Pacific Electric Railroad, The “Red Car”

In 1903 the first Pacific Electric cars made the trip east from Los Angeles to Pasadena into Arcadia through Monrovia to Glendora. This was a great improvement over one-a-day mixed trains service of the steam lines. “Red Cars” as they were called, were responsible for the growth of Arcadia and the entire foothill area. Parcels of land located near Red Car service were considered choice to prime property and brought higher prices.

“From the mountains to the sea,” was the P.E.’s motto. Service boosted tourism and tourist attractions were made accessible to the public: Mt. Lowe Railway, Busch Sunken Gardens, Baldwin’s Racetrack, Redondo Beach, Crawston Ostrich Farm, Catalina Island, and Mt. Baldy.

In 1916, there were 25 trains that stopped daily at the First Avenue depot, heading for Los Angeles. By 1920, it was the largest electric railway in the world. The type of service the Pacific Electric provided was foremost in the nation with over 900 miles of tracks, a fleet of 57 locomotives, over 645 miles of highways and streets throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties; service was outstanding.

By 1938, automobile traffic jammed the streets, schedules could not be met and the public was now driving a vehicle. P.E. cut its service, but survived during WWII due to gas rationing. Freeway construction began, and in 1951 Arcadia’s P.E. Red Car service ended.