[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1527264535104{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Margaret Ma was kind enough to share with us her father’s digitized 8mm films of Southern District action, likely near the end in 1961, depicting MTA blimps in action and 6th and Main Street station shots.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/242381372″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Historic Caption: Mrs Loyce Newton, 44, was killed here today (4/10) when here car skidded on wet streetcar tracks and crashed headon into a streetcar. She was thrown from her car and under the streetcar, dying before a wrecking crew and two ambulance teams could extricate her. Workmen are shown holding a blanket over Mrs. Newton while policeman comforts her.
Research suggests that the date of this photo is April 10th, 1948, and this accident possibly took place somewhere on the Hollywood Line along Sunset Blvd. The car number is PE 654.
Steve Crise Collection
By Stephen Dudley
More from the February 16, 1958 excursion using Metropolitan Coach Lines car no. 498. Here we see the 498 stopped northbound on San Pedro line’s West Basin trackage.
Stephen Dudley Photo, Stephen Dudley Collection
By Stephen Dudley
More from the February 16, 1958 excursion using Metropolitan Coach Lines car no. 498. Here we see the 498 stopped southbound near San Pedro before the fog had cleared.
Stephen Dudley Photo, Stephen Dudley Collection
By Stephen Dudley
More from the February 16, 1958 excursion using Metropolitan Coach Lines car no. 498. In this image, 498 is stopped on the El Segundo Line just past the Watts Car House which can be seen in the distance. Trolley wire was maintained on the southbound track to allow cars to access the car house from the south. Wire on northbound track had been removed. Once trolley poles were reversed, 498 would run north on the southbound track to re-join the southbound main. Someone had appropriately inserted
in the train number display “X-498”.
Stephen Dudley Photo, Stephen Dudley Collection
By Stephen Dudley
An amazing, moody shot of the Metropolitan Coach Lines motorman operating ex-Pacific Electric no. 498 on the February 16, 1958 excursion. This view was taken while running southbound near Compton.
Stephen Dudley Photo, Stephen Dudley Collection
By Stephen Dudley
Here’s another shot from the February 16, 1958 excursion using ex-Pacific Electric car no. 498. In this image, 498 is stopped southbound on the Bellflower Line.
Stephen Dudley Photo, Stephen Dudley Collection
By Stephen Dudley
Stopped for a photo shoot heading southbound and just north of Watts, 498 was on the local track and being passed by a Long Beach train. Note “private car” dash sign. Except for the occasional excursion, car 498 was regularly assigned to the Catalina Special train each summer and now it is in the collection at the Orange Empire Trolley Museum.
Stephen Dudley Photo, Stephen Dudley Collection
By Ralph Cantos
This photo taken around 1947 shows speedster no. 1219 in the ditch after smashing into a large tractor-trailer rig on the notorious Santa Ana line. The 1219 and train were properly rolling along at a “mile-a-minute” clip when the big rig loomed at a crossing on the track ahead. One can only imagine what the motorman must have shouted out loud (OH +#^*!!) as he threw the 1219 and train into the “BIG WHOLE” and braced for the inevitable crash and “pile up.”
With no “PA” systems on the trains back in those days to warn of the impending disaster, passengers on both cars could only hold onto the seat frame in front of them while the conductors on both cars must have tumbled down the isles as the emergency brakes were activated. The partial remains of the big rig can be seen in the photo. Both the 1219 and the 1262 came out of this mess in better shape than the truck. Both cars would live on for a few more years. The entire 1200 class, save for 1299, were scrapped at Kaiser Steel Fontana in 1951, ending a distinguishing career of PE’s finest interurban cars.
Ralph Cantos Collection
by Ralph Cantos
This photo taken in mid-1951 shows the result of a grade crossing accident on the Bellflower Line. Pacific Electric no. 313 smashed the hell out of the 1950 Nash Airflyte sedan that dared to challenge the 313 at one of the many 45-degree crossings on the Bellflower Line. In the photo, the motorman and others inspect the minor damage to 313’s steps and the safety light bulb.
Before the line was cut back from Santa Ana, accidents on the Bellflower-to-Santa Ana portion of the line were numerous and severe. Most often, hay trucks and other large commercial vehicles were involved. The drivers of these large vehicles seemed to be oblivious to the high speed of the PE trains.
To make matters worse, east of Watts, just about every grade crossing on the line was at a 45-degree angle. At best, these crossing were “protected” by worthless “wig-wags” and at worst, wooden cross bucks. The line between Bellflower and the Santa Ana city limits saw some of the highest speeds on the PE system. Before 1950, regular equipment of the Santa Ana line was usually provided by 10s, 12s, and “hot rod” Blimps. All three classes were capable of speeds in excess of 55 mph (Blimps) to about 65 mph (10s and 12s). The 45-degree angle crossings may have been responsible in part for all the carnage.
But even after the line was cut back to Bellflower, accidents never stopped, but more often than not, by this time, autos were the victims of the Blimps that stalked the line like hungry lions in the automotive jungle. The 1950 Nash was eaten by the 313, just one of many that fell victim to the hungry, marauding Blimps.
Ralph Cantos Collection