Made in 1913-1914 for the Pacific Electric, this silent motorman and conductor training film was rescued from destruction by Robert Warr and Wally Shidler. Only about ¼ of the original production survived, but what does remain provides an intriguing look back on the early days of the Los Angeles streetcar system.
The film starts aboard high speed interurban car 855 with a female passenger who was shaken up (this part of the film is missing but it seems safe to assume she was shaken up due to a motorman improperly starting the car before she was aboard). She is assisted by male passengers. At :42, a more careful conductor sees a passenger approaching and waits for her to be be aboard before giving the motorman the proceed signal (bell). At 1:58, a conductor (who wasn’t paying attention and missed the signal) argues with a female passenger who supposedly didn’t tell him that she needed to get off. She has to walk back to the platform. At 2:46, car 855 arrives at a station and passengers get on and off. At 2:57, car 547 operates at too high a rate of speed in a “slow” area. The car ends up striking a pedestrian walking on a bridge on the Glendale line. This is followed at 3:47 by a motorman who follows the rules, operates at slow speed and prevents a disaster. At 5:02, a car operating at high speed passes another one that is discharging passengers, endangering them. This is once again followed by a re-enactment with cars following proper speed procedure. At 6:08, an automatic flagman / safety signal fails to operate correctly and an automobile is almost struck by streetcar 546. At 6:17, a more careful motorman notices the signal isn’t working, and is able to avoid the car. At 6:50 he calls the broken signal into his supervisor. At 7;16, a conductor working an extra train calls into dispatch before allowing the trolley to venture down single track right-of-way. At 8:39, due to bad paperwork left at dispatch, another trolley car nearly has a head on collision on one-way track.
The wooden “500 class” trolleys shown in the film date back to the very beginning of the Pacific Electric’s corporate existence. They were the first new cars ordered by the PE, and were also Southern California’s first standard gauge electric interurban cars. Built in three groups beginning in 1902, the “Fives” were known as “Huntingtons” and used for light interurban and suburban service.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
