Wow

I enjoy Vic's articles

I'd love a little insight on how he puts together his photos. Passenger trains are fun, particularly when the mail & express is a focus.

Bob
Omaha

Why stub-ended?

A fantastic article, as usual from Vic!

I am curious about a missing detail, however-- the article states that one of the few points of agreement among the railroads and the City was that a single union station must be a through-type station, rather than a stub-end station, yet the station, as built, was ultimately a stub-ended design. It seems as if there are one or two sentences missing that would have explained why it was built as a stub-end terminal.

Easy...

Excellent, as usual

Vic Roseman’s passenger train articles are always well done. He’s produced a great many of them over the years in various mags and I’m glad to see he’s still doing so. I’m one of those who actually enjoy passenger operations even more than freight and would love to see it gain popularity. 

Barry P.

Valuable lesson

I loved this article. I am a native Angeleno - although I now reside in Orange County. I knew of its' existence, but I don't think I was ever there. It was started in my birth year and finally completed three years later. I did not know t was considered to be stub-end rather that pass-through; however, as pointed out in an  earlier reply, L.A. was already developed in downtown, so real estate was not readily available as it was when many cities were the result of railroad expansion. Also, keep in mind that L.A. was the final destination for most travelers and freight.

I am informed much by the fact being made of Pacific Electric and L.A. Railway service on the grounds.

stub end station

Dear Fritz, and other readers:

The only open area near the new civic center was the Plaza. This was one of the oldest remaining bits of the original pueblo of Los Angeles, and was, of about the same importance as  Independence Hall to Philadelphians or the Washington Monument to residents of D.C..

The Union Station designers placed the new station a block to the East of the Plaza, which was still adjacent to the new civic center, and it placated the public. A whole low income neighborhood was bulldozed, which apparently did not bring much opposition. This location, unfortunately, was not along any of the three mainline railroads which would have permitted a through type station, but rather was a branch that was stub ended. The use of escape tracks and the operating procedures minimized switching, and apparently was the best possible solution.  

-Victor Roseman 

1010 on the PE

Thanks for your comment about the little switcher.

I made an effort to be accurate, but I was unable to set any single date for all the photos as I originally planned. However,  didn't the SP borrow a PE engine in a motive power shortage? 

-Victor Roseman

Valuable lesson

Dear UPWilly- and anyone in the L.A. area-

By the time I was an adult, the station was down to just a few trains a day- and I am surprised it stayed open- but now it  is bustling with all the light rail, plus the Amtrak and Metrolink service. If you get up that way it is worthwhile seeing the station.  And- you can even park your car at Anaheim, Fullerton or any of the other Metrolink stations and ride a train with the frequent service up to L.A.  The station is only a block from Olivera St. and about two blocks away (across Alameda St.) the original Phillippes is still in business- They are famous for their roast beef sandwich dipped in gravy, for some reason called a "French Dip." 

Victor Roseman

Puts together his photos--

Dear Bob: 

I'm not certain I understand your meaning-

If you mean the way I chose the backgrounds- Over the years I have seen photos of many locations around the station. (I don't remember much from when I was a teenager, except for that open front hamburger place where Rudy and I had lunch)  I research the structures  in the photos as best I can, build whatever I need that will show in the photo.  If that isn't what you meant, please let me know. 

Victor Roseman

Victor, thanks for the extra info

I live near the Irvine Transportation Center and your suggestion may encourage me to take the Metro into the station so I can look around. Driving into L.A. has become a major nightmare. I have always wanted to visit Phillippe's since seeing the Huell Howser video covering this popular place. The "French Dip" became quite popular in the L.A. area many decades ago, there were many Pastrami stands that featured it. Perhaps as a youth, I visited Olivera St. and do not remember (many Mexican specialties served there), I might include that in my trip.

ATTENTION ALL READERS: Victor has much not covered in the article as published. It ended up on the "cutting room floor". Download his excellent writings (many pages) from the June Subscriber Bonus downloads. It was a joy to read.

Vic's Done It Again

As a passenger operations enthusiest I found this article a good prompt to think about operations on my own layout.  An avid SP fan (as well as Santa Fe and UP) the "tour"of LAUPT took me back to my young adolescence when this was the station of my youth; riding out of LAUPT on Coast Daylight, El Capitan, San Diegans, City of Los Angeles you've brought back those fond memories with your article.

Thanks

loved the info & photos!

What?

Where can I find the additional "Subscriber Download" material?

Accessing bonus download material (if it was a snake ...)

It's only called out dozens of places in the magazine! If it was a snake, it would have bit you ...

First place: Go to the Table of Contents ...

Next place, the start of the article ...

And also, the last page of the article ...

And then we wonder why readers are not clicking on ads? This is a classic case of people getting so good at tuning things out that they miss very useful content ... might be time to have your relevance filter checked -- you may be tuning out TOO MUCH stuff! (wink)

Sorry

My attention was diverted by "Daredevil stunts on trains."  Squirrel!!!

reply to LAUPT layout suggestion

I am in the planning stages with some ideas for follow ups to the LAUPT piece but I have a few projects ahead of this. Thanks for your suggestion. 

-Victor Roseman

Reply to LAUPT layout suggestion (I tried to post this Jun 6)

I am in the planning stages with some ideas for follow ups to the LAUPT piece, including some layout information but I have a few projects ahead of this. 

Thanks for the good suggestion!

Of Historic Interest

As many know, Ward Kimball, an animator at Disney Studios, was an avid rail fan and had his own narrow gauge railroad on his property known as Grizzly Flats. What may not be widely known is that he made a silent home movie of the opening ceremony of the LAUPT.

Here is info on Ward Kimball and his Grizzly Flats railroad:

Grizzly Flats - From SocalRailwayMuseum

Personal LAUPT Memories

In April 2017 I was fortunate enough to ride from Oakland to LAUPT in the private car Redwood Empire (ex ATSF Business Car 33) arriving in the evening after a rainy trip down the ex SP Coast Line on the end of an Amtrak Coast Starlight.

In the first week of December 1949, my widowed father and I stepped off a train (SP-RI I think) from Boston (via Chicago) on one of these platforms at LAUPT to begin a new life in the United States of America. We had landed in Boston after a stormy November North Atlantic crossing (My father was sea sick, I wan't) and stayed in the Boston area for a week.