My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I was sent this photo a few weeks ago. No information came with it so I had to go digging. Apparently, this Santa Fe Railway Super Chief locomotive had been uncoupled from its El Capitan passenger train from Chicago on the morning of January 25, 1948. Somehow the brakes failed and it continued to move forward until it hit and overshot the 20-foot wall lining Aliso Street in downtown LA. Nobody was hurt, but boy oh boy, you wouldn’t have wanted to be walking along the street when that happened. (Note the sign on the far left for Philippe the Original restaurant who has been serving the original French Dipped Sandwich since 1918.)
This is another photo from different angle that has been colorized:
This is where Aliso St used to be. It’s now part of the El Monte busway that parallels the 101 Freeway.
I remember that, it was big news.
I can imagine it would have been!
Just goes to show, you never know and two days before my birthday, I would be three. We rode the Super Chief and El Capitan to and from Chicago twice and making a connection to Indianapolis to see my grandparents.
I’ll bet you could find a lot of photos like this with some research. The “train” era was packed with drama. I love to see the films where they intentionally rammed locomotives into each other at high speed just to see what would happen.
In the 60’s and 70’s, I used to go to work with my dad occasionally during the summer. Dad was a salesman and he would take me out with him to make sales calls, which his customers got a kick out of.
If we were near downtown, we’d go to lunch at Philippe’s or Little Joe’s. I remember Philippe had that photo of the train near the old wooden phone booths with the bi-fold doors. It’s probably still there.
The Philippe in that photo is the original location. They moved to Alameda & Ord later
Ah! So Philippe moved? I didn’t realize that, which probably explains why I could figure out how to do a “now” photo.
Today they’re in a 2 story building that’s basically up Alameda and across from the Terminal Annex building. The building in your photo is a single story on Aliso.
Philippe’s website says: “Philippe’s was forced to move to make way for the then new Hollywood-Santa Ana 101 freeway, and in 1951 relocated to the present location, which was a machine shop with a hotel on the second floor.”
Interestingly, my mother (born in 1932) used to go with my grandfather to the original location.
Today they’re in a 2 story building that’s basically up Alameda and across from the Terminal Annex building. The building in your photo is a single story on Aliso.
Philippe’s website says: “Philippe’s was forced to move to make way for the then new Hollywood-Santa Ana 101 freeway, and in 1951 relocated to the present location, which was a machine shop with a hotel on the second floor.”
Interestingly, my mother (born in 1932) used to go with my grandfather to the original location.
https://goo.gl/maps/61bb9WkRh891EUEY7
Not sure if this link will work, but this is where Aliso St used to be. It’s now part of the busway that parallels the 101 Freeway.
I believe that Philippe’s began in 1908. Philippe’s has the same photo posted on their wall.
You ought to publish a ‘now’ version if for no other reason than historical record.
I went back and added it later.
wow what an event that is very scary