Book

Author:	John C. Smatlak
Title:	Pacific Electric's 500-Class Cars
Subtitle:	Interurban Pioneers
Publisher:	Shade Tree Books
Country:	USA
Date:	Nov 2010
Format:	Paperback
Genre:	Transport, History
ISBN-10:	0930742389
Barcode:	9780930742386
Rating:	Rate
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	1 Owns, 1 Wants
Price Guide:	Valuation Page
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108 pages 8 1/2 x 11

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WPLives 26th Jul 2021		About the Author Born in Chicago, John Smatlak has had a life-long fascination with American railroad history. His articles and photographs have appeared in numerous rail preservation publications and web sites, including Trains, Locomotive & Railway Preservation, Railway Preservation News, Railfan & Railroad, Railway Museum Quarterly, First & Fastest, Classic Trains and the Orange Empire Railway Museum Gazette.



WPLives 26th Jul 2021		Review Review This focused and intensive book chronicles the technological and operating history of the Pacific Electric Railway's 500 class cars from inception through retirement and rebirth through replication. Smatlak places the evolution of the cars within the framework of the changes undergone by the Pacific Electric system and the greater Los Angeles region as an organic part of the whole. Thus the book, while full of technical details about the cars, their equipment, and mode of use, also provides the contextual basis for understanding the wider and richer history of the railway system. It is profusely illustrated with historic photographs to build on the context, as well as illustrate the technical evolution of the cars. Along with the historic photos of the cars in use, drawings, shop documents, even the original bills of sale for the cars makes this one of the most complete histories of a single class of rolling stock I've ever had the pleasure of reviewing. Smatlak does not stop chronicling the cars history with their retirement, however. He has included a chapter showing how some carbodies were recycled and either purposely or accidentally preserved in adaptive reuse. Some of these carbodies are then shown in their third careers as parts of the collections of railroad museums when they were no longer needed for their second incarnations. So, we are also provided with a capsule history of the evolution of railroad museums as they found, moved, and preserved these cars (to a greater or lesser extent) over the past 45 years. Finally, the rebirth of the 500 class cars as models for the new Waterfront Red Car line and the new line itself are covered, a shorter history but as contextually rich in its chapter as the rest of the book covers the longer history of the original. As an experiment, I passed this book along to a friend I work with who has no interest in railways but is from Southern California and likes architectural history. He was a bit lost in the rail jargon, but captivated by the images and contextual information to the extent that he took the book home to share with his young children, and they are now planning a specific visit to the new waterfront line to ride the cars during their upcoming holiday family reunion trip. This book has a wider audience than just railfans. --Dave Lathrop-- Railway Preservation News website ✔︎ Helpful Review?



WPLives 26th Jul 2021		This new book from author John Smatlak tells the complete story of Pacific Electric s pioneering 500-class Red Cars , PEs first new interurban cars. 108 pages illustrated with over 120 photographs, many never before published. B&W with color covers. Pacific Electric was the world's largest interurban electric railway system, blanketing the Los Angeles region with more than 1,000 miles of rail lines. The 500-class cars were the company's first new interurbans, purchased beginning in 1901. The Fives opened many of PE's early interurban routes and served the system into the 1930s. The book tells the complete story of this pioneering class of Red Cars from their beginnings at the turn of the century, through preservation and restoration in the 2000s. The story of the two full-size operating replica 500s built in 2003 for the Port of Los Angeles is also included. An exhaustive selection of photographs, drawings and historical documents have been assembled to tell this fascinating story, providing coverage that will please a wide variety of readers.

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