Southern California's history and economic development were closely aligned with the Pacific Electric Railway, organized 1901-1902 by Henry Huntington and carried on by a new corporation after 1911 of the same name, owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad.
This book addresses the period from 1911 to 1953 of the "new" Pacific Electric Railway that operated electric-powered passenger and freight trains in southern California. The co-authors had access to extensive photograph files illustrating Pacific Electric cars and their operating environment and selected the best for use in this book.
Two major goals of this book is to illustrate all of the major classes of cars and locomotives operated by the Pacific Electric after 1911 and to provide detailed, informative picture captions that can both stand on their own and also provide the seeds for future research.
Contents:
Introduction, pp. 1-23,
Deluxe Cars and Wood City Cars, pp. 24-41,
Early Steel City Cars, pp. 42-55,
500 Class Suburban Cars, pp. 56-63,
600 Class Steel City Cars, pp. 64-81,
800 Class Wood Interurban Cars, pp. 82-89,
950 Class Wood Interurban Cars, pp. 90-97,
1000 Class Wood Interurban Cars, pp. 98-109,
1100 Class Steel Interurban Cars, pp. 110-117,
1200 Class Steel Interurban Cars, pp. 118-137,
1300 Class Combination Cars (Wood and Steel), pp. 138-147,
1400 Class Box-Motor and RPO Cars (Wood and Steel), pp. 148-165,
1500-1600 Class Power Cars and Locomotives (Wood and Steel), pp. 166-189,
1700 Class Service Cars, pp. 190-201,
300 Class "Blimp" Interurban Cars, pp. 202-211,
400 Class "Blimp" Interurban Cars, pp. 212-223,
450 Class "Blimp" Interurban Cars, pp. 224-229,
496 Class "Blimp" Combination Cars, pp. 230-235,
5000 Class PCC Suburban Cars, pp. 236-244,
Index, pp. 245-254.
Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society, hardcover with jacket, 254 pages, 9 x 11.5 x .75 in., B&W photographs, roster, index.