LA’s PCCs at Christmas Time – Part 1
Ralph Cantos Collection
By Ralph Cantos
Los Angeles Tranist Lines PCC no. 3165 rolls along East First Street in this 1957 view at Christmas time. At 9 years of age, the 3165 is hardly broken in, with decades of service life ahead of it. The perfect rails and overhead make for city rail transit at its best.
This was the only part of town where the P line cars passed beneath Christmas-bedecked overhead. The city of Huntington Park also took advantage of the excellent LATL J line overhead to festoon Pacific Blvd. with very elaborate holiday decorations.
In Downtown LA, both 7th Street and Broadway were decorated with Christmas decorations hanging from LARY / LATL overhead until around 1948, when that tradition ended for unknown reasons.
Today, 3165 rolls along a different Broadway, that one being at OERM.
Ralph Cantos Collection
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Whose crews (and budget) were responsible for hanging and removing the decorations every year?
Westbound car 3165 is about to cross Ditman Avenue. The distinctive building to the left still stands, though no longer housing a mortuary.
3165 went to what was then OETM in 1965; it’s now been at the Museum three times longer than it was in revenue service.