Tag Archives: Trains and Railways
Night shot of the Southern Pacific Starlight service between Los Angeles and San Francisco (undated)
I don’t have a date for this remarkable shot, but here’s what I can tell you: Southern Pacific Railway inaugurated their Starlight service, an overnight train between Los Angeles and San Francisco on October 2, 1949. An alternative to the … Continue reading
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Tagged California, Glendale, California, Night photo, Trains and Railways
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A late-1930s Buick Roadmaster is parked out front of a then-new Union Station on the edge of downtown Los Angeles, circa 1939
The Los Angeles Public Library posted this charming photo yesterday and I wanted to share it here, too. It was taken outside what would then have been the new Union Railway Station at the edge of downtown Los Angeles. The … Continue reading
Pacific Electric Red Cars bound for Glendale and Hollywood sit on tracks below the Subway Terminal building at 4th and Hill Streets, downtown Los Angeles, undated
Though dimly lit and hard to make out, this photo glows with atmosphere. The (rather brave, I think) photographer was standing on the tracks that those four Pacific Electric Red Cars were about to take to Glendale and Hollywood. This … Continue reading
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Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Streetcars, Trains and Railways
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Looking down the Angels Flight funicular railway from the top of Bunker Hill to 3rd St, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1960s
These days, the Angels Flight funicular railway shuttles riders between Olive St at the top and the station at the bottom situated between 3rd and 4th St in downtown LA. But when this photo was taken, Angels Flight was in … Continue reading
Aerial photo looking east along Santa Monica Blvd from Beverly Hills toward Hollywood, Los Angeles, circa 1924
In this rather amazing aerial photograph, we looking east from Beverly Hills. That main street is Santa Monica Blvd and what used to be known locally as “Little Santa Monica Blvd” is where those train tracks are. (The small building … Continue reading
A Southern Pacific GS-3 class locomotive with passenger carriages stops at the corner of Alameda and Aliso Streets, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1939
Whenever I see a photo like this, I’m often amazed to see a locomotive pulling a line of passenger carriages along a track laid out along city streets. Maybe it was a common sight back then, but it still makes … Continue reading
Court Flight funicular running between Broadway and Hill St, downtown Los Angeles
While Angels Flight is LA’s most famous funicular, it wasn’t its only one. Court Flight began operating on September 24, 1905 on a hillside between Broadway and Hill St, between Temple and First. It was even more needed than Angels … Continue reading
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Tagged Angels Flight, Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, Trains and Railways
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The front entrance to the former Southern Pacific Railroad station, 400 W Cerritos Ave, Glendale, California, 1983
I don’t normally post photos taken as recently as the 1980s, but apart from a couple of tell-tale details, this one could be from pretty much any time in the past hundred years, not specifically 1983. This is the front … Continue reading
Passengers riding the Thompson Switchback Gravity Railroad from the Arcadia Hotel into Santa Monica, California, circa 1887
The building in the background of this circa 1887 photo was the Arcadia, a luxury-for-the-time oceanfront hotel in Santa Monica (open from 1886 to 1909) on Ocean Ave between Colorado Ave and what is now known as Pico Blvd. In … Continue reading
Excited children await their lunch at The Choo Choo diner, 6324 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys, California (undated)
I was yesterday years old when I learned of The Choo Choo diner. Rosanne S. sent me this photo, asking if I had ever come across it, which I hadn’t. I’m guessing those waitresses took your order and it would … Continue reading