Nostalgia & History > Bound for Soeul Korea and a Reprieve from the Scrapper.

In the early morning hours of May 22, 1955, Los Angeles Transit Lines (LATL) abandoned streetcar lines 5, 7, 8, 9, F and and the northern
portion of the W line. This immediately sounded the death knell nearly 250 H and K class cars built between 1921 and 1925, and by the fall of the year most
had been sold to to scrapper National Metals & Steel and were beginning the trek to Terminal Island for scrapping. Fortunately, 61 cars would be spared
from joining the famous piles of red and yellow cars that dominated the Terminal Island skyline for years.  

The Korean War had ended on July 27, 1953 but in May of 1955  Seoul, Korea was still recovering from the devastation. Like the former
Los Angeles Railway, now LATL, the Seoul streetcar system had been built to 42-inch gauge and the 61 cars, would find a new home half a world away.
However, since the cars had already been sold to National Metals, the company was thrust into the role of “middle man”, working with the U.S. Government and
LATL to modify these “California” style cars for the much colder wintertime temperatures of Korea. Mechanically the cars were in excellent condition so all
that was required was closing in the open sections at each end. This was accomplished by removing the windows from cars destined for scrapping and
installing them in the Seoul bound cars. Also, the illuminated line number boxes were removed from the roof at each end and the cars were painted into a cream
and dark green scheme complemented by silver roofs. All work was performed at the South Park shops. Ironically, these cars would soldier on into the late
1960’s, outlasting LA’s PCC fleet.

From ebay comes an un-credited Anscochrome slide processed by Drewry Photocolor (never a good combination), but it  yielded to the restorative magic of
Photoshop and gives us former LATL Class H-3 No. 1406 rolling south through Wilmington on April 7, 1956, en-route to San Pedro harbor and a freighter
bound for Korea. 1406 rides a lowboy trailer behind what appears to be a pre-war Beleya Trucking Company Sterling tractor with a Kenworth
cab. Throughout the 1950’s the Beleya company delivered numerous pieces of railroad equipment to Traveltown, LA's rail museum, including SP Atlantic 3025 and
the Orange Empire Trolley Museum’s, LATL H-4 type car 1559.

Cheers,
Jack



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/15 18:39 by africansteam.

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The road shown is probably Avalon Blvd.
I remember following one of the PE PCCs down to the Pier A area when they were shipped out to Buenos Aires.

--jim Baker

So much for using a "low-boy" trailer in those days.  That load sure looks quite high to clear bridges and power lines compared to what is required today.  Also, it looks like an awful high center of gravity.  Regardless, evidently all the cars made it to the harbor without incident.  Nice job on the photoshop and thanks for posting a rare shot.

Fascinating picture and who ever did the scanning and restoration did a great job. 

GettingShort Wrote:
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> Fascinating picture and who ever did the scanning
> and restoration did a great job. 

Thanks!
Jack

Love this shot.  My favorite era for railroading.  Great job fixing the photo, Jack.

And the semi tractor that's hauling the load would be a popular sight at the Antique Truck event at Orange Empire (where vintage trucks and buses share the street with preserved LA trolley cars).  Any guesses on what make the rig is? (doesn't look like a Mack, White or Peterbilt)

Topfuel Wrote:
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> So much for using a "low-boy" trailer in those
> days.  That load sure looks quite high to clear
> bridges and power lines compared to what is
> required today. 

Apparently it was a little high then. If you look carefully, you will see a 1x4 about 10 or 12 feet long tied over the top of the front trolley pole, with the nose of the board pulled down a foot or more below the tip of the pole. This would allow the truck to drive under low wires without hooking them on the pole or possibly shorting them together.

Probably not a method that would be allowed today.

Could the truck be a REO ?

--Jim Baker