[Vision2020] French Train Sets Speed Record

[Brent Bradberry]

Shortly after WW2 I used to ride the PE (Pacific Electric) trains in the 
Los Angeles area. I was about 9 or 10, we lived in Lynwood (about 10 
miles south of downtown LA), and Grandma lived near the LA coliseum. As 
the name suggests, the trains were all electric, and the rail system 
extended all through the LA area and eastward into Orange County. For 
two bits I could ride the Watts Local from Lynwood to the coliseum, 
visit Grandma, ride home, and still have a nickel left for a candy bar 
or popsicle.

By the time I graduated from Lynwood High School in 1956, the PE was 
just a memory - "collateral damage" as a result of the freeway building 
binge which itself was at least a partial result of the interstate 
highway system. I wonder what life in LA would be like today if the PE 
still existed.

Brent Bradberry