This natty group of Angelenos was photographed beside a Pacific Electric streetcar on what was known as the Santa Monica Air Line, which was took people from the Pacific Electric Building at Sixth and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles, to Santa Monica via Culver City. (Most of the route is now used by the Metro E Line.) The line was in operation from 1909 to 1953. This photo was taken circa 1909, so these people may have been among the first passengers. The streetcar has “U.S. MAIL” emblazoned across the front, which makes me wonder if it was also carrying the mail out to the beach.
Riley G says: “As shown on the car, these are cars of the PE precursor, the Los Angeles Pacific. They were green. The Air Line was never part of the LAP. This is perhaps on Hollywood Blvd. or Santa Monica Blvd, or in Santa Monica.”
The answer is “yes”. Prior to motorized mail trucks, most streetcar companies had mail service of some sort; indeed, larger cities had dedicated U.S. Mail cars.
Thanks MMM. I figured that was what happened.
The “Air Line” itself was actually a remnant of the original steam service of the Los Angeles & Independence which had come under control of the Southern Pacific. It generally cut across open lands which pre-dated the grid roadway system, thus travelling as the crow flies, and hence the air part of the name. With LAP’s financial problems, Harriman was able to exert much more influence on the development of what would become Pacific Electric’s Western District. And so, SP turned the route over to the electric railway as the plans for the Port of Los Angeles shifted from Santa Monica Bay and the Long Wharf to Wilmington & San Pedro (SP’s side of the complex). The front car here has no knuckle coupler, but rather a drawbar that could be attached to another car using pins dropped into the coupler boxes which aligned with the holes in the two overlapping tongues. So it appears that the second car is just an unpowered trailer which has been “slaved” to the first car. This of course would mean slower running which would basically defeat the advantages of the air line for commuting purposes. So, this excursion type scene is rather puzzling, but perhaps just a feature of the early years of the route. [I downloaded another copy of this image a few days ago as it is something that really should be researched. One more for the pile.]
Electric Railway Association (E.R.A.) dry but concise history of the Santa Monica Air Line: http://www.erha.org/pewal.htm
The actual location may be problematic to uncover, but the E.R.A. trail of corporate histories does indicate LA-P leased the line in 1908. The Great Merger of 1911 would see LA-P folded in to the “New P.E.” along with “Old P.E.” and other rail properties. [Converting car fleets over to the recognizable Pacific Electric Red would not have been entirely immediate.]