One of the best videos on the final LA Railway lines. And a lot of late era/WWII PE footage.

Charles Smiley LA Rwy and PE video 1940's

This is a great look back at the end of the PE. I used to switch the aluminum plant in Torrance and deliver carloads of steel to the old Torrance PE shops. So much of this old "urban archeology" is disappearing with in-fill these days

The failure of the LA County ballot measure to take over the LA Rwy and PE passenger lines in 1948, which even proposed modern "articulated" LRV's in its campaign literature, was tragic. It was the final nail in the coffin, due to the high public and/or private costs of modernizing and updating the system. It lost by a small margin, as would all other LA "rapid transit" ballot proposals until Kenny Hahn managed to pass Proposition A in 1980, which started with rebuilding the PE Long Beach line (Blue and now "A" line today).