1052 at La Cienega Blvd. Bridge
Ralph Cantos Collection
Pacific Electric no. 1052 heads up a 3-car afternoon rush hour train at La Cienega Blvd. bridge in August of 1949.
Ralph Cantos Collection
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I don’t see that many color photos of the PE “Tens”. But, I’ve always thought the dropsteps were painted red like the carbodies. I see black dropsteps in the photo, above.
Did the “Tens” start out with red dropsteps, then later the dropsteps were painted black, or was it the other way around?
For what ever reason, the PE painted the steps on the wood cars black and red on the steel cars. I never liked the black painted steps and either did Walter Abenseth . He painted the steps on the 1001 RED .,
Looking closely at the front car – actually all three cars – I can’t help but notice how the car body is warped. I remember talking to Walter once and he lamented he was riding the Newport Beach line in a “ten” and the one end of the car would twist one way while the rear end would twist another way. That must have been exciting at the time but also brings up a point: wooden railroad cars never lasted forever as they tended to self destruct when the wood became “spongy”. I wonder how many of the passengers on this run realized they were experiencing a treat riding a fast “wooden” car in all it’s original glory at probably it’s intended maximum speed?
Out at OERM, LARY cars 525 and 1160 “do the twist” on the trip around the loop. There is NOTHING in the world, like a wood bodied streetcar. May the “Traction Gods” love them forever.
I will love ’em forever, too!
Thanks for the info. I should go with red when I’m ready to paint the steps of my HO brass Suydam “Tens”.
I paint all the steps red on my PE models ,both wood and steel cars..
I will follow your example and paint the steps red on my HO brass Suydam PE steel cars, too.
The “twisty” action of a wooden streetcar was also found in wooden sailing ships. Here’s an old “sea story”: Richard Henry Dana in “Two Years Before the Mast” described on how ships would be loaded with cowhides on the California coast back in the 1830s. The hides would be doubled over, then forced into the hold with heavy block & tackle rigs until they were stuffed in as tightly as the crew’s mightiest efforts could get them. The ship would be so stiff from all the hides crammed into the hold that she wouldn’t sail properly until a few days at sea had loosened things up a bit.