50 years since the end of the Pacific Electric

An afternoon four-car Venice High School school train, about to use the crossover east of Centinela Avenue to run west to Venice High (Ira Swett photo)

A 1950s postcard featuring an 1100 series car.

On 8 April 1961 the last Pacific Electric train ran between Los Angeles and Long Beach, bringing to an end the era of the great interurban system which at its peak had a network of 1,000 miles (1600 km) of track around the greater Los Angeles region.

Ironically this had been the first line of the Pacific Electric.  Even more ironically, it was substantially rebuilt 29 years later at a cost of $877 million as the first line of the LA electric metro system.  Today more lines have been added to the metro, but the extensive interurban system that once existed remains a memory.

Although the blame was often laid at the feet of General Motors wanting to sell its buses and cars, the truth is that it was an unbelievable lack of civic foresight. Pacific Electric had been privately owned (by Southern Pacific) and since WW2 had been losing money, from reduced ridership following the opening of the freeways in the 1950s, but also because instead of subsidies it was required to pay taxes on its system length, as well as maintain the accompanying roads that it shared right of way on, the original basis for the concessions.

The whole fascinating story is summarised in the 2 hr DVD This was Pacific Electric.