out now the want to rebuild it. I like that but its a huge cost on a big mistake
They did same in Sydney now rebuilt but now la hosting 2028 games
Destroying Bunker hill was the last straw for me.
What beautiful memories of the streetcars. I loved them as a kid, they were like a slow train, I loved the seats, the bars to hold on to, no air conditioning, windows half way down. They were the best things on wheels, and then the highways were built and over the past 60 years, its been nightmare upon nightmare on the Santa Monica Freeway and elsewhere! The pollution from the cars and trucks, people pollution, yep a real nightmare in California and also in some other states who used to have streetcars. They ran on electric power just like the ones in some states have now, but they call them "light rails" and cost a fortune to ride to one destination to another!
This is not 1940, things cost more now. It was just as hard to come up with the fare in 1940 as it is today.
My mother attended BIOLA (Bible Institute Of Los Angeles) in the late 1940s. In those days it was at it's original location at the intersection of 6th and Hope downtown. She says she took many of these modes of public transportation including the famous "Red Car" trolley.
You can ride on some of those vintage cars in San Francisco on the F Line that goes down Market Street to Fisherman's Wharf
I have several streetcar DVDs, including this one, and half of the interest in them is seeing the way that the cities used to be back then. The cities were clean and orderly and the people were better dressed in public than they are today. In some of these videos, you can see countryside and not endless suburbia. And of course, there were the streetcars. Many thanks for these DVDs, and if I could add one request, please tell a little bit more about the towns & factories along the lines.
Thanks for posting this important historical document. Yes many European and Canadian cities still operate the streetcars/trams. In Prague they run all night and are a wise choice for getting home after a round of late night socializing. In addition to producing less air pollution they are also quieter.
Many Canadian cities? Not quite. Only Toronto kept their streetcars btw.
Chicago had trolleys back in the day too. The electric motors were clean and efficient and had good pickup on takeoff. I miss them.
What a travesty for Los Angeles to have destroyed such an elaborate and functional rail transit system. Los Angeles is still paying dearly for their destruction of this remarkable transit system and will continue to pay for it. It was a foundation on which it could have expanded and modernized and brought into the new century. Instead Los Angeles today is hardly more than a maze of clogged freeways and streets. UGH!
Yup! Los Angeles has gone from being a true, real city to a death camp with traffic lights!!
Wow - we sure could use those today! Great video! :-)
Not to beat this subject to death, but, in the Northeastern USA cities that are affected by this weekend's blizzard, the only public transport vehicles that are currently able to navigate through the snow are rail vehicles.
I used to ride these cars when I was a kid, in Los Angeles to Huntington Park
Nice to know, where in Huntington Park, CA did you go, do you remember places, restaurants, favorite shopping stores? "Please share your fond memories with us!🙏
@CambridgeAlphonse L.A. once had the most expansive rail system in the US. Even better than New York's. Sad they were tore down.
San Francisco still kept its cable cars & street cars, and that adds to the flavor & culture of the city. These cars would've added that same flair to L.A. and would be historic landmarks today.
I have actually sat in these. There is a museum displaying them in Perris, California.
I don´t know why did US cities deleted their streetcars. We still have it in Central Europe. USA must get back from individual cars to public transportation!!! Streetcars are ecologic space effective and no as expensive as subway. PCC trams are very nice. We are still using them (T3) and their reconstruction types in Central Europe.
Not all US cities. But Los Angeles did because of corruption, more or less. Those who stood to make money from demolishing the rail system and building parkways/highways/freeways (often demolishing latino and other neighborhoods in the process) "convinced" the politicians that ran LA that streetcars were the way of the past and more cars was the way of the future.
Nice but not gonna happen in USA.
@@jimwalsh233YOU DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE....
San Francisco still has its cable car. It's more a tourist attraction than anything else.
Not anymore, obviously you have not been to L.A. recently as of 2012 it is cleaner for the most part and we have Metrolink lines going to all places within the city and out to local suburbs. I grew up here in the 60s, 70s and 80s and the smog then was much worse than now. Tighter controls on smog emissions and better cars now allow for cleaner air. With a population of over 4 Million in the city limits of L.A. itself, yes, there is traffic, but it is better now for the most part.
Yeah, Metrolink doesn't go many places, and has horrible off-peak service
where i come from (The Hague ,Holland) we had almost simular PCC streetcars
they where also American built and i grew up with them .
even they where still in use until 1993
search for pictures on google : PCC tram HTM
I bought the DVD and it's pretty nice. I kind of wish that they said a little more about the PCC's and their design and impact on the US system, and I kind of wish that they said a little bit more about the routes - where they went, what was located there, etc. To me the DVDs are also a bit of a commentary on how life was "back then" versus now. You'll notice that people dressed up a little more back then, and with the lower traffic congestion back then, you can see the architecture more.
Great posting
Amazing upload.
Well many of the new lines they are building are based on the old lines of the back then trolley lines...so we are returning to that era.. :)
Imagine a Los Angeles today, if they preserved at least the most used streetcar lines. Add to that a preserved Bunker Hill and Angel's Flight (in its original location). Would have been so charming, and would have attracted tons of tourists.
Beautiful! 5*
I agree. We are still using this PCC conception in Central Europe (type T3). PCC was invented to save US tram systems from closure and it was produced in our country (Czech republic) even half century later. We produce new tram types nowdays. I hope ecological tram transportation will return to US cities!
Not only in Los Angeles but in other cities as well.
Actual vintage footage yet glorious Los Angeles one of mass transportation legacy they have once, now is just lotta busses, ubers and 'limited' metro tracks line
On another note: oil changes, tires, gasoline, and asphalt are entirely dependent on oil. A return to electric rail as our primary means of transport decreases our dependence on oil, whether foreign or domestic. Obviously, cars and trucks will still exist, for those who are worried, but our dependence on them will decrease.
Hopefully ,our dependence on BUSES will also decrease!
Woe is us for ever letting these magnificent trolleys be lost to the petrol demons...
I remember (I was about 6) there was a line that ran down Central Avenue. We would take it at Central and Santa Barbara Blvd (now MLK BLVD) to Downtown to go to Clifton's. This would've been about '62 to '63. I guess that was the very end. :-(
Los Angeles is still a great city, but what an amazing place it would be to still have a comprehensive mass transit system.
Because of an overabundance of stuperhighways, Los Angeles is nothing but a huge death camp with traffic lights!
Dope!!!
LOS ANGELES COULD have been one of the most cleanest cities. It killed its trams and trolleybuses. Because of greed from GM and Ford. They pushed legislation to get rid of the system and replace them with buses. Also to encourage cars... Now LA is stuck in traffic jams daily and it has heavy pollution.
You also have to blame the public who let it happen. The public bought into the whole car and freeway culture. They are paying the price today. Have you seen Los Angeles traffic lately? I grew up in Los Angeles during the late 1950's and early 1960's when the streetcars were being eliminated one by one and no one gave a damn.
@@jackanthony976 Now Los Angeles has about 4 new light rail systems that replaced the original Pacific Electric and the LARy Yellow car. The 4 new light rail system of Los Angeles are the Blue line, Expo line, Gold line, and the green line. These light rail lines were built separately over the years. And there are also 2 heavy rail subway lines which are the Red and Purple lines that run between Union Station, North Hollywood and Wilshire Western Blvd. Right now there is a new light rail subway system also called the Regional Connector that is being built to connect the Gold, Blue, and the Expo lines together. The Expo line will become the new Gold line and will run from downtown Santa Monica to East LA. The Blue line will run from Long Beach to Azusa in Pasadena once the Regional Connector is completed in the year of 2022 which is 2 years from now. Also there is the extension of the heavy rail subway Purple line that is under construction at the Wilshire Western area which will be completed in 2023.
There is also a new light rail system called the Crenshaw line that is being built to connect with the Green line near LAX airport. The Crenshaw line will also connect to the current Expo line too so in one way, Los Angeles is bringing back mass transit and there will be more in the coming years. The new Crenshaw line opens next year in 2021!!
@@Hotters9060 Yes, I did read about these projects in the New York Times. It is too bad that Los Angeles has to spend millions on reinventing what was already in place decades ago.
@@jackanthony976 Los Ángeles made a huge mistake by getting rid of the original trains that they already had. Now they regret the bad decision that they made and this is why they have to try and rebuild what they destroyed years ago. Now Los Angeles is plagued with traffic on the freeways and congestion followed by pollution.
@@jackanthony976Nope; the general public was hoodwinked into the lure of the automobile with oversubsidized stuperhighways, oversubsidized fuel, and oversubsidized pubic parking, among other things....
Corvettably, I'm still going to disagree. Trolley routes are often added to, but not often changed. They've been very successful as of late in Minneapolis, San Diego, Portland, San Francisco, and Toronto. The real trick is to give them right-of-way's where they are not competing with car traffic, and to give incentives for businesses to locate near the routes, and reduce sprawl.
I was born and raised in Riverside, CA. There were streetcars in town, I remember the tracks and the streetcar “buttons” that outlined the area where the riders stood to wait for the streetcar - you couldn’t wait on the curb like for a bus since the streetcar was, guess what, in the street.
What took them out was the spread of the neighborhoods with streets that could not accommodate a large streetcar.
Here, Here!
If I'm not mistaken after all those lines of street cars were out of service and retired forever .............. that's when the areas therein started to rot and go foul.
@gygyman64 Actually I saw a great 2 hour documentary on the Pacific Electric Railway system of LA and it clearly pointed out it was the MTA in its initial formation as an agency that bought up the various lines one by one and eventually converted them over to the bus lines as how we have them now. That is my the MTA runs various busses that look amazingly similar in style as a throwback to the old railcars and each line is named after the original colors. It wasn't a car company
Nailed it
and thats why you have the number one rate of traffic jams... Look at Europe... Their is need for a car at all. That is why LA has to reintroduce these trams... Taking the bus won't help you get around these traffic jams they are stuck in it too.
You are right with Europe... I'm living in West Germany and we have a huge streetcar and lightrail system connecting dozens of cities in the Ruhr industrial area. However, for us it was similar from the 50s to the 80s. A lot of tram systems were abandoned for busses. "A city made for cars" was a popular slogan over here. Our system has mixed narrow gauge and normal parts.
ruclips.net/video/kpH3_udcYWI/видео.htmlm10s (normal gauge)
ruclips.net/video/SGls8Zv5qtg/видео.htmlm35s (narrow gauge)
no the light rail in Boston is the heaviest according to wikipedia... check it out...
1:12 In Boston these were called trackless trolleys. Still are, in fact.
the good old days.....
I love the Hamm's beer sign, my dad drank Hamms beer! LOL!
Hammons the beer refreshing. Remember the Hammns Bear?
Who remembers Brew 102?!
Melbourne Australia is a spread-out city region with a central business district, so has some similarities to Los Angeles. It kept its tram system almost complete and never lost it right through the era of increasing car use. It is quite slow though. It had old vehicles not unlike American PCC cars until the 1990s and has only gone over to long European-standard air-conditioned trams since 2000 (mostly French not German in design).
The freeway made LA what it is today, non stop traffic. Now driving is considered the norm and tradition in LA
Hitler's autobahn made LA a death camp with traffic lights!
A lot can be said of the 1950's, the wave of postwar prosperity that rippled across the nation, out with the old in with the new was the motto!In the midst of this movement General motors joined forces with Firestone tires and a few oil companies to form The national cities corporation, they went in and bought huge chunks of stock in a transit company, took control, then made them buy busses, great little scam!
Most U.S cities eliminated street cars and trolley buses. San Francisco still uses street cars and trolleys for some routes
Cool.
Love L.A.
George Vreeland Hill
Milwaukee haven't had streetcar service since March 2, 1958.
The North Shore Line closed on Jan. 21, 1963.
Of course, the trackless trolleys.
Milwaukee last operated until June 20, 1965 and Chicago's last ran on March 25, 1973.
Good thing that Dayton, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Vancouver still have the trackless trolleys running. Visited those systems except Boston & Philadelphia.
Kenosha (35 miles of south of Milwaukee) have streetcar service since June 17, 2000. Once operated trackless trolleys (1932-1952).
Atlanta will someday get the streetcar running. Cincinnati is in the works. Twin Cities are successful.
We all have to keep the anti-transit politicians and media out of it.
That's Milwaukee's number one problem.
UPDATE: Milwaukee will have the streetcar line and opening in late 2018.
Atlanta, Cincinnati, Kansas City and a few cities to name are running.
For the Milwaukee Update, go to the Milwaukee Streetcar Website, Today's TMJ 4, Fox 6, WISN 12 or CBS 58 for further details.
Go to The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transit Historical Society Website for information on past Milwaukee streetcar & interurban history.
You have to remember that LA used to burn its trash so combine that with the cars it was way more polluted then even with the light rail than now. That being said,I miss the streetcars
But BEFORE the automobile explosion, the area would STILL burn its garbage, and the air would still be a helluva lot cleaner than it is today....
I think the legendary Czech Tatra tram was based on the PCC car.
They kinda have those back now with the Metro Blue Line running through the streets of the Downtown LA.
Interesting time capsule. Thanks for posting all those years ago. I see in comments Toronto being mentioned: we still have our streetcar system and will eventually have LRTs in right-of-way in outer parts of the city like Scarberia. I'm a fan of them but would have thought by 2023 that the whole system would be 100% right-of-way running. Service sucks on much of the system. Slow and three streetcars bunched together every half hour instead of one every 10 minutes, which still isn't great. TTC needs improvement on so many levels as I type this.
glad to hear that! But I still stand with my post 2 years ago lol. LA seems to be realizing its mistake :)
The 1950s and earlier - The great Los Angeles.
@JollyRodders O.K added to my last post put >> It's A Big Job (Part 1)
San Francisco kept them.
The PCC was created in 1929, it's time for another new tram to be created in the USA!
Wonder how many years it took to dig up the tracks and remove all the overhead lines
LA should have upgraded the systems that it had rather than dismantle them, like the did in most of Europe...The UK being the exception. They also got rid of their old tram / trolleybus systems. Only now are they bringing them back....Bit by bit. There is much lobbying from a large private bus company whose routes will have to compete with these new trams. No names....But they're based in Scotland.
Got any more?
Destroying the original mass transit system = worst decision in the history of Los Angeles.
And they've been stalling on the red line since the 90's.
There used to be a film on RUclips in four parts called "It's a big job" about training to be a yellow car operator. It may still be on here somwhere, but I'm buggered if I can find it.
I think I remember that film; someone from the Electric Railroad Historical Association has that movie in their personal possession. I saw it in one of their presentations.
Hello, did you ever hear of a book called "On a clear day you can see GM"? You need to read it, Also, the movie called "Tucker" inspired by a book written by one of Preston Tucker's closest friends and co-engineer of the Tucker automobile, which was introduced in 1946, Tucker was put out of business primarily by General motors.
I love cars but i also love trains, trams, subways etc. Living in Southern California is rough. There is little public transport bar the bus, if i could commute on a train/streetcar/subway , its a no brainer , id do it in a heartbeat. Removing streetcars from LA was idiotic. Imagine a modern LA full of high speed light rail trams, and no traffic. People leaving their cars at home and commuting quickly. Instead: we get gridlock
Like the Minnesota light rail twin cities system.
They should have kept it , it would have helped alot with all the traffic los angels has, this video sounds like it came out in the 80s, lol or late 70s
The frame on minute 2:32 looks like the corner of Pacific Blvd, and Randolph Ave, in Huntington Park......I arrived in H.P. in 1963 from Cuba and it was a wonderful little city back then....How times have changed....I prefer living here in Miami now.....Los Angeles is not what it was.
Gasoline driven buses eventually replaced them. The simple fact is that it's hard to reroute streetcars in surface traffic where anything can block the line and regular buses do not need track/overhead line maintenance. The times just changed.
Buses are AUTOMOBILES, just like any car is. They got their rolling surfaces absolutely free, without having to pay so much as a single red cent for maintenance or daily use!
If buses are so great, then WHY is the most automobiliated place in the entire nation, Los Angeles, rebuilding its rail-based transit infrastructure?!
I'm shocked! At 1:23...there's no graffitti! Things sure have changed in L.A.
The underground hq still exists it’s a time machine
There's an amazing parallel here. Here where I live & was raised, in Sydney Australia, we too used to enjoy a widespread network of street cars. However we called them 'trams'. Our rather stupid state govt short-sightedly got rid of our tram system in 1958. Funny how govts thru'out the western world are good at being short-sighted, isn't it !! It was a most-efficient way of mass-transitting people around the city .. obviously just like in LA in them days. This footage is v. interesting to me.
In Chicago these were called Trolley Buses.
There are good to remember and reflect on but the realty is they were permanent and could be rerouted like the new busses could.
Where ever the city grew they could just buy a few busses and create a new route to service the community with out tearing up the streets laying down track and installing those ugly electric cables.
You can reroute busses with out tearing up the streets installing cable laying down track that knocked everyone's car out of alignment.
So you can say L.A. went wireless before anyone else did.
It's progress and like i said it's fun reflect on and also helps us to appreciate
san francisco
@Frafra Zoomer
Auto lobby? 🤣
Routes were being rerouted all the time due to the continuous growth of l.a.
new communities were expanding the routes and the demand for a more flexible public transportation system could be done with busses.
Street cars became obsolete because the demand for passengers had increased beyond the capacity of the street cars.
People have babies and they grow up and have to go to work.
@Frafra Zoomer
Yeh to reroute a bus you just give the driver a map of the new route and he follows it.
To change the route of a street car you have to widen the streets and dig it up lay down new track and install power lines.
Our freeways in California have a greater capacity to move people than the street cars.
The east coast cities like n.y. do not have effective freeways because the have no room in the city to make them functional and a big problem we never hear about is the traffic jams of bodies and long lines to get in to the subways. Lines that stretch out of the subway and on to the street and around the block in the cold and snow and rain.
No ill take my traffic jam and my coffee and the radio.
God loves America and our cars.
So far, Al! I've read in this comment thread are the words of the "automobiliated"; those so addicted to rubber tires/steering wheels that they cannot see anything else....
Such people believe the same logic as attempting to make a cigarette smoker quit their addiction by giving them a CIGAR! Simple logic should tell someone that adding more to what caused the trouble in the first place WON'T solve the problem in the long run....
@@user-dj7wv5ok2x
This not a addiction this the realty of life and having to go to work and school and buy food.
The trolley and electric street cars became obsolete so we moved on to bus routes and cars.
Is this kinda like the same thing they got going on in San Francisco?
Also Downtown was being abandon for the "new" suburbs.
Europe and scandinavian have the modern efficient public transportation the street car or tram.
@loonercrazy Believe what you want, I won't argue, but it seems very suspicious that this happened all across the US and some parts of the world at the same time.
Please read "Moving Millions" by Stanley I. Fischler; this book explains that General Motors and Ford, along with other automotive industry supported industries, like tire and Rubber companies, while simultaneously bringing rail-based public transit to wreck and ruin in the United States, they were across the pond assisting Hitler and is Nazis in their war effort!
GM had the biggest hand in killing the streetcar systems across the nation. There are articles posted on the internet regarding this subject.
Even if there had been no GM or oil and tire companies there were plenty of other factors that contributed.
@@jimwalsh233However, without an automotive industry, there'd be no flooding the transit agencies with the AUTOMOBILES we know as buses....
@tradercris You don't know what you're talking about. What killed the interurban railways in the LA area was the influx of population which resulted in cities growing along the lines that were already established. These cities began to condemn rights of ways and force the inter urban to share their routes with streets. Eventually the personal car won out, with people not paying attention to rights of way and accidents occurring, the blame was placed on the interurban railways forcing them to slo
@maynardcat
This is simply not true, there were so many other factors which overshadowed them
who framed Rodger rabbit
And in that same year they were already complaining about smog and replaced the last trolleys with diesel buses! What a stupid decision and it ran smoothly when compared to buses running over potholes!
The ability to aford and own cars killed the trolleys. As the suburbs grew the areas that were not serviced becames areas that people lived in and wanted to go to or work at so the central hub areas of the trolley system was left behind in the expansion which was answered by individual car ownership and good bus systems. Alas, the Metro sytem tends to go from only a few areas to a few areas and is convienient only to a few people. I love trains and trollies Bus systems are economical to run..
Rubber tires/steering wheels, like the roads they roll on, are all oversubsidized with hand-over-fist 55-gallon drumfuls of blank checks from all governmental levels.
I know write, if that man hadn't been born none of our problems would exist.
That so old
Lord, take me back...
I have this video and it is five stars! Its too bad that Pentrex is a West Coast outfit, with the majority of their videos focusing on West Coast Subject Matter.
another criminal act by the auto companies
Load of crap.
No. Can't blame automobile companies or oil companies. We Americans like the freedom and convenience of our cars.
No one has bothered to ask if these streetcars were worth it. Were they more comfortable than buses? Not really. Plus buses, with full circulation systems in their engines, have air conditioning, while these electric streetcars did not. We tend to think of trains as more luxurious than buses, but have you been in an old PCC car? Did they access more areas than buses? No. Buses can access virtually any street, and they sit in traffic just the same as these streetcars. Were they worth the cost of operation? Well buses were a hell of a lot cheaper to operate, and only to serve the same area. Why waste money to cure a phony nostalgia?
A criminal act that Los Angeles will be punished for well into the future.
Jonny Watts While buses can use any street, the fact is they don't change routes because people would not know which bus to board to get to their destination. Also this street car system was in excellent condition and was operating at a profit on the day it was shut down. The only way to beat traffic is to have vehicles which operate in private rights of way. The bus is stuck in the very thing one is trying to avoid: congestion.
I recently read a documentary that said that wasn't true. Or the documentary I read wasn't true. LOL
Getting rid of streetcars all over the country is one of the stupidest things the government has ever done. (Or trolley buses - even better.)
In this age of globalwarming phobia, it would be great if some cities would bring them back.
Just like today, those elected officials are the ones to be held accountable, not greedy Corporate interests.
Whether its GM of the past or Real Estate Developers of today, anyone can ask for the moon, its up to the elected officials to just say "no."
Its up to the voters to keep the heat on elected officials - they are the single point of contact. And the public can use the press to embarrass politicians into doing the right thing.
Yup! So correct that statement is!
Eisenhower was STUPID in importing Hitler's autobahn and NOT simultaneously building a nationwide rail system for both passengers as well as freight; however, in seeing his error, he attempted to have the interstate highways built to the same specifications as the autobahn. Congress at the time went against him, and we now have these stuperhighways plowing through the center of our urban areas instead of traversing AROUND the cities, as Eisenhower had originally planned and pushed for.
The "Hitler strips" also represent the worst practice joke played upon the American people; they were plugged as "military highways", yet they can't even support the weight of just ONE M-1 Abrams tank without suffering irreparable damage!
All this for a $700+ billion dollar annual defecit!!
And now we have the effects of too many auto's, looks like electric LRT's and Streetcars are the future