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Ride the Big Red Cars How trolleys helped build Southern California Crump 1st HC
Ride the Big Red Cars How trolleys helped build Southern California By Spencer Grump
Hard Cover
Copyright 1962 FIRST Edition
240 pages indexed
Table of Contents
ChapterPage
1. Prelude to Progress 15
2. The California Heritage 19
3. Queen of the Cow Counties 21
4. The Wonderful fudge Widney 23
5. The Angels and the Iron Horse 27
6, More Rails ... and a Harbor 31
7. "Speed" by Sprague 33
8. A Trolley for the Angels 35
9. New Twists for Travel 37
10. The Push to Pasadena 39
11. Sherman's March to the Sea 43
12. Sherman's Retreat 45
13. The Man Behind the Millions 47
14. And What Behind the Man? 51
15. A Line to Long Beach 55
16. The P. E.: It Made a Story 57
17. The Banker and The Bonds 59
18. A Big Time in a Little Town 61
19. Knitting a Network 63
20. Triumph for Trolleys 64
21. The Electrics Expand 66
22. The $110,000 Franchise 69
23. Partners? 73
24. Trolley Truce 71
25. Lifting the "Limitations" 74
26. The System Becomes a Staple 76
27. Huntington's Surprise Firecracker 77
28. Harriman's Hand 80
29. The Million Dollar Divorce 82
30. Rails in the River? 84
1. Huntington Loosens His Hold 87
2. The Great Merger 89
3. The Local Lines 91
4. A Catalyst for the Cow Counties 95
5. Symbol of an Era 97
6. The Last Link 99
7. Lines to Last 101
8. The Rails and Real Estate 105
9. The San Fernando Valley 115
10. And Hollywood, Too! 119
11. A Day for a Dollar 121
12. The Trolleymen 128
13. My Red Coat, My Red Flag132
14. A Bride for the Builder135
15. When Death Rode the Rails 13 7
16. Tragedy on the Trolley 141
17. Growing to Greatness 143
18. Invasion of the Tracks 145
19. The Hollywood Subway149
20. The P. E. Hits the Peak155
21. Tracks in the Air165
22. "Ride the Big Red Cars" 171
23. The Huntington Heritage 176
24. The Rolling Stock 181
25. The Fares and Finances189
26. The Thrifty Thirties 195
27. End of the Line200
28. The Legacy of the Red Cars207
29. Destinations 211
30. Goodbye, Red Cars215
The Appendix
A. 1901 P. E. Articles of Incorporation 219
B. 1911 P. E. Articles of Incorporation220
C. Population of Area Served by the Red Cars232
D. Digest of P. E. Financial Rports234
E. Los Angeles Local Trolley Service236
F. About This Book237
"Ride the Big Red Cars" takes its name from the famous slogan of the Pacific Electric, whose comfortable and speedy interurbans linked Southern California's mountains, beaches, orange groves, and cities for more than half a century. The P. E., at its peak, had 1,164 miles of track and operated 6,000 scheduled cars daily. The Pacific Electric boasted that it was the "world's greatest electric railway," and it provided rapid transit in an era when autos were primitive and there were few roads.
The 75,000-word text is supplemented by more than 200 beautifully-reproduced photographs and maps which nostalgically show Southern California's earlier days, making the book one that you can look at as well as read.
Author Spencer Crump, using non-technical language, perceptively tells how and why the trolley era began and ended. He shows how the Pacific Electric was responsible, more than any other single factor, for Southern California's growth into virtually one big city of many communities instead of a single compact city.
This is the third edition of "Ride the Big Red Cars," which has been acclaimed by historians and rail fans. This volume contains an expanded text and additional photographs.
Added to this edition is a listing of every major Pacific Electric interurban line, including details of the exact routes followed (you can retrace them, if you wish) and when and how frequently the electric cars operated. This information has not previously been readily available.
The 75,000-word text reports the dramatic battles that came when Henry E. Huntington, planning in the early 1900's to use electric interurbans to break the monopoly of steam railroads in California and possibly the nation, clashed with tycoon E. H. Harriman. The fervor of competition to build trolley lines was matched only by the eagerness of boosters in virtually every Southern California village to obtain an electric car link to start a local boom.
The more than 200 illustrations range from a rare sketch of the first Mrs. Henry Huntington (whose divorce made newspaper headlines) to informative maps from the early days.
And, of course, there are many photographs of early day streetcars, interurbans, and other trolley equipment as they were used throughout the Southern California area served by the Pacific Electric.
Besides the detailed route information, the appendix includes charts comparing the population from 1850 to 1950 of cities served by trolleys, numbers of passengers carried annually by the Big Red Cars, financial reports, and the Pacific Electric's articles of incorporation, which detailed routes and engineering data.
Author Spencer Crump's research for "Ride the Big Red Cars" included many interviews with those associated with the Pacific Electric and Henry Huntington, the use of yellowing newspaper files, engineering studies, court records, and early day documents.
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