INBOUND RED CAR IN THE CAHUENGA PASS c. 1952HISTORIC REDCAR ON CANOGA PARK ROUTE 1952
Collection of Jim Walker
Very special thanks to railroad historian Jim Walker for sharing these priceless images of the Redcard trolley that once served the San Fernando Valley. As we process the photographs for your Museum's electronic archive, they will be regularly posted on this blog.
2 comments:
The 1952 shot of the red car on the Canoga Park line... Marvelous. During the summer of 1952, going to summer school in Van Nuys between the sixth and seventh grades, I rode the red car between Vose Street (Sherman Way and Van Nuys Blvd.) then the end of the line, down to Burbank Blvd to Van Nuys Junior High School. From there the line curved onto Chandler Blvd headed for downtown. It was an adventure every day. Some of the boys boasted that they would steal the flares from the supply locker in the car, but I never saw them do so. I had no idea then that I was experiencing the end of an era. As I grew up in the Valley I could guess that the divided roadway on Van Nuys Blvd. North of Vanowen Street, Sherman Way out to Canoga Park, on Sepulveda Blvd. out beyond Parthenia to San Fernando, on Parthenia Street, with the distinctive curves at certain intersections meant that the PE rails had once been there, but they were gone by the early '50s. The Valley's character changed dramatically through those years. There was a Signal Oil gas station at Victory and Sepulveda, with a sign saying gas was 19 cents a gallon. Those were the days!
This image was taken by Ernest M. Leo in August, 1937. I bought the original negative & the copyright from Leo. This was posted without permission.
- Craig A. Rasmussen
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