BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This (undated) timeless photos is indeed nostalgic, as it not only recalls the long-ago days when PCCs still ran in Los Angeles, but also, when SEARS was still very much a part of the American scene.

I have seen home-movie video from circa 1964/1965 of this general area (with the SEARS store in the background), showing an adjacent off-street transfer station, being served by LAMATA and SANTA MONICA BUS LINES.

In that short video clip (courtesy of an old VHS tape), the LAMATA buses were both Fishbowls and Old Looks (older square window models), while the Santa Monica buses were Fishbowls...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?17281

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["MTA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also.........

It should be noted that the newest GM buses in the MTA fleet (at the time that the last streetcar lines were replaced in 1963) were first generation 5301s.

The first FLXIBLE New Looks also arrived in that year, dubbed "SilverLiners".............

"NYO"

["LAMATA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here is a detailed, in-depth page on the RTS which once were commonplace in Los Angeles; these familiar buses have now been gone for over 20 years............

https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Los_Angeles_County_Metropolitan_Transportation_Authority_8200-9139

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Came across the following interesting article; a few historical photos are also here.........

https://la-future.com/en/eternal-los-angeles-streetcars-history-and-photos

["5160"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

From LA...........

A State of Emergency has been declared in Los Angeles County, due to the massive ICE protests; this, of course, has also impacted mass transit.

The new shows for Jimmy Kimmel Live! have also been shelved for this week, due to the dangerous conditions.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Thinking...........

One can only imagine what the mass transit scene in LA would be like today had the PE and LARy/LATL rail lines survived beyond the 1950s and early 1960s.

The light rail and heavy rail in use today would, of course, be far more extensive and would serve far more areas than the electric rail routes of today.

Just imagine if PE's famed, four-tracked, "whistle/bell alley" raceway was today a part of LA's electric rail network!

Had electric rail transit not died off in 1961 (Long Beach line) and 1963 (ex-LARY lines) it would be interesting to see what (surviving) car builders might have supplied new rolling stock:

ST. LOUIS?

PULLMAN-STANDARD?

BUDD?

BOEING?

Alas, today in 2025, we can only speculate on what might have been.........

"NYO"

["WATTS"]