By Ralph Cantos

Pacific Electric’s Hollywood cars were true survivors with some of them in service 40 years stateside to 65 years in Buenos Aires. The cars were built in four orders over a six-year time span (1922, 1924, 1925, and 1928) but PE management considered them “all equal” in every respect.

The “Hollywoods” endured some of the most demanding service conditions that could be imposed on a transit vehicle. The cars were very well built, with the 160-car fleet remaining fully intact for most of 30 years. So highly regarded were the Hollywood cars by PE management, that two cars — nos. 608 and 616, which had suffered “catastrophic” damage that would have ended the career of lesser cars — were completely rebuilt to “better than new” condition after their respective calamities (616 a burned out shell, 608 a twisted hulk after a major collision). Both incidents occurred during 1943, and so desperate was the PE for passenger cars, that scrapping of the two cars was not an option.

In this photo, car no. 636, class of 1922, takes a little spot time at the end of the Burbank Line on December 5, 1940. At 18 years of age, the 636 was in prime condition, ready to join PE’s new PCCs on the Glendale/Burbank Line. The PE had put the Hollywood cars through a complete rebuilding and “modernization” program during 1939-40, along with other PE rail cars. The Hollywood cars could and did match PCCs at every performance level, except perhaps braking. But even so, Hollywood cars would and could knock you on your ass in both acceleration and braking.

By the time of this photo, I would doubt that few if any buses built in 1922 were still on the road, let alone still in transit service. In little more than one year, the 636 and its 159 sisters would be put to the test, carrying crush passenger loads all during World War II.

In 1949-50, with the demands of the war behind them, the Hollywood cars would again go through PE’s Torrance Shops for an modest safety upgrade and repainting program to bring the cars up to “one-man/two-man” operational standards. The 636 was renumbered to 5113. By this time, the financial condition of the Pacific Electric’s passenger service was dire at best, and this would be the last time the trusty Hollywood cars would ever see any type of preventative maintenance. The “Hollywoods” were now on their own to face ten years of “we don’t give a damn” NO MAINTENANCE service conditions. Lesser-built cars would have succumbed much sooner, but at least 15 Hollywood’s would endure under the worst conditions that could be inflicted on an “in-service” transit vehicle.

From 1950 to 1953, massive rail abandonments made many Hollywood cars surplus; they were stored at several locations on the system. The last months of 1952 saw 28 of the BEST Hollywood cars head for Buenos Aires, and 1953 would see the first scrapping of these remarkable cars. Eight Hollywood cars made their escape to Portland, Oregon, where their service life was a brief 5 years because of a management change that favored buses over rail transit. Seven of the eight Portland cars were gone by 1958.

PE’s passenger service had been sold to bus-minded Metropolitan Coach Lines in the late months of 1953. MCL leased all needed rail cars from the PE, turning themn back to the PE when MCL “WAS DONE WITH THEM.” The PE forced MCL to purchase the last 15 operational Hollywood cars needed for the Watts Line service, and about 60 Blimps in 1957.

Five years of RTF (run til failure) no-maintenance was taking its toll on the “surviving” cars now operating in slave-like conditions. In the early months of 1958, the first LAMTA took control of all transit operations in LA. The first thing the LAMTA did was to renumber all rail cars except the LATL PCCs. ALL rail cars numbered below the 2000 number series were DOOMED. The 5113 became LAMTA 1802. The Blimps were renumbered into the 1500 and 1700 numbers and the LATL H-3s went to scrap with their “factory” 1400 numbers in early 1959. (The LATL H-3s were in MINT CONDITION at the time of their scrapping.)

The condition of the last remaining Hollywood cars under LAMTA control became “desperate.” More than ten years had passed since the last major maintenance was performed on the Watts Line Hollywood cars. NO modern diesel bus of 1950 vintage could remain operational nor operate under these harsh, no-maintenance conditions, but the last Hollywood cars continued to operate under “slave labor” conditions. Finally and perhaps mercifully. the LAMTA abandoned the WATTS line in November 1959, ending almost 40 years of continued service of the 636. The 636 had enjoyed 30 years of pampered care under PE ownership, BUT the last ten years of 636’s life can only be described as pure HELL. The 636 had provided 40 years of reliable service, a testament to her fine construction and PE maintenance.

As an additional note, the East St. Louis & Suburban Railway took note of the Hollywood cars and ordered four near-duplicate cars from the St. Louis Car Co in 1924. The four cars were sold to the Illinois Terminal Railroad in 1935 and continued in service until 1959. The Illinois Terminal 470s looked like a PE Hollywood car on steroids — basically the same car, on much larger trucks.

The East St. Louis & Suburban Railroad tacked on a 4-car order to PE’s 50-car order of cars 650-699. These cars were built from the Hollywood car plans, but sat on much bigger trucks and were considered “interurbans” as opposed to the Hollywoods which were “suburban” cars.

Ralph Cantos Collection

By Ralph Cantos

This very sad photo was taken in November of 1955 at the entrance of PE’s Subway Tunnel. Car 5154, the former no. 704 (BRILL 1925) is being made ready for its trip to National Metals & Steel on Terminal Island for scrapping.

What makes this photo so sad is that the 5154 had several decades of serviceable life remaining in its car body. In 1939-40, the PE spent hundreds of thousands dollars, all of it private capital, to completely re-manufacture the 160 Hollywood cars to “better than new” condition. This rebuild brought the Hollywood cars up to PCC standards of speed, comfort and safety. Then in 1949-50, the PE again spent thousands of dollars per car to bring 131 Hollywood cars up to the highest and latest safety standards.

When the last car (no. 5181) left Torrance Shops in mid-1950, its condition was so excellent, it was ready to render the traveling public three to possible four more decades of dependable, comfortable service. And yet, here we see car 5154 literally in prime, mint overall condition, and just five years from its last overhaul, being treated like so much scrap metal.

When the Glendale – Burbank line was abandoned on June 19, 1955, 15 Hollywood cars were working the line along side the 30 near new PCCs. Two cars, nos. 5166 and 5167, were mercifully saved from a trip to the scrap pile, and were trucked over to the Watts Line, where the two cars joined a ragtag assortment of low numbered 5100s (St. Louis Car Co. 1922). The two new arrivals at Watts became “the babies” of what remained of the last operable Hollywood cars. Not so fortunate was the 5154 and 12 other former 700s — they were DOOMED!

When the first Hollywood car was en route to Terminal Island, tied down to the back of the flatbed truck like some slaughtered animal, one of the trolley poles became dislodged from the hold down hook. The trolley pole reached up as if asking for help, pulled down phone wires as a result. So all the remaining cars making the final trip had both of their trolley poles spot welded to the roof guard. If you look closely, you can see that the trolley pole on the hapless 5154 is now welded down to the guard next to the pole hook. This was just the first of the horrors that awaited the 5154. And so this beautiful, handsome, 100%-complete and operable car, was just hours away from the end of its life — a sad, terrible waste of the finest suburban trolley cars this country would ever see.

And while this horrible scene was being played out at Toluca Yard, thousands of miles away in Buenos Aires, 27 other Hollywood cars would continue to roll along well into the 1980s.

Ralph Cantos Collection

By Ralph Cantos

Pacific Electric’s 160 Hollywood cars served the Railway above and beyond all expectations on the far-flung system. Except for the Northern Districts, San Bernardino Line, and the Southern Districts (Santa Ana, San Pedro, Catalina, and Long Beach Lines), the Hollywood cars roamed the PE rail system like a band of nomads.

As far and wide as the Hollywood cars roomed, there was ORDER to their diverse assignments, especially after World War II. The PE seemed to assign “blocks” of sequentially numbered cars to specific lines. Although there may have been exceptions, Hollywood car assignment seemed to go as follows, from what I have observed from years of photo research.

Cars 5050 through 5099 along with cars 732 to 759 were fixtures of the Northern District until abandonment on 9-31-51. After that date, most cars numbered from 5050 to 5099 entered a premature retirement.

• Cars 732 to 759 were sold to Buenos Aires.
• Cars 5100 to 5129 were assigned to the WATTS Line.
• Cars 5130 to 5144 were given to the Santa Monica Blvd Line.
• Cars 5145 to 5168 were pooled on the Hollywood Blvd and Burbank Lines.

After the Santa Monica Blvd. line abandonment, cars 5130 to 5144 were not seen in service very much, if at all.

THEN THERE WAS THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY line with cars 5169 to 5181 regularly assigned. With the December 1952 abandonment of the SFV line, cars 5169 to 5181, the cream of the crop, basically vanished from service. That left cars 5145 to 5168 serving the Wests last two lines.

With the September 1954 abandonment of Hollywood Blvd. line , cars 5140 to 5153 were done. That left cars 5154 to 5168 serving with the PCCs on the Burbank Line.

Cars 5174 to 5181, were renumbered into various 5050 numbers to fill in the gaps left by the eight cars sold to Portland.

For reasons known only to the PE management, cars 5169 to 5181 were never seen again in service after the SFV line abandonment. The eight renumbered cars along with 5169 to 5173 were basically finished. The last 15 Hollywood cars assigned to the Burbank line were retired with that lines June 1955 abandonment. Two cars, 5166 and 5167 were transferred to the Watts line to bolster up that lines dwindling roster of serviceable cars.

And so in the nine years from 1950 to late 1959, the once great fleet of 160 Hollywood cars was whittled away, car by car, line by line, until the last nine battered and beaten cars serving the Watts line finally gave up the ghost. Five of the last nine cars were went to OERM with one car MTA #1805 being dismantled for parts.

Amazingly, two of the earliest Hollywood cars built wound up being the last to survive.

In this photo, car #5180, the former #730, is seen here at the Barham Boulevard stop in the last days of the SFV line, In just a few months, it will be renumbered II-5078 and vanish.

Ralph Cantos Collection

By Ralph Cantos

The end has come for the San Vicente Viaduct. It was a cold, dark, and drizzly over cast day, when I snapped this photo with my little “Brownie Box Camera” in January 1963. An army of demolition exerts aided by bulldozers and two heavy crane mounted wrecking balls, finally did the mighty span in.

The job had been scheduled to take 8 weeks, but dragged on for more then 14 weeks. The bridge did not give up as easily as the contractor had thought it would.

Ralph Cantos Photo, Ralph Cantos Collection

UPDATE: A color shot taken in February 1962 by David Cameron showing the same demolition work underway. The perspective is San Vicente Boulevard looking west from Pico Boulevard.

The end nears for the Pico and San Vicente Viaduct in this late 1961 view of the abandoned bridge.

Ralph Cantos Collection