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Pacific Electric Railway Company History
Perfect bound, 114 pages $14.95
  Sometime during the year of 1911, Electrical Engineer Rudolph W. Van Norden made an extensive inspection of the PACIFIC ELECTRIC Railway plant and properties as an agent of the ‘Journal of Electricity Power and Gas’. As a result of this visit to the PE, the Journal published two extensive articles lavishly illustrated with photographs and blueprint drawings giving extensive coverage to this quite possibly finest electric railway system then in existence. The first article appeared in the January 7th, 1911 issue, entitled, “PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY INTERURBAN SYSTEM”. This article was reprinted by pioneer traction author Ira Swett as his ‘SPECIAL 30’ in December 1967. At the time the article first appeared, the PACIFIC ELECTRIC was no longer under the control of company founder, Henry Huntington, but had not as yet merged with seven other local interurban electric railroads that would produce the largest electric interurban system in the world.
  The second article appeared in the March 23rd, 1912 issue and was entitled, “PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY CONSOLIDATION”. Mr. Van Norden combining unpublished material gathered from the 1911 inspection visit with information detailing the nuts and bolts required in the melding of the eight constituent railroads as well as the property split off to the Los Angeles Railway Company.
  Engineer Van Norden’s 1st article occupied approximately 30 pages in the Journal and his follow-up another six pages. The complete text of his work at about 104 pages would not see print until 1912 when the PACIFIC ELECTRIC arranged for a small print run to be given out for marketing purposes. No copies of this version are know to survive; however, in June of 1926 the company arranged to have the surviving copies of this booklet bound in maroon velvet covers with a new cover letter by President McMillan. These elegant little books were personally handed out to company old-timers in recognition for their service with the company. Two crumbling copies of this edition are known to exist.
  Published in 2005 by the ERHA, this book is a digitaly remastered reprint of a rare company publication from 1912.

Pacific Electric Stations
Perfect bound, 300 pages $34.95
Published by the ERHA from photos in our Archives; this new volume includes a complete reprint of the 1928 company list of stations, stops & agents (corrected), plus mile posts, organized by Division and line, over 140 stations, most with detailed site plans/maps and period photos.
Timepoints 2000-2004
From the ERHA Archives, the Pacific Electric's own in-house newspaper clippings file covering the period 1909-1911. Carefully transcribed and reprinted, over 25 mastheads plus photos and drawings. We have a limited number of this complete five volume set available!
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004, 900 pages
 


The complete story of the Pacific Electric's Railway Postoffice Service as told by retired Downey Postmaster Jerry McGinnis, who spent thirty years in the RMS. Includes photos of all classes of PE RPO equipment, example schedules and time lines and many downright funny anecdotes of delivering the mail, (twice a day), in Los Angeles during the Interurban era.
The covers and two pages inside are in glorious color
January-March 1999, 24 pages

 


San Jose's new Tasman West line. Noted rail photographer Matt Vurek repeatedly re-visited the right-of-way to record this new light rail line in stunning B&W from San Jose to Mountain View in before, during and after construction and operations photos. This issue includes VTA route maps, future expansion plans and even a few Southern Pacific freight and passenger views along the line.
October-December 1999, 24 pages

 


A complete detailed chart of the Los Angeles Railway's Franchises. (A Franchise is granted by the local city or county to the street railway company to operate a traction line.) Each Franchise gives the Ordinance No., the date approved, date of expiration, whether the Franchise is subject to the 2% clause, the distance in feet, the Franchise in miles and the streets covered by name. No photos are included, just information invaluable to the scholar of Los Angeles street railways.
Color covers are computer enhanced images of VERY rare green and crème 1929 LARy color scheme used on a few deluxe cars; all painted yellow once again by 1934.
April-June 1999, 16 pages

 


Fantastic book on the mechanical and electrical systems that made the Mt Lowe plant run.
The Magnificent Mountain Railway
The Story of how it operated from a mechanical and electrical point of view, John P. Harrigan, 113 pages, 26 figures and schematics, 19 rare photos, (most never before published), 8½"x5½", perfect bound.

  • Introduction
  • History
  • The Incline Systems
    • Lift Mechanism
    • Emergency and Main Brakes
    • Signaling and Indication
    • Main and Safety Cables
  • The Electrical Power System
    • Original Design Concept
    • Electrical System from 1893 to Early 1894
    • Electrical System from 1894 through 1895
    • Electrical System in 1896 and 1897
    • Electrical System in 1898
    • Electrical System from 1899 through 1905
    • Electrical System from 1906 to 1938
    • What Remains Today
  • Epilogue
  • Bibliography
  • Index
 

Cover photo, Mt Lowe Power

Pacific Electric Railway
Vol. 4 Western Division
Perfect bound, 142 pages 8˝"x11" $35.95

Published by Golden West Books' Pacific Electric authority and author Donald Duke. Over 200 B&W photos of the PE's West Los  Angeles, Hollywood/Redondo Beach, Glendale, San Fernando Valley area lines are presented in excellent quality. Many are from the author's own collection. An extensive and informative narrative weaves throughout this photo album. A must have for any PE fan!
3-car train of 10-hundreds westbound on the Venice Short line
This is Volume 4 of 4 volumes, pages are dual numbered, both for this volume and from Vol. 1.
Vol. 4 covers:
  • Balloon Route Trolley Trip
  • Beverly Hills/Santa Monica line
  • Canoga Park/Owensmouth line
  • Coldwater Canyon line
  • Echo Park line
  • Edendale line
  • Freight Service
  • Glendale/Burbank line
  • Hill Street Tunnels
  • Hollywood Blvd line
  • Inglewood line
  • Lagoon line
  • Los Angeles/Hollywood/Venice line
  • Port Los Angeles/Santa Monica Canyon line
  • Redondo Beach via Playa Del Rey line
  • San Fernando line
  • Santa Monica Air line
  • Santa Monica Blvd line
  • Sherman Car House & Shops
  • Subway Terminal Building/Subway
  • Van Nuys line
  • Venice Short line
  • Vineyard Local line
  • Western/Franklin line
  • Westgate/Brentwood line
  • Download the Volume four Errata sheet

    Interurban car 1237 turns from Ocean Avenue into Morgan Yard. Pacific Electric Railway
    Vol. 3 Southern Division
    Perfect bound, 157 pages 8˝"x11" $35.95

    Published by Golden West Books' Pacific Electric authority and author Donald Duke. Nearly 300 B&W photos of the PE's famed Southern Division are presented in excellent quality. Most have never before been published and are from the author's own collection. An extensive and informative narrative weaves throughout this photo album. A must have for any PE fan!
    This is Volume 3 of 4 volumes, pages are dual numbered, both for this volume and from Vols. 1 and 2 and covers:
  • Catalina Dock line
  • El Segundo line
  • Gardena-Torrance-San Pedro line
  • Long Beach line
  • Long Beach Local lines
  • Newport Beach-Balboa line
  • Redondo Beach line
  • San Pedro line
  • San Pedro Local lines
  • Santa Ana line
  • Santa Ana-Huntington beach line
  • Santa Ana-Orange line
  • Terminal Island line (Calship)
  • Watts line
  • West Basin line
  • Whittier-Fullerton-Yorba Linda line
  • Freight Service
          Railway Post Office Service
          Box Motor Service

  • Download the Volume three Errata sheet

    Pacific Electric Railway
    Vol. 2 Eastern DivisionThe PE never officially had an Eastern Division, but many rail historians separate the later Southern Pacific-built eastern lines of the system when discussing PE history.
    Perfect bound, 112 pages 8˝"x11" $35.95

    Published by Golden West Books' Pacific Electric authority and author Donald Duke. Over 200 B&W photos of the PE's Covina-San Bernardino-Riverside area lines are presented in excellent quality. Many are from the author's own collection. An extensive and informative narrative weaves throughout this photo album. A must have for any PE fan!
    3-car Pomona bound Interurban near La Verne - 1937
    This is Volume 2 of 4 volumes, pages are dual numbered, both for this volume and from Vol. 1.
    Vol. 2 covers:
  • Covina line
  • Pomona line
  • San Bernardino line
  • Riverside line
  • Freight Service
          Railway Post Office Service
          Box Motor Service
  • Pomona Local lines
  • Riverside-Corona Local line
  • San Bernardino-Redlands Local lines
  • Download the Volume two Errata sheet

    Car 1007 inbound to Los Angeles on Main Street Alhambra at Fremont. Pacific Electric Railway
    Vol. 1 Northern Division
    Perfect bound, 90 pages 8˝"x11" $35.95

    Published by Golden West Books' Pacific Electric authority and author Donald Duke. Over 200 B&W photos of the PE's famed Northern Division are presented in excellent quality. Most have never before been published and are from the author's own collection. An extensive and informative narrative weaves throughout this photo album. A must have for any PE fan!
    This is Volume 1 of 4 volumes and covers:
  • Alhambra-San Gabriel-Temple City line
  • Monrovia-Glendora line
  • Mount Lowe line
  • Pasadena local lines
  • Pasadena Oak Knoll line
  • Pasadena Short line
  • Sierra Madre line
  • Sierra Vista line
  • South Pasadena line
  • Download the Volume one Errata sheet

    San Francisco's California Street Cable Car
    Staple bound, 56 pages 8˝"x11" $12.50

    Published by Harold Cox, written by Walter Rice and Emiliano Echeverria.
      San Francisco's California Street Cable Car chronicles the 125 years of cable car service on California Street (from Kearny to Van Ness Avenue). The fascinating story of the three companies that have provided this service: Municipal Railway of San Francisco (1952 to date), the California Street Railroad (1878-1884) and the California Street Cable Railroad (1884-1951).
      Cable car service on California Street is largely the story of the privately operated California Street Cable Railroad. Cal Cable remained independent longer than any of the other cable or electric San Francisco traction-companies. Throughout most of its history Cal Cable was a very lucrative enterprise enjoying exceptionally good management, good labor relations and strong daily traffic.
      The book covers every operational detail including, the unique California and Hyde Streets powerhouse and car barn an all-time car roster (cable trains, pre-1906 earthquake, post-1906, Muni) coupled with the line's economic and social impact on San Francisco. Detailed maps drawn by Harold Cox cover the operations of not only Cal Cable's California Street line, but its O'Farrell, Jones and Hyde and Jones Street Shuttle routes. An elaborate array of photos illustrates the line's history.
    Author and long time ERHA member Walter Rice can be reached at Walter Rice
    San Francisco's California Street Cable Car

    When Steam Ran on the Streets of San Francisco When Steam Ran on the Streets of San Francisco
    Staple bound, 87 pages 8˝"x11" $18.50

    Published by Harold Cox, written by Walter Rice and Emiliano Echeverria.
      When Steam Ran on the Streets of San Francisco is the only book devoted exclusively to the subject of San Francisco's steam-powered passenger transit. Horsecars, cable cars and streetcars are discussed, but only as they relate to steam services.
      During an eighty-five-year period (1860-1945), the rein of the "iron horse," on the streets of the city-by-the-bay is chronicled. The scope includes such famous steam passenger carrying routes such as the Ferries and Cliff House Railway's Land's End Cliff route to the almost forgotten World War II Hunters Point Shipyard Railway. Included are Cal Cable's running of the famous locomotive the "C.P. Huntington," the San Francisco street operations of both the Ocean Shore and Southern Pacific railroads, the Municipal Railway (strike trains of 1917), San Francisco Market Street Railroad, the Market Street Cable Railway, Market Street Railway (of 1893), Park & Ocean, Sutter Street Railroad, and the Presidio & Ferries.
       Detailed maps illustrate each operation (20 total), plus the book includes 100 pictures, detailed equipment rosters, period newspaper ads and cartoons.
    Author and long time ERHA member Walter Rice can be reached at Walter Rice

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