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!