Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society

[Professor]

The Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society (PERyHS) is a non-profit association dedicated to the preservation of the memory of the Pacific Electric Railway. The goals of the PERyHS are: to preserve and maintain historical documents, visual images, oral histories, and historical studies; to make these materials available to the general public via publications (monographs), presentations and displays to non-profit groups and organizations and to assist other non-profit organizations in their efforts to preserve the legacy of the Pacific Electric Railway
http://peryhs.org/.

 

[Widebrim]

Dave, I'm glad that such a society exists. Do you have, or have you seen, Spencer Crump's book, "RIde the BIG RED CARS--The Pacific Electric Story"? I have a 6th ed. copy that I chanced upon; I have never seen another copy. It is packed with history, PER schedules/maps, and great photographs.

Lee

 

[Professor]

Dave, I'm glad that such a society exists. Do you have, or have you seen, Spencer Crump's book, "RIde the BIG RED CARS--The Pacific Electric Story"? I have a 6th ed. copy that I chanced upon; I have never seen another copy. It is packed with history, PER schedules/maps, and great photographs.

Lee

Yes, in fact my father bought me that book in '92 and it's what first got me focused on the Pacific Electric. Up till then I only knew about it running in Los Angeles, but then I found out it ran in San Bernardino too, and I wanted to know more! Now it takes its place on the shelf with all the other books I've collected over the years. Most books, including "Ride the Big Red Cars", are out of print, but one place you can still find copies is at The Whistle Stop in Pasadena.

 

[Professor]

Here's a 1950 Railway Boosters excursion in Rialto, on Riverside Avenue in front of City Hall, just before the overhead wires were taken down. This line ran right past the house where I grew up. The Northern District was dieselized after the Hollywood freeway was built over P.E.'s former right-of-way on Aliso Street.

 

[Widebrim]

Nice photo. Such a shame what the car industry helped to do to end this form of public transportation.