Here’s a slice of Los Angeles public transportation history in the making. The Cahuenga Valley Railroad used to run between Hollywood and Santa Monica. This photo documented the arrival of its first train in East Hollywood in 1889. I love the locomotive – it reminds me of the Little Engine That Could. And it’s a good thing this is Southern California—that carriage is all open air with little protection from the elements.

Benjamin T. says: “I think you got your companies mixed up. The Cahuenga Valley RR generally stayed in Hollywood. The Los Angeles County Railroad (or the Los Angeles and Ostrich Farm Railroad) had lines to what became Griffith Park, Burbank, and Santa Monica, but was very short lived. IIRC it lasted around a couple years. The ROW and franchise rights were sold to the Pasadena and Los Angeles Railway (Los Angeles and Pacific a year or so later) when they built the first interurban line to Santa Monica via Colegrove (what eventually became the PE Santa Monica Blvd Line). Here’s a link to the ERHA article on the Los Angeles and Pacific which details the predecessor companies. http://www.erha.org/lap_corphist.htm#lacrc