[Vision2020] French Train Sets Speed Record

[Art Deco]

Ah, the Red Cars and Yellow Busses!

I use to ride them also.  Many times I rode the Red Car from the central 
station on Los Angeles Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Nu-Pike in Long 
Beach to dance to a live big band at the wonderful Lido Ballroom (in a class 
with the Hollywood Palladium which was much, much more expensive).  I do not 
remember the Red Car fare, but it was very cheap.  The various passengers 
were a portrait in economic, social, ethnic, and racial diversity -- and the 
ease of social intercourse between all these groups seemed so friendly and 
natural then.  The stark economic/racial contrast between those getting on 
and off in Watts from those getting on and off in nearby Los Cerritos was 
apparent even in my young, naive state.

The ride on the Red Car was safe and without criminal incident for me 
although many other interesting to a young person things happened -- it was 
an education.  The walk, however, from the Los Angeles Street station long 
after midnight to my apartment in the even then blighted 3rd and Witmer area 
was not without peril.

When I again lived in southern California in the 1970s, many bemoaned the 
loss of the Red Car/Yellow Electric Bus system, especially the working poor 
for whom it was a cheap lifeline to their jobs and recreation all over the 
city.

I often wondered if the racial and economic isolation fostered in part by 
the loss of the Red Car/Yellow Electric Bus System played more than just a 
casual role in the Watts Riots.

W.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brent Bradberry" <brentbradberry at clearwire.net>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] French Train Sets Speed Record


> 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
>
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