Pacific Electric 1452 on the Santa Monica Air Line
Pacific Electric no. 1452 is photographed pulling a lone boxcar at a grade crossing in Los Angeles as part of Santa Monica Air Line freight service. Undated. Note the large Bekins Storage building in the rear – possible tipoff to the current-day location.
Gordon Glattenberg Collection
Recent Posts
Showing 3 comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Seems to be the Grand Avenue crossing, looking west. It looks like the multi-story Bekins building has been remodeled and is now a Public Storage, and the ornate lamppost appears to have survived all these years.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0184201,-118.2772759,3a,50.1y,254.75h,90.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sy_EU7O7dI7VG1MHPWD4XxA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0
Yes indeed, it is at Grand Ave looking west. Note the set of rails the train is crossing. Those are the 3′ 6″ tracks of the Los Angeles Railway’s “J” “F” and “5” Lines. Also notice the passenger “safety zone” in the street just below the parked truck. That was where a LARY passenger would stand to board a streetcar. I’m sure this was also a stop on the airline where passengers could transfer from one line to the other. – Steve Crise
The billboard for “Bekins Pool Cars” in freight trains is rather interesting. Anyone seen this in a clear view?