The Dragons of Long Beach
By Steve Crise
The year: 1921. The place, PE’s Long Beach Station. Dragon 72 (ex-San Jose RR. 133) loads on Ocean Ave at Pine Street. The car, surrounded by Tens on the Los Angeles run, is running on the Seaside Park – Willows Line which at the time offered fifteen minute service. The following year saw the Seaside Park end become a one-a-day franchise run, forecasting the line’s demise in 1928.
PE’s famous “Dragons” unfortunately never came into the glory originally planned for them. These grotesque cars were actually intended to operate in trains in the Hollywood service! Arriving from Brill (J.G. Brill Company of Philadelphia) equipped with Westinghouse automatic couplers, there is no record of their ever operating in multiple units in regular service. The couplers were removed and applied to cars 446 – 465 which retained them until finally scrapped in 1940.
The unusual design of these all-steel cars originated in New York City, where both single and double deck versions were operated on Broadway — quickly earning the soubriquet, “Broadway Battleships.”
Southern Pacific liked the design in that long-ago era of ladies’ hobble skirts and ordered 35 cars which were divided among PE, Stockton Electric Railroad, San Jose Railroads and Fresno Traction.
PE numbered its twenty cars 300 – 319 and they were placed in service on local lines in Pasadena. In 1921, PE gained five of the San Jose Dragons and six more from Stockton, necessitating the re-numbering of PE’s cars and the new additions to the new 50 class. The additional cars permitted the introduction of this class into the local service in Long Beach. Final use of the Dragons was on the Edendale – Central Station Line in Los Angeles. All were retired and disposed of in 1934. – Ira L. Swett 1962.
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Scrolling up to bottom of page 21…In November 1919, the Flood Control District of Long Beach is selling off houses in Seaside Park: https://books.google.com/books?id=2k1RAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA17-PA41&lpg=RA17-PA41&dq=old+seaside+park+long+beach+california&source=bl&ots=RoIEYPQGua&sig=ACfU3U0asNby0oQZgKVJPPyLjvyqhyglHA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn-NXUnNHmAhUzHjQIHdwHCDA4ChDoATAFegQIBBAE#v=onepage&q=old%20seaside%20park%20long%20beach%20california&f=false
Apparently this local line is serving a residential development area of that name, and it’s already being altered by the time the Dragons come into service (11 total of the 70 class in LB. services). There was a Seaside Park Hospital on the site of today’s actual municipal park, but I find no references so far to any earlier so named park. Anyone know more about this area and why it justified a local line service?
Later snap at Seaside Park (“Birney” car): https://www.pacificelectric.org/pacific-electric/southern-district/348-at-seaside-park/#comment-26416
In an added note of Long Beach, page 12 here of Southwest Contractor in 1911 notes the California Glass Insulator works and future expansions were to be opened in phases in a Seabright tract and having favorable conditions with the Pacific Electric Railway for a spur branch: https://books.google.com/books?id=UoA9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=vintage+eugene+hotel+oregon&source=bl&ots=bdzFGy6i_N&sig=ACfU3U0eAi7AoesCAsYVpdlkR4ZNdinpZw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj185u93pLoAhXGrJ4KHU1vBRk4RhDoATAJegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=vintage%20eugene%20hotel%20oregon&f=false
I’m not an insulator historian, but ocassionally some turn up marked only CALIFORNIA (or some variant like Calif or CA) on the sides. Might Long Beach be the source?
In try to ferret out information on this Seabright addition, I stumbled across this 1922 Engineering source containing many entries relating to Pacific Electric as well as SP, UP, SF and more. The subway plan and a brudge in San Bernadino are in there. A number of addresses for architects or engineers in the PE building. The city engineer of Vernon, one of the most secretive of localities, was located in room 335. There’s probably lots more if anyone is interested (link): https://books.google.com/books?id=SwpGAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA50-PA18&lpg=RA50-PA18&dq=seabright+addition+of+long+beach+california+1911&source=bl&ots=jx4pSfHV-X&sig=ACfU3U2XuhMQhCXEzu8y2giT9hVvcTRjjA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidi_uCpZToAhW6IjQIHaEEDkY4ChDoATAAegQIBRAB#v=onepage&q=pacific%20electric&f=false
The story of the California Glass Insulator Company: https://sha.org/bottle/pdffiles/CaliforniaGlassInsulatorCo.pdf