GM Trolley-cide

[Paul Mackin]

> Jeff Meikle writes:
> The whole sad horrendous story of how GM, Esso, and (I think) Firestone
> (but maybe Goodyear--does it really matter?) demolished the streetcar
> systems....[big snip]...Snell summarized his report in a _Ramparts_ magazine
> article ...

Strikes a sad memory for this p-lister. Returning to LA in the
fifties to find the "steetcars" mostly  gone (never heard them
called trolleys there).
	
Our family lived between two main East/West routes. The very
narrow guage Pico Boulevard Line operated by the Los Angeles Railway (LARY) and the Venice Boulevard Pacific Electric Line or the P-E as it was called. Took the Pico car downtown to the Broadway movie theartre
district and Venice over to Loyola High School.

Also there was the interurban system. You picked up he "Big Red Cars" (also Pacific Electric but of railroad-car proportions) downtown to go to Pasadena and elsewhere. These would have their own right away over a part of the route. .

Not to mention the local systems like Pasadena's tiny little
P.E. cars. Not much bigger than San Francisco cable cars.

Please excuse the reminiscence.

					P.