Trolley Tuesday 12/7/21 - The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light... Revisited

After much delay, welcome to our final November rewrite! This one's a bit special because it's actually a rewrite of our second-ever "guest piece" by our friend, photographer, railfan, and Milwaukee native Jonathan Lee. As a love-letter to Milwaukee and its interurbans, it was a fantastic piece; but for a reader, it was a bit too lengthy! That's why we're condensing and refining the best parts of his report, in fairness to the work he did for us and the quality you, the riders, expect from Twice-Weekly Trolley History! While Milwaukee is famous in heavy-rail circles as forming part of the legendary Milwaukee Road, its streetcars and interurbans are equally as legendary, skirting the fine line between innovation and insolvency. On today's Trolley Tuesday, we raise our beer mugs high as we look at what's made Milwaukee famous to traction fans!

Trolley Thursday 12/02/21 - The Watts Local: An Examination of Los Angeles' Racial History, "White Flight", and Watts.

So today's Trolley Thursday post is actually one I'm also submitting to my "Literary Los Angeles" Class (English 2600) as part of my Final Creative Project. As such, I want to make sure the language within is cleaned up, the sources are front and center, and some of the content may not be suitable for all readers. For my topic, I chose to demonstrate my knowledge of Los Angeles history by examining its place in depictions of race relations in LA Literature like Nina Revoyr's 1993 novel, "Southland", as well as how it reflects in "Southern California: An Island on the Land", written by seminal LA area lawyer and author Carey McWilliams in 1946. I also always wanted to examine the sociology of streetcars, and how it played a role in turning the suburbs from white to multi-ethnic or vice-versa. As such, consider this a special presentation of "Twice Weekly Trolley History" and I hope you enjoy as much as my professor.

Trolley Thursday 11/30/21 - The Denver Tramway... Revisited

On today's Trolley Tuesday rewrite, we're returning to the Mile-High City as we look at the history of America's last independent streetcar system: the Denver Tramway. Originally written in two parts, I'm choosing to rewrite this one as I feel like most of my earlier two-parts can now be concisely bunched into one whole post with much better information within. But Denver's history is just more than privatized transit, as its history goes back to the late 1860s and is full of agitation, monopoly, and big unique streetcars. So saddle up and get Rocky Mountain High, as we turn our eyes to the complete history of the Denver Tramway!

Trolley Tuesday 11/25/21 - Seattle Municipal Electric Railway... Revisited

Welcome, dear riders to our Twice-Weekly Trolley History Thanksgiving Special! The special thing about it is it is not a special at all, rather just the next planned episode in our series of November (creeping into December) rewrites! As we're technically still in the Pacific Northwest, we turn our attention from the stumpy, coffee-addicted hipsterdom of Portland, Oregon, to look at another stumpy, coffee-addicted hipsterdom in the form of Seattle, Washington! Following in the footsteps of San Francisco's transit revolution, Seattle's 231 miles of electric street railways over 26 lines made up one of the largest municipal transit systems in the wake of the original "Muni". However, unlike San Francisco, Seattle had a hard time making theirs work, and what was once a promising future of complete public control and service became a black hole that could only end in bus operation. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's revisit the Seattle Municipal Street Railway and see what made the Emerald City shine!

Trolley Thursday 11/18/21 - The Puget Sound Electric Railway... Revisited

Well, we've been away for quite a while. I had unexpectedly become busy and my editor was on vacation, so we were not able to bring you this latest rewrite until now. That being said...

Today's trolleypost rewrite deals with the Puget Sound Electric Railway, the first series of posts I had using an actual book (that being Warren G. Wing's "To Tacoma by Trolley", a present from one of my friends). While those three posts are still pretty thorough, I found them artificially bloated and awkwardly paced because I tried to fit every fact I could into them from just a glancing read. Today, however, things will be different as we smell the fresh... whatever kind of air that is in Tacoma and we return to the Pacific Northwest as we look at Washington's finest interurban, the Puget Sound Electric Railway!

Trolley Tuesday 11/9/2021 - The Southern Pacific's Red Electric Lines ...Revisited

Welcome to another rewrite of an old Trolley Tuesday classic, this time one that never actually made it from Twitter to Blogger! Despite having a wealth of interurban traction holdings in Marin County, San Francisco's East Bay, and down in Los Angeles, the Southern Pacific Railway's Oregonian odysseys were more short-lived, being used as a weapon in a mighty railroad war instead of the usual reason of boosting real estate values. Nevertheless, from 1914 to 1929, the mighty "Red Electrics" ruled the Willamette River's west banks as the Evergreen State's state of the art, largest, and fastest interurban line. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's look back on what made the Red Electrics so memorable.

Trolley Tuesday 11/3/21 - The Oregon Electric Railway... Revisited

Welcome to another round of Trolleyposting in November! Having changed so much since we've first started this blog, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and redo some of the episodes I found quite lacking, either through wholesale absence of information or an early writing style trying to escape from the trappings of Twitter character limits. For our first foray, we return to the state that started off this blog, Oregon, to give you an expanded history on the very first episode, the Oregon Electric Railway, and its long-forgotten interurbans (and its famous rivalry with the SP Red Electrics)!

Trolley Thursday 10/21/21 - Milwaukee's NMRA Speedrail Wreck

In the context of railroad history, no company is more synonymous with the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, than the famous Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, otherwise known as "the Milwaukee Road". Unfortunately for you, foolish reader, today is not a day to talk about the famous Route of the Hiawatha, as Beer City is home to more than just a famous streamliner. For the purposes of this blog, we'll be discussing the city's lesser-known system of local interurban and streetcar lines operated by the Milwaukee Rapid Transit & Speedrail Lines (also known as "Speedrail" going forward) and how one man's dreams were destroyed on a weekend meant to boost this fading, failing interurban. On today's Trolley Thursday, we look back on the tragic NMRA Speedrail Labor Day Wreck of 1950 and why it's important to remember today.

Trolley Tuesday 10/19/21 - Chicago's Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster

There are some disasters born of trial and error, there are some of many factors that culminate in one fatal act, and then there are some that are just freak accidents where a streetcar found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Long considered to be one of the deadliest midwestern streetcar disasters, and certainly the most violent, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) "Green Hornet" streetcar collision of May 25, 1950 is best remembered for the absolute carnage that followed its fatal route and the trauma inflicted on Chicagoans, many of whom still pass through the intersection of 63rd and State Street today. On today's Trolley Tuesday, we look back on the "Green Hornet" disaster and the lessons it taught us.

Trolley Thursday 10/14/21 - Pittsburgh's Mount Washington Tunnel Disaster

Despite the 1910s being the "Golden Age" of street railway development and operation, where it seemed everyone and their mother had a streetcar line, it was still a very hazard-fraught period as the companies were still learning how to make their streetcars safer through trial and deadly error. After all, it was just last week where we learned that New York City's worst subway disaster basically gave us the "deadman" pedal as we know it as late as 1918. Unfortunately, that kind of technology could have also saved another runaway streetcar that went down in local infamy as one of the worst streetcar crashes in the Alleghenies. On today's Trolley Thursday, we peer into the annals of the Pittsburgh Railways as we look back on the 1917 Mount Washington Transit Tunnel Terror.

Trolley Tuesday 10/12/21 - New York City's BRT Malbone Street Wreck

When it comes to any disaster, it is almost always caused by a small mistake way before it even happens instead of a singular freak event that affects an entire industry. Planes, ships, and even trains are not immune from what can crassly be called a "cock-up cascade", and history is sadly littered with the remnants of these events. Hidden among these infamous incidents is what is considered to be the deadliest train crash on the New York City subway system, as well as one of the deadliest train crashes in America. What started as an attempt to circumvent striking workers led to an error of mismanagement, inexperience, and ultimately an unnecessary loss of human life. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit's Malbone Street Wreck is certainly an evening to remember, and one we're looking back at on today's Trolley Tuesday.

Trolley Thursday 10/7/21 - Boston's Summer Street Bridge Disaster

Welcome, foolish mortals, to another October trolleypost! This month, we're doing famous streetcar disasters from all over the United States and our first port of call is, appropriately, a port city. Along Boston's famous Charles River (where you'll find me along with lovers, muggers and thieves) are (currently) nine bridges that guide cars, rapid transit, and commuter trains over the waters to safety on the other side. One of these is the Summer Street bridge, a drawbridge on the southeastern side of Boston's South Station, which once carried the Boston Elevated Railway (or BERy) along with normal automobile traffic. So, what happens when a streetcar tries to cross this bridge when it's all drawn up? You get one soaked trolley, forty-six deaths, and the deadliest accident in Boston before the Cocoanut Grove fire of 1946. Put on your scuba gear and sound the alarm, it's time for Trolley Thursday.

Trolley Tuesday 10/5/21 - National City Lines (and the Great American Streetcar Scandal)

BOO!

Welcome back to a spooky month of October trolleyposts, dear riders! As befitting the scariest month of all (and considering I am a cowardly jackass when it comes to jumpscares), we will be looking at some famous streetcar and rapid transit disasters all through this month! Today's disaster is the most infamous for traction enthusiasts and public transit advocates, as without them, we would still have our famous street railways operating today and without the need to rebuild them from the ground up. Taking advantage of the nation's need for automobiles during and after World War II, the infamous National City Lines (NCL) stands as the biggest rapid transit disaster we have yet to recover from. And you'll find out about it, and more, on today's Trolley Tuesday.

Trolley Thursday 9/30/21 - The Cars of the LA Metro

Welcome, dear riders, to the last Trolley Thursday of September! Sixty-or-so years ago, the Pacific Electric Railway's massive interurban and streetcar fleet dropped from tens of hundreds of varied models all the way to just... one. Today's LA Metro is clearly the opposite of that. Despite having numerous light-rail models and one subway model over their thirty-year existence, Metro's close work with manufacturers in Japan, Germany, and Italy ensures that their light rail fleet is interchangeable and workable through their long lifespans. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's open up the Division Carhouses on all six lines as we look at what makes Los Angeles' LRVs so unique!

Trolley Tuesday 9/28/21 - The Lines of the LA Metro

There are some who say that less is more, but not so in rapid transit circles. After all, to move the almost 4 million people who call Los Angeles home, one would need a more substantial mass-transit railway than the six lines we have today. And yet, in the same vein as their predecessors in the Pacific Electric (PE) and Los Angeles Railways (LARy), the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (or LACMTA, just the "Metro" for short) continues to provide the best possible service in a county both supportive, disappointed, and downright hostile to its light rail and subway systems. On today's Trolley Tuesday, we take a brief look at each line and what makes it special after discussing their origins last week, so please grab your TAP card, mind the doors, and enjoy a ride on the Metro!

Trolley Thursday 9/23/21 - The (Very Dense) History of the LA Metro

Over one-hundred years ago, the city of Los Angeles boasted the finest interurban transit system in the world, spanning three counties with over one thousand miles of track. The Pacific Electric Railway (PE) hauled everything from daily commuters and freight to special horse-racing and Catalina ferry trains and became inexorably linked to Los Angeles' identity as it recovered from World War II. And then... it was gone.

Today, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit District (better known as the LAMTA) seeks to reinvigorate what we lost in the wake of the PE and the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) being shut down in favor of increased bus use and car-centric road design. Despite having only a tenth of PE's tracks, LA's light rail and subways continue to look ever forward to that final frontier of efficient rapid transit, and it's why we are highlighting its history on today's Trolley Thursday!

Trolley Tuesday 9/21/21 - My Birthday!

My birthday in 2019, held at the Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood, CA.
The car is PE 800-class No. 913, now part of the restaurant and restored to her original colors.
(Myself)

Hey riders and readers, just a quick message while we get ready to finish the month of September! Things have been busy lately on my end (school, hobbies, etc), but I want to tell you all that we're gonna finish off the month very strong with a three-parter on the Los Angeles Metro light-rail and rapid-transit systems! In the meantime, happy birthday to me and you all have a great day!

Trolley Thursday 9/9/21 - Angel's Flight

Deep in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, among all of the modern skyscrapers and historic Beaux-Arts buildings, lies a rather unsuspecting and quite strange railway. It's the shortest public railway in Los Angeles, at just 298 feet in length, and has since been superseded by a concrete stairwell that travels right beside it up the side of Bunker Hill. And yet, it remains one of the city's most popular and well-traveled tourist attractions (if you count being "well-traveled" as "moving about 300 feet south of its original site". Yes, on today's (delayed) Trolley Thursday, we drop all pretenses and take a magnifying glass to Los Angeles' longest running "rapid" transit railway, Angel's Flight! Grab your La-La Land DVD and join us as we ascend through this unique funicular's histo-oh, we're already at the top.

Trolley Tuesday 9/7/21 - Trolley Parks

Everybody likes a good amusement park, which is basically the coldest take ever uttered on this blog, but often the journey to an amusement park is the hell before the heaven. Gridlock traffic on the freeway, gridlock getting into the parking structures, having to pay $25 just to park, it all feels so stressful without factoring in a day's itinerary! What if there was a way to get to an amusement park without having to worry about getting there? Well, before the dominance of the automobile, streetcar and interurban companies had that business easily handled. On today's Trolley Tuesday, we'll look at one of the lesser-known yet very-much-fun aspects of electric railroading: the passenger-pleasing and profit-generating Trolley Park!

Trolley Thursday 9/2/21 - Frank J. Sprague, Father of the Streetcar

Welcome to another brand new month of trolley-posting here at Twice-Weekly Trolley History! For the month of September, we have no real theme this time, but we hope the variety can keep you riders and readers interested!

The electric motor. The trolley pole. Air brakes. We all seem to take these things for granted when we stand back and examine what a streetcar is. After all, hindsight breeds common sense: it makes sense to us to have a stick reaching up and gathering electricity, which feeds a traction motor attached directly to an axle to move the car. But how did these elements come together in the first place? Why did this process work and not a rolling troller on a wire? And who, above all, profited from these patents? Well, dear riders, we have the answer to those queries on today's Trolley Tuesday and his name is Frank J. Sprague, inventor.

Trolley Tuesday 8/31/21 - Cars of the San Diego MTS

Welcome to the last Trolley post of this very inconsistent month! On behalf of my editor and I, thank you to all our generous rider and supporters who continue to read our articles and learn more about everything that we write here. We promise September will be a return to form with no gaps or inconsistent posting times.

For our last Trolley Tuesday of the month, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the light-rail cars of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and see how forward-thinking this pioneering system really was. Because they were among the first real light-rail comebacks in America (as systems like Muni never really stopped running at all), San Diego's light rail fleet was able to pioneer a lot of light rail tropes that we take for granted today while also handling eventual problems that many of us see as normal. So, without further ado, let's jump right into the cars!

Trolley Thursday 8/26/21 - The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

After long delays and your patient understanding, we are now at the end of our San Diegan streetcar story! Before Los Angeles re-embraced its light rail, and so did the rest of the country, America's Finest City led the rallying cry for better light rail in defiance of filthy motor buses and car culture that choked city streets and the citizens that rolled upon them. However, unlike many of these stories, San Diego was not doing this to spark a revolution; rather they did it to fix a problem that had plagued them for 31 years after the last PCC pulled its pole off the wire and went into storage. Today, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) stands as a testament to what modern light rail can do to reinvigorate a city, and it is appropriate that a story started by John D. Spreckels deserves to have a sweet ending.

Trolley Tuesday 8/10/21 - The Cars of the San Diego Electric Railway

On Thursday, we covered the general history of the San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy), a sprawling 100-or-so mile electric railway system that helped grow America's Finest City into the international port it is today. On this Trolley Tuesday, we'll be opening up the Adams Avenue Carbarn and looking at the many varied streetcars the SDERy rostered. From the usual smatterings of horsecars and cable cars, to home-grown designs and pioneering streetcars, we have it all! So sit back, ride and relax, and enjoy today's post!

Trolley Thursday 8/5/21 - The San Diego Electric Railway

Welcome to another month of streetcar history and stories on Twice-Weekly Trolley History! For this month, we'll be focusing on the ongoing story of San Diego's streetcars, starting with the original San Diego Electric Railway, or SDERy. San Diego has always been thought of as one of America's "World Class cities", as it was usually the first city encountered by northbound ships coming out the west side of the Panama Canal, and by the early 20th century it had already established itself as a major hub of ferry traffic, fish, lumber, and shipbuilding, to say nothing of its economic promise or its beach tourism traffic fueled by hoteliers and land development. In order for San Diego to become a "City in Motion", though, it needed the momentum of streetcars to make it America's Finest City. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's look back on the history of this legendary system and how it's set up America's current light rail craze.

Trolley Thursday 7/29/21 - Central California Traction, Stockton Electric, and the Red River Logging Company

Welcome, everyone to the last Trolley Thursday (on a Friday, again?) of July, 2021! Over the last few posts, we've been looking at the culmination of electric railways in California's Bay Area and a brief overview of the Central Valley's notable streetcar lines. Today, however, we're going to be a little bit busy. The companies we're going to talk about today are all interconnected and equally short-lived, with the last being the only surviving "traction" railway still operating in California. Of course, the word "traction" there can mean both electric traction and diesel traction. So, sit back with us today as we look at the Stockton Electric, the Red River Logging Company, and the Central California Traction Railways, a Sacramento Delta triple treat!

Trolley Tuesday 7/27/21 - Bakersfield & Kern Electric Railway

Long known as being the Gateway to the Central Valley for many northbound Angelinos, Bakersfield is often thought off as a "drive-through" town with little to actually interest tourists. Its claims to fame are usually through its many famous artists, musicians, and athletes who were born in the city, such as country music stars Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, Disney artist and "Nine Old Man" Marc Davis, too many NASCAR drivers to count, and way too many NFL players to count. However, for the interest of this blog, Bakersfield was also home to a long-lived and cute little local streetcar that helped grow out its little pocket of Kern County through the early 1900s. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's get freshly baked as we look at the B&KERy, otherwise known as the Bakersfield & Kern County Electric Railway!

Trolley Thursday 7/22/21 - The Visalia Electric Railroad

The Central Valley is often not known for being the most interesting place to be in California. If you ever find yourself driving through, you probably are on the fastest way to the Bay Area or the State Capitol, or you're heading east into the Sierra Nevada Mountains to enjoy the beautiful national parks. However, if you ever find yourself going through Tulare County either towards Fresno, Bakersfield, or Sequoia National Forest, pause first in the town of Visalia and look around you. Before the roar of the Tulare Thunderbowl and before Highway 99 was even thought of, there was once a small electric railway that held much promise for its parent company, Southern Pacific (SP), but various factors led to its early demise and its continued existence as a name on a General Electric 44 Tonner diesel locomotive. On today's Trolley Thursday (still on Friday?), let's peel back the citrus skin of the Visalia Electric Railway and savor the juices of its short-lived history.

Trolley Tuesday 7/20/21 - Peninsular Railway of San Jose

Over the past half year, we at Twice Weekly Trolley History have discussed the Southern Pacific Railroads's interurban holdings in excruciating detail, and it seemed like we covered everything. After all, their holdings ranged from legendary Southern California streetcars to the burning trolley-fire that was the East Bay and Marin County interurbans. However, in our discussions there's always been one company that usually avoids being mentioned when SP's trolleys are brought up. Nowadays, San Jose's own Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (or VTA) operates a rather-wide light rail system in Silicon Valley, but one hundred years ago the VTA's job was actually done by the Peninsular Railway, or "the Pin" to locals. Despite only lasting 30 years and being outshone by SP's other interurbans and being prematurely cut short by weather and war, the Pin remained an important asset to the SP and the South Bay and deserves appreciation on today's Trolley Tuesday.

Trolley Thursday 7/15/21 - The Fresno Traction Company

We're now out of the Bay Area on today's Trolley Thursday (on a Friday?) as we head inland to look at the streetcars and interurbans of the Central Valley! We start our journey today with one of the biggest and most-notable cities in the CV, Fresno (Spanish for "ash tree"). Between 1885 and 1939, streetcars were the way to get around town and in 1903, all of these companies were consolidated under the Fresno Traction Company by (who else?) Henry E. Huntington of the Pacific Electric Railway. Under electrification, the city was able to ease out into the suburbs and rostered almost one-hundred electric streetcars until growth stagnated and automobile ownership took over this once-proud backcountry streetcar. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's get on our high horse and ride through the ash trees as we appreciate the brief but bright history of the Fresno Traction Company!

Trolley Tuesday 7/13/21 - A Brief History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, Part 2

If you look at the entire timeline of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), one might be inclined to think that this world-famous transit system might not work on paper. After all, it shrank from its planned service coverage of nine counties to three, was entirely insular due to its unique gauge and prototype operations, and had enough neglectful management and accidents to turn the average person into a motorist (or at the very least, a bicyclist). Even after becoming the heroes of the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, many people assumed that the BART would fade into memory like so many of its predecessors. And yet, as of 2021, those iconic, space-age silver trains continue to roll into the future whether it, or its passengers, want it to or not. On Today's Trolley Tuesday, we finish our brief history of the Bay Area Rapid Transit by examining its recent history and how it's continued to maintain its relevance to the average Bay Area commuter.

Trolley Thursday 7/8/21 - A Brief History of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, Part 1

When the name, "Bay Area Rapid Transit", or its acronym, "BART", is mentioned to the average layperson, they immediately conjure up images of an outdated, incompatible and filthy system that anti-transit lobbyists love to use as a punchline or a warning. However, the BART is more than merely a punching bag, as it was originally one of the most forward-thinking and ambitious plans for a new American rapid transit system in the wake of National City Lines doing away with the Bay Area's streetcars as well as the best solution to the long-suffering problem of getting across the San Francisco Bay. On today's Trolley Thursday, consider this humble and passionate defense of this maligned and mischaracterized mass transit system as we look at the factors, figures, and fuck-ups foibles that make up today's Bay Area Rapid Transit.

Trolley Tuesday 7/6/21 - The Cars of the Sacramento Northern

Is it July already? I could never tell! Ah well...

Welcome to a brand-new (kinda!) month of Twice-Weekly Trolley History, where we are finishing the lead-up to the end of our East Bay story by first covering the cars of the Sacramento Northern system. Despite being the longest electric railway in Northern California, the roster list of the SN is strangely smaller than its Southern California equivalent, the Pacific Electric. However, as many canny men will tell you: it's not about the size, but it's what you do with it. For the SN, accomplishing this was not hard, as their varied interurban cars and freight locomotives helped to keep the interurban viable in the eyes of their heavy-rail overlords, the Western Pacific, right into the mid 1960s. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's open up the Mulberry Shops and take a peek at these beautiful, noteworthy, and historic electric cars.

Trolley Thursday 5/27/21 - The Sacramento Northern Railway

In the process of reading this blog closely, you may remember from Tuesday that the San Francisco Transbay Terminal opened with three tenants in 1939: the Key System, the Interurban Electric Railway (IER), and the Sacramento Northern (SN). This third tenant ran only one train into San Francisco, but don’t let that fool you. At 183 miles, the SN was the largest interurban system in northern California, sprawling from Oakland to Sacramento and farther north into the Central Valley. Like many interurbans, of course, the SN was doomed to end rather quickly but, during its lifetime, the company proved itself a paragon of interurban freight under its parent company, Western Pacific (WP), enough to entrench itself in historical legend. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's take a trip along the Sacramento Northern as we look back on its history and what it left behind.

Trolley Tuesday 5/25/21 - The San Francisco Transbay Terminal

Hello, dear readers and passengers! If you are reading this post, chances are I'm suffering the side-effects of my second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. As always, I want to tell you all to please remain healthy and safe as the country returns to normal, and be smart with your health.

Now with that out of the way... San Francisco's Salesforce Transit Center is a rather polarizing building in the city's history. Despite being designed as an ultramodern multi-modal hub for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Muni's bus system, and the northern terminal of the eventual California High Speed Rail (CAHSR), the building has had a shaky construction and opening as it spent most of its first year in operation closed due to structural concerns. While many new transit advocates both support the Salesforce Transit Center, or denigrate its organic architecture, almost all old San Franciscan souls lament the loss of what was there before, the original San Francisco Transbay Terminal. Despite being one of the most modern buildings in the city when it opened in 1939, the loss of its three major commuter rail tenants rendered the building redundant in only 20 years and limping into the 21st Century. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's look at the history of a building way ahead of its time, but quickly left behind once the trolleys stopped running.

Trolley Thursday 5/20/21 - The San Francisco, Napa, & Calistoga Railway

Occasionally on Twice-Weekly Trolley History, we end up finding a rather obscure railroad where information is sometimes hard to come by, so before we start I'd like to thank the close readers who scan through our writing and always help us improve our journalistic merit. I raise a glass to you all... just like I raise a glass to today's wine-country trolley! We may already be familiar with the Napa Valley Wine Train, a lunch and dinner rail service operated as a rolling luxury restaurant, but before that train came another that bore the "NAPA VALLEY" banner with pride. Despite a short and redundant lifespan, the San Francisco, Napa & Calistoga serves as another important and nostalgic chapter in East Bay interurban history, from its oddly-electrified cars to its humble and quiet end.

Trolley Tuesday 5/18/21 - The Northwestern Pacific Railway

Today, the Northwestern Pacific Railway (NWP) that runs between Sonoma and Marin County is but a shadow of its former glory, originally encompassing almost 300 miles from San Francisco Bay's North Shore and up the Northern California Coast to Eureka and other connecting points north and east. While it is now characterized as a sleepy little ex-Southern Pacific (SP) subsidiary, the railway was once home to one of the most forward-thinking and futuristic electric railway systems ever conceived in America. Featuring unheard-of qualities like third-rail operations and alternating current signal systems, the NWP was a victim of redundancy and soon faded from history to the tune of snorting steam locomotives and growling diesels. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's take a ride on the Redwood Empire Route as we uncover what happened to NWP's interurban lines.

Trolley Thursday 5/13/21 - The Battle of Sebastopol Avenue

Just like most of its national and international history, America's electric railroad history is not free from the spoils and sins of war. Most wars in electric railway circles, like the quiet Cold War of the United Railroads vs. San Francisco or the intense bureaucratic battles of Chicago's Cable Car wars, are fought rather bloodlessly, usually coming down to bidding for street franchises. However, in a quiet corner of Sonoma County just 30 miles North of San Francisco, one notable clash between interurbans and steam railroads tuned swiftly violent with mud, rocks, and pre-heated boiler water as the weapons of choice. And now, dear passengers, don your helmets, lace up your boots, and grab a ballast rock to sling because, on today's Trolley Thursday, we're going to war over a frog!

Trolley Tuesday 5/11/21 - The Cars of the Key System

From its opening day on October 26, 1903, until the end of passenger rail service on April 20, 1958, the Key System always stood out from other interurban railroads through its fleet of varied and unique cars that were all built to meet the demands of this Bay Area institution. This iconic fleet ranged from the electrified horsecars, which introduced modern electric traction in Oakland and Berkeley, to the modern articulated interurban cars whose designs informed the light rail vehicles (LRVs) we know today. For today's Trolley Tuesday, let's look back on these iconic cars and get to know them just a little better, shall we?

Trolley Thursday 5/6/21 - The Key System

In the annals of East Bay history, no other names holds as much legend and iconic imagery as Oakland's Key System. Developed as yet another interurban real estate scheme, the eight lines of the Key System helped to develop much of East Oakland and Berkeley. The Key System maintained its dominant position in East Pay transit after the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and widespread adoption of the automobile. Unfortunately, much like its contemporaries in Los Angeles, El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, the Key System fell victim to the same machinations that brought down dominant private interurbans like it in the form of the infamous National City Lines. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's hop aboard a Bridge Unit and rediscover the rich history of one of America's iconic street railways.

Trolley Tuesday 5/4/21 - The Southern Pacific's East Bay Electric Lines

Once again, welcome to another new month of Trolleyposts by your conductor and your motorman! This month, we're still in the Bay Area but we're now crossing the Bay Bridge to get to the East Bay cities of Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley. Long before this massive bridge was here, the East Bay was full of streetcar lines that were, eventually, replaced by the now-familiar Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and the Bay Bridge. On today's Trolley Tuesday, we start our journey off in Oakland as we look at the Southern Pacific Railroad's other interurban holding, the Oakland, Alameda & Berkeley Lines. Of course, in hindsight, we now know this as the East Bay Electrics (EBE) and who knows? We might even see some familiar faces along the way!

Trolley Thursday 3/29/21 - San Francisco's Cable Cars in Film and Television

There are two things certain in life whenever the city of San Francisco is established in a film: the appearance of the Golden Gate Bridge and the familiar "clang-clang" of a cable car. In the 148 years since the establishment of the Clay Street Hill Railway, San Francisco's once-revolutionary cable cars are as much a part of the city identity as Coit Tower, Fisherman's Wharf, and Lombard Street. Hollywood studios have since caught on to the cable car's inextricable link to the city identity, so much that if a film is set anywhere near San Francisco, there's bound to be the familiar "clang-clang" and clatter of a passing cable car, even if they don't appear! On the last Trolley Tuesday of April, let's look back on the film cameos of these wonderful little cable cars! (And by no means is this an exhaustive list, just some films I find interesting that are worth checking out.)

Trolley Tuesday 4/27/21 - The Modern Market Street Railway

Modern city transit systems are usually not obligated to contain a heritage streetcar line; after all, they're just there to keep the city on the move. However, there are some certain specific exceptions to that rule, whether it's bringing out old equipment on modern lines for excursion services like Chicago or New York, or keeping old lines operating just "as-is" as long as the spares are there like Boston. San Francisco is no different to the art of the heritage streetcar, but it might as well be both the prototype and the codifier on how to do it for the rest of the world. The interplay between tourist trolley and viable transport is on full display on today's San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni for short), and nowhere is that more evident than through the non-profit organization that keeps the city's historic streetcars running: the Market Street Railway Foundation. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's see just how the Fabulous F Market and the Exciting E Embarcadero keep history rolling on the street tracks!

Trolley Thursday 4/22/21 - Friedel Klussman, the Cable Car Lady

It's honestly miraculous that San Francisco was able to keep its century-or-so-old cable car system, long after other American cities had scrapped their own in favor of electric cars. The rolling museums of both the Powell Street Lines and the California Street Railway have now become so emblematic of the City by the Bay that they rake in millions of tourist dollars a year (last year excluded, obviously) and are a beloved icon for both tourists and locals alike. But did you know that this San Francisco treat was almost scrapped in favor of trolley buses? In defiance of what was billed as "progress" and "modernization" stood Mrs. Friedel Klussmann, whose efforts to preserve the cable cars as we have them today have earned her the nickname of "The Cable Car Lady". On today's Trolley Thursday, let's raise a glass to the Cable Car Lady and her admirable efforts to preserve San Franciscan History.

Trolley Tuesday 4/20/21 - Muni and MSR's Streetcar Fleet

No, we're not doing a weed joke today. After all, you shouldn't operate public transit while high.

Whenever we talk about the types of streetcars a company's used over its lifetime, it's always a struggle to find out which ones to talk about. Sometimes, a fleet may be a little too boring or too under-reported to write something interesting about, while others may have one or two significant cars with the rest being generics or home-builds. For San Francisco, however, it seems almost every car they've had from the first electric cars in the 1890s all the way to the modern day has been significant in some way. Thus, bear with us (and the length of this report) on this lovely Trolley Thursday as we open up the Muni Geneva Division Carhouse and appreciate the artful cars of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) and the Market Street Railway (MSR)!

Trolley Thursday 4/15/21 - The San Francisco Municipal Railway

Today, San Francisco boasts one of the most sophisticated and multi-faceted rapid transit systems in the United States in all its different modes. From trolleybuses to light rail vehicles, underground rapid transits to antiquated cable cars, the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni for short) really does cover everything under the sun. But, 120 years ago, one of the first city-owned street railways in America not only had a hard time getting established, but also meeting the modern-day demands of the City by the Bay's growing population. On today's Trolley Thursday, we look at how Muni became such a juggernaut in San Franciscan mass transit and how they've remained one of the most famous street railways in the world to this day. Now grab your ClipperCard and let's get riding!

Trolley Tuesday 4/13/21 - The Market Street Railway and the United Railroads of San Francisco

Okay, now it looks like we're back to trolleys after spending so much time on cable cars the past two episodes. I think. I hope? Anyway... Before San Francisco had its single transit system in the form of the Municipal Railway, or MUNI, there were two companies that ruled the roost and made famous the "Roar of the Four" down Market Street. This other company was the Market Street Railway (MSR), which for a time was also known as the much-maligned United Railroads of San Francisco (URR). Under both names, the company experienced earthquakes, deadly labor strikes, and city franchise disputes across their 87-year history before finally folding to the might of the MUNI. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's take A Trip Down Market Street as we look at the wide and varied history of the Market Street Railway.

Trolley Thursday 4/8/21 - The Golden Age of San Francisco's Cable Cars

Like every great American story, San Francisco's cable cars are a story of grit, determination, and innovation in the face of adversity. However, like we mentioned last time, the era of the cable car was not simply a flat line to success. As this unique mode of transportation picked up in popularity across the city (and across the United States), there soon arose a rift in how the cars were built and operated. Do we go with side-grip or horizontal-grip? Do we add curves to the line or not? What to even do with a rotating horsecar? All of these questions, and more, will now be answered on today's Trolley Thursday, celebrating the Golden Age of San Francisco's Cable Cars!

Trolley Tuesday 4-6-21 - Andrew Smith Hallidie and the Creation of the San Francisco Cable Car

Every time we start a new month here on Trolley Tuesdays and Trolley Thursdays, my editor Nakkune and I ensure to deliver unto you (the reader) a complete history of what we're talking about so you can get the proper historical context for everything we're going to talk about. Most of the time, trying to find the specific history of a streetcar system is quite difficult as almost all streetcar systems grew out quite organically, and with often faceless individuals helming the mighty companies that shaped city life forever. However, this month can deliver a face, a date, and a place: Andrew Smith Hallidie; August 2, 1873; San Francisco, CA. Despite being such an iconic part of the City by the Bay, few know or are aware of the man who invented one of America's few unique moving museums, so on today's Trolley Tuesday let's rectify that as we look back on the life and inventions of Mr. Andrew Smith Hallidie, the Father of the Cable Car!

Trolley Thursday 4-1-21 - The Los Angeles Railway's Diesel and Trolley Coaches

Welcome, dear readers, to a new era of Trolley-Posting! Or rather, Trolley BUS posting! In the best interest to give you the ultimate experience of what it was like to live through the Yellow Car era and show how much of a bad idea it was to get rid of Los Angeles' streetcars, we've decided to "bustitute" ourselves just like the LAMTA! I don't want to waste any more of your time, so enjoy a ride on board a nice, quiet, smooth, rubber-tyred trolley coach as we look at the Los Angeles Railway's (LARy) much-loved, much-welcomed, and much much more successful bus lines!

Trolley Tuesday 3/29/21 - Los Angeles Railway's Maintenance-of-Way Equipment

Welcome to the last Trolley Tuesday post of March! Over the past month, we've seen the history and evolution of the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) and its yellow cars, from the charming antiquity of the Type "B" Huntington Standards to the ultra-modern Type "P" PCCs that closed out another of America's greatest and most iconic street railways. The LARy couldn't have lasted as long as it did, though, without the help of a dedicated fleet of "maintenance of way" (MOW) cars that kept the wires, rails, and rolling stock happy until the final days under the LAMTA. Much like the Pacific Electric's own fleet, LARy's were all shop-built and recycled from older streetcars, so let's not waste any time and get to appreciating all of these varied cars on this, the final Trolley Tuesday of March!

Trolley Thursday 3/25/21 - The Los Angeles Railway's PCC Cars

It's quite telling that the last streetcar to operate in Los Angeles was also the one meant to save it. It was a car built from measured desperation, hoping to fight back against the menace of buses and promise citizens all over the United States that rapid transit and light rail had a chance. However, several factors affecting the Los Angeles Railway held back further development of the famous President's Conference Committee Car (or PCC Car) until the last car rolled into Division Four on March 31, 1963. Modern, timeless, and like nothing else in the Yellow Car Fleet, the role of the PCC in the company's history cannot be understated, and in order to understand just how such a newcomer greatly affected this once-mighty company, let's take this Trolley Thursday to ride aboard the PCCs!

Trolley Tuesday 3/23/21 - The Los Angeles Railway's Low-Floor Experimental Cars

The Los Angeles Railway (LARy) always set itself apart from its contemporary street railways by depending on its own shop-designed streetcars.  Prior to 1936, the only "national standard" streetcars purchased by the LARy were 70 Birney Safety Cars between 1920 and 1921 (designated LARy Type "G"). However, as the mid-1920s rolled on, the company came under pressure to show the city that they were on the cutting edge of streetcar technology. Completely against their own standards of streetcar construction, LARy and the St. Louis Car Company created two oddball classes of cars that were the last gasps of originality within the Yellow Car fleet. On today's Trolley Tuesday, hike up your fares and follow us as we talk about the LARy Type "L" and Type "M" streetcars!

Trolley Thursday 3/18/21 - The Los Angeles Railway Type "D" and "E" Funeral Cars

Street railway companies have always found different ways to gain more revenue, especially since so many of them often ran at a loss. These different revenue-makers included running dining service on their trains, owning the land their trains ran on and served, and even being made specifically for a grand entertainment center on the Great Salt Lake. Due to Henry Huntington's ownership of the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) basically funding itself, the company never saw need to do anything else but be a local downtown streetcar. That is, until death came knocking at its door with a simple proposition. On today's Trolley Thursday, you foolish mortals will enjoy a ride (not your final one) on board two of the LARy's most specifically-built cars on their fleet, and how the "Descanso" and "Paraiso" lived, died, and lived again.

Trolley Tuesday 3/16/21 - The Los Angeles Railway Type "H" Steel City Cars

Over the course of this blog, we've tracked the steady pattern of streetcar, interurban, and rapid transit companies switching from wooden car construction to steel construction. Most companies shifted during the 1910s, following improved methods of steel casting and construction. Early steel streetcar designs were some of the most iconic of the of the twentieth century, from Blimps, to Hollywoods, and even New York City subway cars. The Los Angeles Railway (LARy) was one of the latest adopters of steel cars, their first arrived from the St. Louis Car Company in 1921. However, these cars are no less important or significant in the Yellow Car roster, and so today's Trolley Tuesday will be spend discussing the wonderful, the stalwart, and the iconic LARy Type "H" steel city cars. 

Trolley Thursday 3/11/21 - The Los Angeles Railway Type "C" Sowbellies

One thing that set the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) apart from the Pacific Electric (PE) was a relative lack of streetcar nicknames. No cars were ever nicknamed after the areas they worked in (as they were expected to work on every single line of the system), nor did they have any notable eccentricities that set them apart enough to warrant a nickname. However, aside from the "termite squasher", there was one streetcar that did get a nickname and it turned out to be one of the most controversial, and certainly the most hated, streetcar type on the Los Angeles Railway. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's let the flanges squeal as we look at the history behind one of the LARy's most unique (and most maligned) streetcars, the Type "C"s, or "sowbellies" to shop crews.

Trolley Tuesday 3/9/21 - The Los Angeles Railway Type A "Maggies" and Type B "Huntington Standards"

Henry Huntington prided his electric lines to have a bit of familiarity and class among the citizens of Los Angeles, and so his shop crews always strove for some kind of standardization. The biggest factor in standardization was the iconic "Huntington Standard" window design, a five-window front with curved corner glass that not only was quite complex to manufacture, but provided a uniquely-refined air to both the Pacific Electric (PE) and the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) that no other streetcar company could match. On the LARy, the "Huntington Standard" design was found on their standard line of wooden "California Cars", the Type "A" (also known as the "Maggies") and the Type "B" (Huntington Standards), of which hundreds were seen rolling through the hills and valleys of the City of Angels at all times. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's take a balmy ride aboard a Huntington Standard as we appreciate these fine antique cars.

Trolley Thursday 3/3/21 - The Los Angeles Railway Offices, Shops, and Facilities

We talk so much about the different kinds of streetcars in Los Angeles, both on this month and last month, but we never find the time to talk about the facilities where these streetcars get serviced, or even built. Thankfully, due to their resourcefulness (and unwillingness to spend money thanks to Mr. Huntington's financial strategies), the Los Angeles Railway's South Park Shops filled the demand for an all-in-one car maintenance and construction facility, and were able to birth some of the railway's most iconic passenger and maintenance-of-way cars. The Division Carhouses are also ones to not overlook, as without them who would even give these innocent trolleys a home? On today's Trolley Thursday, let's take a peek into the facilities that made the LARy's operations possible!

Trolley Tuesday 3/2/21 - The Los Angeles Railway

While the Pacific Electric (PE) gets the glory of being able to roam up and down Southern California as its premiere interurban railway, there was always the shadow of the Yellow Car following it all through downtown. The Los Angeles Railway (LARy) actually predated the PE by a full decade, but that fact did not restrict the "Yellow Cars" from growing alongside their "Red Car" counterparts (and even outlasting them by two years!). On this month's Trolley Tuesday, let us appreciate the history and the cars of one of Los Angeles' most underrated streetcar lines as we ride down to Downtown on the LARy!

Trolley Tuesday 2/25/21 - Pacific Electric Maintenance of Way Equipment

We've spent the past month on this blog covering the many glamorous passenger cars (and freight locomotives) of what was once the nation's largest interurban railway, the Pacific Electric Railway (PE). However, a railway of this size is nothing without a means to maintain the one-thousand miles of track and wire at any time and with anything. Therefore, both the Los Angeles Shops of the "Old PE" and the Torrance Shops of the "New PE" had to get creative when it came to meeting the needs of the World's Wonderland Lines. On today's final Trolley Thursday of February, let's dip our bare hands in the grease bucket and look at the special and specialized maintenance-of-way cars that called the PE home.

Trolley Tuesday 2/23/21 - Pacific Electric's Freight Locomotives

Besides having an enormous interurban and suburban fleet, the Pacific Electric Railway (PE) of Southern California maintained an impressive freight locomotive fleet as well. Driven by efforts of their parent company, Southern Pacific Railway (SP), PE made significant expanses in ensuring they could serve as a good regional freight hauler and terminal railroad. This meant maintaining a diverse and often non-standard fleet of electric freight locomotives (and some non-electric ones) from its inception in 1902 all the way to the last electric-hauled freight services in the early 1960s, which was both a blessing and a curse to the ever-progressing but perennially-cash-strapped Pacific Electric. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's take a break from hauling passengers to look at the unsung heroes of LA's interurban mileage, the electric locomotives!

Trolley Thursday 2/18/21 - The Pacific Electric (And East Bay Electric And Northwestern Pacific) Blimps

I've written about many anachronistic streetcars all over this blog in the past, that is streetcars that were in service for at least 40-50 years. We've had 1910s steel interurbans working well into the 80s on the South Shore, PCC cars working into the 80s in Cleveland, and even ex-San Diego PCC cars enjoying retirement in El Paso, Texas. Even on the Pacific Electric (PE), anachronistic streetcars working well-past their service life wasn't the exception, but the rule, with many receiving upgrades to keep them in service or downgraded to secondary services, as we covered in the wood and steel interurban car episodes. Today's rolling anachronism was born at the same time as the Twelves, but were much bigger, grander, and long-lived than even the people who saved them expected to be. With some of the oldest members now pushing 108 years old, let's return now to the thrilling days of yester-year as we take a flight aboard the big, the bad, and the beautiful Blimps on today's Trolley Thursday!

Trolley Tuesday 2/16/21 - The Pacific Electric Hollywood Cars

In the common person's mind and in popular culture, there is no more an evocative image than a red-and-orange streetcar rolling down Hollywood or Sunset Boulevard in mid-century Los Angeles. After all, who can blame them? Everything can be glamourized in Los Angeles, even and especially its public transit vehicles. The one-hundred-and-sixty "Hollywood Cars" of the Pacific Electric (PE) stood and continue to stand as those immaculate pieces of Angelino-stalgia, from the old folks who used to ride them regularly to modern fans that recognize representations of this car in films like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Gangster Squad". But how did such a legendary streetcar come about and last over 30 years in service AND 60 years in preservation? Find out on today's Trolley Tuesday as we ride in style on the poor man's limousine, the Pacific Electric Hollywood Car!

Trolley Thursday 2/11/21 - Pacific Electric's City and Center-Entrance Cars

The Pacific Electric Railway (or PE) did not develop the famous 600-750 Class "Hollywood Cars" overnight. In fact, it's something we'll be covering in greater detail next Tuesday. Prior to their most-famous streetcar type, PE (and by extension, their parent company Southern Pacific) spent years before 1923 trying to find the perfect standard "city" or "suburban" car to complement their successful standard range of wood and steel interurban cars. Outside of the Hollywoods, PE had four other classes of city cars that helped keep Angelinos moving around Los Angeles, Glendale, and Pasadena, and it's definitely worth talking about them on today's Trolley Tuesday, all about the search for the perfect city car!

Trolley Tuesday 2/9/21 - Pacific Electric Steel Interurbans

The age of the steel interurban car started in the 1910s, when heavy-rail passenger car construction was first implemented in streetcar and interurban designs. Without the need for truss bars or thick wooden beams for frames, carbuilders all over the United States could now design cars with higher capacity, lighter axle weights, and faster track speeds. Pacific Electric's own steel car fleet (which comprised of four original and hand-me-down car classes) came rather late in the game, following what was the worst non-strike disaster in the system's history, but the Twelves proved their worth by being go-anywhere, do-anything cars that could take over the work of the wooden Tens for better or for worse. On Today's Trolley Tuesday, let's climb aboard the Catalina Special as we take a ride on the Pacific Electric's mighty "Twelves".

Trolley Thursday 2/4/21 - Pacific Electric Wooden Interurbans

Before steel became reliable and pliable enough to work into railroad car form, almost every interurban, rapid transit, and streetcar system in America depended on solid wood passenger cars. The idea behind them was simple: wood made for great sound insulation and was strong enough to withstand nearly every element exposed to it, so why not build them of wood? Between 1902 and 1913, Pacific Electric (PE) depended on its lumbering thoroughbreds comprising the Los Angeles Pacific (LAP) 950 Class and the mighty fleet of Jewett Car Company 1000-Class cars, commonly nicknamed the "Tens". On today's Trolley Thursday, let's peel back the wooden surface and appreciate these artfully-crafted cars.

Trolley Tuesday 2/2/21 - Early Pacific Electric Cars, 1902-1911

Whether Henry E. Huntington liked it or not, he was similar to his rival (E.H. Harriman) in a lot of ways. Both were interested in cornering and monopolizing a single market (the entire western US railway system for Harriman, all of Los Angeles' real estate and mass transit electric railways for Huntington), but another lesser-known similarity between the two men were their need for standardization. Harriman had his own design of passenger cars and steam locomotives between the Union Pacific (UP) and the Southern Pacific (SP), while Huntington's own consistent style came from the 5-window designs found on many of his streetcars built by the St. Louis Car Company and J.G. Brill of Philadelphia. On the first Trolley Tuesday of February, we begin our look into the Pacific Electric Fleet by looking at the cars that came before the Great Merger of 1911.

Trolley Thursday 1-28-21 - The Pacific Electric Southern Division

When local land developer Henry E. Huntington, financier Isaias W. Hellman, and engineer Epes Randolph first collaborated on what became the Pacific Electric Railway (PE) in 1900, all three men never realized that their grand real estate transit scheme would actually last for so long. Their Long Beach Line became the keystone to PE's hardest-working division, home to freight trains and passenger trains alike, and its straightness and strength functioned like a spine that held the frivolity and joy of the Western Division together with the adventure and open spaces of the Northern Division. However, the Southern Division was also not without its own draws and attractions, and on the last Trolley Thursday of January 2021, let's take some time and appreciate PE's hardest working and oldest division.

Trolley Tuesday 1-26-21 - The Pacific Electric Western Division

If there was ever a more perfect image that represents the Pacific Electric Railway, or PE, then it would be a steel "Hollywood" streetcar rolling down the boulevard that shares its name. It's an image enshrined in film history, being replicated in films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Gangster Squad as well as serving as a nostalgic look back on the Los Angeles that once was. But the Western Division which housed the Hollywood Blvd line was more than just glitz and glamour, as it also fed into one of the largest continuous suburban developments in Southern California and contained the only subway system in Los Angeles until the opening of the Metro Blue (A) Line in 1991. Return with us now, to the thrilling days of yester-year, as we pull the curtain back on the Pacific Electric Western Division and see just how it shaped the Southland for almost 50 years!

Trolley Thursday 1-21-21 - The Pacific Electric Building and Subway Terminal

Whenever the topic of historical Los Angeles comes up in casual conversation, the first thing that always gets brought up is the historic architecture. After all, it's why the City of Angels can keep playing older versions of itself in movies and tv shows. From the Beaux Arts curves of the Broadway Arcade building, to the wrought iron lines of the Bradbury Building's elevators, in addition to the Eastern Building's gorgeous green Art Deco façade, you'd be hard-pressed to find an ugly historic building in Los Angeles. Two of those historic buildings that have stood the test of time continue to thrive under the Los Angeles Conservancy's patronage and care, despite being so far removed from their original purposes, and they are the Pacific Electric Building on 6th and Main Street, and the Subway Terminal Building at 4th and Hill. These were the transit hubs of the Pacific Electric, and thus today's Trolley Thursday is dedicated to appreciating their importance in the system's history.

Trolley Tuesday 1-19-21 - The Mount Lowe Railway

Los Angeles is a land of attraction. We live on spectacle and we're always looking for the next big thing to part tourists from their dollars, whether it's theme parks like Disneyland or Universal Studios, or even obvious tourist traps like those offensively-slow celebrity tour vans that drive up and down Mulholland Drive and get in the way of my need for sp-

*Ahem.*

For Angelinos in the early 1900s, the biggest attraction by far was the famous "Mount Lowe Railway", a combination electric railway and funicular built into a Southwestern Peak of the San Gabriel Mountains and overlooking much of LA County. When built, the railway was a marvel of engineering and unique among its peers for being the only overhead-wire mountain railway in America. But how did this unique draw fall so hard down the face of Mount Lowe? We find out this, and more, on today's Trolley Tuesday as we relive the echoes of trolley wheels and clattering funicular mechanisms on the Mount Lowe Railway.

Trolley Thursday 01-14-21 - The Pacific Electric Northern Division

The largest and oldest of Pacific Electric's three operating divisions, the Northern Division was intended by Henry E. Huntington to provide transit to the then-empty reaches of Pasadena, Riverside County, and San Bernardino. His efforts came in the wake of General Moses Sherman and his associates' failure in securing a stable interurban line to Pasadena (one of Los Angeles' wealthiest and oldest suburbs, named after the same-named town in Texas), but would not reach rapid expansion until after the Great Merger of 1911. But what makes the Northern Division so special to its passengers, and why would it be worth it to ride? All this and more will be answered into today's Trolley Thursday, so please have your transfer ready!

Trolley Tuesday 01-12-21 - The History of the Pacific Electric, 1911-1961

One of the biggest and most mythical names in American railroading, the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) originally began as a single route of the Central Pacific Railroad from their headquarters in San Francisco to Los Angeles, down the California coast. Over time, the identity of the SP outgrew its predecessor and, by the early 1900s, it had grown into one of the most powerful railroads in America. Such was the reach of the Southern Pacific that they already had two other interurban and street railway holdings on the Western Seaboard, with the Oregon Electric in Portland, Oregon, the Northwestern Pacific in Marin County, California, and the East Bay Electric in Oakland, California. With the addition of the Pacific Electric (PE), the southland streetcars were able to grow to unimaginable proportions, but perhaps that only accelerated its demise. On today's Trolley Tuesday, let's look back on the Pacific Electric, post-Great Merger, and why we still remember it fondly today.

Trolley Thursday 01-7-21 - The History of Pacific Electric, 1900 to 1911

Despite its status as one of the largest and most well-beloved mass transit systems in America's history, the Pacific Electric Railway was not supposed to be a tool to move people across five different counties in Southern California. It was, instead, a tool to move real estate, as its creators Henry Huntington and Isaias Hellman were into the real estate business instead of the railway business. Nevertheless, Huntington's new trolley attracted plenty of investors and rivals in the early 1900s, with one particular figure eager to take Huntington's new toy for his own. All of this business skullduggery and more on today's Trolley Thursday history of the Pacific Electric!

Trolley Tuesday 1-5-21 - The Pre-History of the Pacific Electric

Welcome to the first Trolley Tuesday post of 2021! We're all glad you've been able to read our blog for the past year, and maybe even on Twitter for the past two years, and my conductor and I want to keep providing informative and entertaining content for however long we can keep this up. 

For this month's streetcar excursion, we're in home territory as I take you through a complete history of the Pacific Electric Railroad, one of the most well-known and iconic streetcar systems... in the world. However, before we can get to the World's Wonderland Lines, we first need to see where these streetcars all came from, and it all started in a little valley next to a wide river with a very, very big problem...