By Gary Starre, Orange Empire Railway Museum

Editor’s note: Sometimes efforts to preserve vintage rolling stock turn out badly. Here’s an example from the Orange Empire Gazette, republished with permission.

Los Angeles Transit Lines 1435 has returned to OERM after a 40-year absence – but only for its parts.

Before one laments yet another car going to scrap, this car is now only a stripped shell of its former self, but it has an interesting and tragic history. It is now beyond restoration for OERM, which already has four similar cars.

Until 1975, this once deluxe H-3 type car was at OERM in reasonably good condition, along with H-3 types 1423, 1450, H-4 type 1201 and K-4 type 1559.

Up until then, OERM had allowed private owners to keep cars at OERM, and the 1435 was privately owned by member Dr. Julian. However, the private ownership of cars was causing issues with the Museum, because it was vague as to what would happen to the value of a car worked on by other members, and there were liability issues should something happen, even in storage or while being operated. Eventually, the OERM Board of Directors ordered a change in policy so as to require that individually owned cars be donated to OERM or removed from the property. All but a few of the privately owned cars were donated to OERM, including Pacific Electric 1001, 418, and 314, as well as many others. There were a few exceptions for other nonprofit groups that had cars stored at the Museum. For example, Pacific Railroad Society retained ownership of Los Angeles Railway 1559 for a few more years and then donated it. PRS still owns the Shasta Daylight car and the funeral streetcar Descanso, and a few others, but for the most part, all individual ownership has ceased.

In about 1975, the owner of the LATL 1435 did not want to relinquish ownership, so he departed with it shortly after the policy change. The car was loaded aboard a trailer and was traveling on its way to a new home in Northern California when it struck a low bridge near Santa Barbara, which demolished one end of the roof. The car found its way to the San Francisco Muni shops, but because of its gauge, all the Muni was interested in were its motors and controls. The car was stripped of these parts at the Muni shops. On a tour of those shops a few years ago, I saw the parts, still neatly stacked waiting to be installed into a car from Johnstown, PA, which is one of Muni Market Street Railways’ long unfinished projects.

In or about 1982, the wrecked, and now stripped, hulk of the 1435 was shipped to Lake Tahoe, with about half of the recently retired Muni PCC’s. A local resident and trolley enthusiast Gunnar Henrouille hoped that Lake Tahoe would have streetcar service and bought the worn out Muni cars for a transit line that never materialized. For some reason, the 1435 joined the Lake Tahoe group, and there it sat for 20 years rotting away in the forest. That collection of cars in the forest is now gone, with most of the Muni PCC’s being sold to a developer who had an idea for a housing development in Missouri, but at least one found a new home and is operating in San Diego.

Around 2002, before the Tahoe fleet was disbursed, the Pacific Electric Subway Terminal Building in Los Angeles changed hands, and it was rebuilt into a luxury apartment building. The owners of the rebuilt former Subway Terminal Building wanted a Hollywood car for static display out front and approached OERM for a donation of one, but the Museum was not then disposing of any cars. However, OERM members informed the owners of the wrecked hulk of the 1435, and even helped them acquire and move it to the 1435 from Lake Tahoe to the parking lot next door to the Subway Terminal. To the average non-railfan, all streetcars from LA are “Red Cars”, even if they are painted yellow. The new owners likely figured that a Yellow Car was at least a real Los Angeles streetcar, and better than nothing. Reportedly, they acquired it for about $13,000, repaired the roof and did some cosmetic repairs. OERM even assisted, by trading a set of Golden Glow headlights in exchange for 2/3 of its seats for restoration in our similar cars. The owners had it painted back into its fruit salad color schme, but then, for reasons unknown, the project slowed to a crawl and died.

For a while, a booster Downtown LA group wanted it, hoping to restore it to operation. In one of their publications, they stated that all you have to do is scrape away the pavement and expose the old rails in the street, string some wire, and you are ready to roll. Obviously, they discovered that it takes a little more effort than that to run a heritage railway.

They lost interest, and the Subway Terminal Apartment Loft owners recently asked if OERM wanted the stripped but nicely painted shell that was left of the 1435. Vandals had attacked it during the summer of 2015, completely covering one side of the car with graffiti. Nevertheless, we said yes, on condition that the owners pay for the move. In early February 2016, LATL 1435 returned to OERM. It now resides on blocks, near the southeast curve of the Loop.

Our interest is in the headlights, the brass window sash, the remaining seats, and, primarily, the wheels and trucks, which is about all this is left on it. Those are perfect for renewing those parts on the 1201 and our other H-class cars when those parts wear out – and they are wearing out.

LATL 1435 does not have any motors, electrical equipment, doors or door engines, and is missing most of its brake gear, seats and one interior bulkhead. The missing bulkhead has seriously compromised the car’s structural integrity, making it unsafe even to board. The body has been placed out back and may be offered to whomever wants to take it for a static display, after OERM has removed its remaining salvageable parts that will keep our H class fleet and K class car running for decades. The story of 1435 is truly a tragedy, but at least its parts will be useful.