noirish Los Angeles

[HenryHuntington]

When you see a photo with the P.E. cars in it, how do you know which way/direction they're going?

The end with the raised trolley pole (i.e., contacting the overhead wire) nearly always is the rear end.

I may be wrong but im pretty sure the pe car is going towards the ROW.. so its leaving santa monica bl, and going into the whole foods parking lot.

You're right, unihikid. In this case, the trolley poles aren't visible, but 5145 is using the inbound track to make the left turn onto the private right-of-way. Good observation!

[Martin Pal]

Thanks HH!

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

This last photo of a car arriving at the drugstore shows the tracks going off into the distance.



It's probably because the right of way intersection is at an angle and the photos aren't long shots, that I'm having trouble with the perspective of this particular location.
Also, as I said, because the area in question is now a parking lot for a Whole Foods store and the buildings in the photos are no longer there. (I'd wager the buildings on the
other side of the street could very well be the same.)

Another thing that's confused me, that I forgot to mention, is that what's there now--the Whole Foods (it was a different market before that),
the other shops and parking lot, are all up on a hill, and that's definitely not pictured in the above photo, so I wonder why it would be built
like that. But I don't know what was there previously, if anything different.

Also, in the above photo it looks like the Sheriff's Station is located there on the left.
What I can make out (and deduce) of the sign says:

[SHE]RIFF'S
[OF]FICE
[WEST HOLLYW]OOD STATION
SHERIFF'S
CARS ONLY
? (maybe "parking") FOR ?

[BifRayRock]

Sunset Boulevard after widening looking east from Vista Street
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...coll65/id/3920


Guessing this is from the late '20s


Roth & Rosin 7514 Sunset Blvd.




The sign says "Roth & Rosin Furniture"
Another Richfield Statue (far right)

[BifRayRock]

Sunset east of Vendome on "Tunnel Day 1909."





http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...0coll2/id/3544

[BifRayRock]

Before and After x2



1926 and contemporary


1244 Lake Street




1244 Lake Street
GSV




5173 Hollywood Blvd.










5173 Hollywood Blvd.







http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...ll170/id/68003

[BifRayRock]

1910 - Arroyo Seco looking north.
http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...0coll2/id/3122

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I know we've seen this map before of the P.E. route with the diagonal right of way
from Hollywood Blvd. and La Brea ending up at Fairfax and Santa Monica Blvd.
Here's a photo of the location from 1939:

Notice the banjo style traffic signal. Perhaps not surprisingly, the contours of the building share striking similarities to a structure further north on the same route at Hollywood and Gardner.

[MartinTurnbull]

I think we’ve all seen plenty of shots taken at Hollywood movie premieres, but rarely have I seen one with such dramatic lighting. This was taken at the Carthay Circle Theatre for the premiere of “All This And Heaven Too” in July 1940. Look at those long shadows and shafts of light. I’m guessing the photographer was standing at the top of the Carthay Circle’s tower.

[transitfan]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

That brings up a question I've had before, but not asked. When you see a photo with the P.E. cars in it, how do you know which way/direction they're going?

All PE cars had trolley poles at both ends of the car. When in operation, the trolley pole at the rear of the car will be raised, so that will give you an idea. Also, if the headlight is on, that will also give you a clue.

BTW, the producers of the great film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" did an excellent job of reproducing a PE Hollywood car (the type seen in the above-referenced pics". The one thing they got wrong was, when Eddie Valiant goes to ride the car (and ends up riding the bumper after the conductor won't let him board), both poles are up! If you tried that in real life, the motors would burn out, as whcih pole is raised determines which direction the car will go. It was ok to have both poles rasied when the car was stationary, in fact, usually at the end of the line, the motorman or conductor would raise the other pole first, then lower the other one (this was to keep the interior lights on, as they were also powered from the overhead).

[HossC]

I posted this image just over two years ago when Bob Hoskins died. I'm afraid it doesn't show the poles.

Originally Posted by HossC

disneyscreencaps.com

----------------

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I wonder, HossC, if there is an aerial of this area that would show the intersection? No worries if you haven't the time or inclination to look.

I had a quick look for angled views, but haven't found anything yet. Here are two views from Historic Aerials. The right-of-way is clear on the 1948 image (below), as well as the 1952 image. The path can still be seen on the 1964 image, although it's paved over. By 1972, there's no trace of the right-of-way. Note also how Fairfax has been widened between the two views.


Historic Aerials

[Martin Pal]

Thanks, transitfan, for the additional information on the way the P.E. cars worked.

Here's another photo of a P.E. car used in the film Gangster Squad. It doesn't look like either of the poles are up as near as I can tell. It's a street view while they were filming up there, five years ago already.

[HossC]

I don't think today's Julius Shulman images need much explanation. This is "Job 4421: William L. Pereira and Associates, Crocker-Citizens National Bank Building (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1968". Among the other buildings are the Richfield Building, the Gates Hotel, the Mobil Oil Building and the 615 Tishman Building.



The clock on the California Federal building says 4:53, so was this an early morning or late afternoon shot?



A view from Pershing Square with the Pacific Mutual Life building in the foreground.



Now the interior shots.



I've left out about half of this set, including the color images (the black & white ones look so much better). One of the omitted photos shows this stairwell looking down from the top.



I prefer the stairs above, but if you take the escalators, you'll end up here.



The height of the ceiling in this final shot makes me think that it was probably taken on the same floor.



All from Getty Research Institute

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by HossC

I had a quick look for angled views, but haven't found anything yet. Here are two views from Historic Aerials. The right-of-way is clear on the 1948 image (below), as well as the 1952 image. The path can still be seen on the 1964 image, although it's paved over. By 1972, there's no trace of the right-of-way. Note also how Fairfax has been widened between the two views.


Historic Aerials

THANKS so much for this HossC!

--In the '48 aerial it looks like there's a P.E. car stopped there between the two buildings at the corner.

--Across the street (northwest corner) it looks like some substantial buildings there and by '72 replaced by a restaurant or gas station. Now it looks more like the '48 aerial there.

I just found this photo on Hollywood photographs. It's small and a bit blurry. It shows this intersection in 1971, right before the '72 aerial, looking west on Santa Monica Blvd.



So, there's a Standard Gas station on that northwest corner.
And the P.E. tracks are readily visible.

--The southwest corner looks the same in both aerials and I'm wagering still is the same today.

--The southeast corner looks like a few minor differences in the aerials.

--The northeast corner is probably the same as in the '72 aerial now. I'm wondering, though, if anyone has a reason that the whole corner is raised, like on a hill? It's obviously not when the P.E. line ran through it, the photos show it's even with Santa Monica Blvd., but the location now--the parking lot, the shops and grocery store, they are all sitting well above the blvd.
Curious.

--And I did think Fairfax Ave. looked kind of narrow in the photos I posted and you confirmed it, as you mentioned, with the aerial, that it had been widened.

[ethereal_reality]

Can't forget the yellow & green species.

This photograph is very similar to a photograph that HossC posted over a year ago.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/metrol...ve/4633965183/

...but there are several differences.

#1. The street car is a bit further along so you can see the York Theater sign.

#2. Down the street there's a nifty little ice cream shop named 'Zesto'. -with a large Zorro-type Z dripping in icicles

Zesto

detail


#3. It's Christmastime...there's a large red star and banner over the street......& Reynold's Pharmacy is decorated for the Holidays.(close-up below)

The clever decorations in the windows are Apothecary Globes doing double-duty as Christmas ornaments.


detail



Here's HossC's photograph. (I decided to quote Hoss' post because he also shows us what the buildings look like today)

Originally Posted by HossC

The seller dates this streetcar slide as early 1950s.


eBay

I was keen to see if the Safeway and Reynolds Pharmacy buildings were still around - luckily there are signs for Avenue 50 visible on both sides of the street, so that narrowed down my search. It's actually the intersection of Avenue 50 and York Boulevard, and both buildings are still standing, albeit with a few modifications. What a shame that the pharmacy has lost the top of its detailing. At least the palm trees are doing well.


GSV

Here's a closer look at the old Safeway building. Even though this side is hidden in the original slide, I'm quite sure it didn't have this ugly box on the front. A quick Google says that the building is now the MorYork Gallery, although their blogspot and Facebook page don't seem to have been updated since last June. I'm guessing that the building to the left, now the Pyong Kang Church, dates back to before the slide was taken.


GSV

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Can't forget the yellow & green species.

This photograph is very similar to a photograph that HossC posted over a year ago.




.

Which way is the trolley car traveling? Good question. Let me add this.
See the raised pole touching the overhead wire? The pole is trailing away from us. That means that the car is traveling towards the viewer in this photo.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I just found this photo on Hollywood photographs. It's small and a bit blurry. It shows this intersection in 1971, right before the '72 aerial, looking west on Santa Monica Blvd.



--The southwest corner looks the same in both aerials and I'm wagering still is the same today.

The building on the southwest corner of Santa Monica and Fairfax certainly appears to be unchanged since 1971.


GSV

[Martin Pal]

This photo caught my eye.

Caro Scuro / Flickr

I thought it an interesting building and it looked like some place some 40's noirish Italian gangsters might drive by and have an altercation with a customer or something.

And what's with that super bright neon sign? A closer view didn't reveal the name of the place.



(Notice the earthquake retrofitting above the door...and around the corner on the second level. Must be in L.A.!)

It turn's out this IS an Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles, in the Los Feliz area at 2128 Hillhurst Ave.



Little Dom's! (The lights by the door are on. In the photo below, too.)

Allen Lin / Flickr

The retrofitting bolts, though somewhat haphazard, make a nice decoration in this daytime photo. (I just noticed the neon sign isn't here in this shot.)

It looks better (more noirish) at night.



A google image search tells me this place has many celebrity visitors and that at least two things were filmed
here, a movie with Matt Damon (We Bought a Zoo) and an episode of Mad Men. No more about the building though.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...and speaking of Bunker Hill.


Below: The EMS. -no address-
Hmmm...intriguing...why The EMS and not.....say.... The ELMS?
Anyone know what EMS stand for?




Cal State Archive

Originally Posted by fhammon

The address is 321 S. Olive Street.
It doesn't exits anymore of course.
I got the info from Brent Dickerson's (should be by now famous) "A visit to Old Los Angeles"
Scroll down a bit, about 40%, to find a colorized photo of this building.

1912 - The EMS Apts. 321 S Olive St.
http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...coll2/id/12552

[Ed Workman]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Which way is the trolley car traveling? Good question. Let me add this.
See the raised pole touching the overhead wire? The pole is trailing away from us. That means that the car is traveling towards the viewer in this photo.

And, there are no tracks or wire thru the intersection- only way to go is toward us-this is the end of the line

[ethereal_reality]

Whoa, I noticed all sorts of things in that photograph but not the end of the tracks.

So they just stop.....no barricade or anything....is that normal?

You blew my mind Ed