Trolleys

Re “ Trolley gets a green light ,” Nov. 7 Trolleys were a great civic improvement in the early 1900s when they helped get tons of horse droppings off the streets. It is 2012 and the horses are long gone, but Anaheim is considering building a trolley line, which will make traffic worse and cost $318 million for 3.2 miles.That's about $100 million a mile. I guess it seems reasonable compared with California's high-speed rail project. Hasn't anyone noticed that California is broke and broken?

Once there was a little boy who rode Henry Huntington's trolleys. He was 4 when he first took a Yellow Car all by himself, along Vermont Avenue to nursery school. His mother handed him off to the motorman and said he was going to the end of the line. Now that little boy is 88, his mother and the trolleys long gone. PHOTOS: Los Angeles' Pacific Electric Red Cars So is his grandfather's Rialto orange grove, where he was sent to help weed come summer. So are the horse-drawn wagons that used to deliver his morning milk.

The trolley doesn't come around here anymore. But when it did, it would arrive three days a week and circle downtown Claremont for 12 hours at a time. Around the apparel shops and gift boutiques, the art galleries and salons, the bakeries and cafes it would roll, stopping to pick up passengers free of charge. The trolley was more bus than streetcar, but it came with enough old-school charm that many hoped it would be an attraction that would increase business revenue and add to the small-town atmosphere of the area known as Claremont Village.

The owner of a trolley tour company in Annapolis, Md., has decided to close down one portion of his business - old-fashioned trolleys for wedding parties - rather than extend the service to same-sex couples. He has every right to do so, but he should knock off his attempts to persuade lawmakers to sanction his real hope: to discriminate against gay couples in his business. Matt Grubbs owns Discover Annapolis Tours and says his Christian beliefs conflict with providing services to same-sex couples.

Once there was a little boy who rode Henry Huntington's trolleys. He was 4 when he first took a Yellow Car all by himself, along Vermont Avenue to nursery school. His mother handed him off to the motorman and said he was going to the end of the line. Now that little boy is 88, his mother and the trolleys long gone. PHOTOS: Los Angeles' Pacific Electric Red Cars So is his grandfather's Rialto orange grove, where he was sent to help weed come summer. So are the horse-drawn wagons that used to deliver his morning milk.

The head of the Boston-area transit authority said Saturday that he would ban all train and bus operators from even carrying cellphones on board after a trolley driver told police that he was texting his girlfriend before a collision Friday. About 50 people were hurt in the underground crash in downtown Boston, though none of the injuries was life-threatening.

Citing chronic mechanical problems with the city's two trolleys, the City Council voted to withhold a final payment of $29,775 to Specialty Vehicles, which sold the trolleys to the city. The city paid 80% of the bill in December. "We are not getting service out of these vehicles," Councilman Harold Hofmann said, noting that the trolleys have not been running for the last 8 to 10 days. "They haven't been road-ready since we've had them on the street."

The article says that 50 years ago the term "light rail" was not used for the electric vehicles that ran in Los Angeles and environs--they were trolleys. This is not true. They were streetcars! The only people, other than those on Mt. Lowe, who ever used the word "trolley" were foreigners (i.e., non-Angelenos) and were immediately identified as such. We natives kindly corrected them. I was born in Los Angeles, have lived here all my life, went to junior high and high school on the streetcar, went downtown and to Hollywood on the streetcar so know whereof I speak.

Plans to revive a 1920s-era railway system in San Pedro won approval this week from the California Public Utilities Commission, and backers hope to have three trolleys running by next month. The railway is part of an effort to boost tourism in the harbor district. Two of the streetcars, reproductions of Pacific Electric trolleys known in their heyday as Red Cars, and a 1907 vintage trolley, would run along Harbor Boulevard between Ports o' Call Village and the Los Angeles World Cruise Center.

"Novel Sights Each Mile and Each Turn of the Road!" boasted the rapid transit ads of a half-century ago, almost as though traveling on the streets of Los Angeles could be . . . well, fun. Back then, no one used the stuffy, technical term "light rail" for the electric vehicles that jolted and rocked along tracks on runs like the Venice Short Line. They were trolleys.

Re “ Trolley gets a green light ,” Nov. 7 Trolleys were a great civic improvement in the early 1900s when they helped get tons of horse droppings off the streets. It is 2012 and the horses are long gone, but Anaheim is considering building a trolley line, which will make traffic worse and cost $318 million for 3.2 miles.That's about $100 million a mile. I guess it seems reasonable compared with California's high-speed rail project. Hasn't anyone noticed that California is broke and broken?

It's a city where tourists can spot a monorail slithering overhead, where construction is underway on an expansive transit hub envisioned as a cathedral for transportation, and where hopes run high that hordes of passengers will one day blast into town on a high-speed rail. But the latest transportation project in Anaheim sounds decidedly old-school in comparison: streetcars. Orange County's largest city is now moving ahead with plans for a 3.2-mile trolley car system that would connect the city's resort district with its sports stadiums, convention center and regional transit center - an airy, arched structure made of steel - that is taking shape.

The $930-million light rail Expo Line will finally reach into Culver City on Wednesday, marking the first time rail service will serve the traffic-choked Westside since the last days of the Red Car trolleys in the mid-1900s. Transportation officials will open the Culver City station - near Washington and National boulevards - beginning about noon after a celebration with elected leaders. Officials opened most of the first phase of the line in late April, allowing commuters to travel 7.9 miles between downtown Los Angeles and the eastern edge of Culver City in about half an hour.

Brentwood-area residents are rallying to raise funds for the upkeep of San Vicente Boulevard's cherished coral trees, one of which toppled over this month after succumbing to what appeared to be a root-rotting fungus. The city of Los Angeles planted the trees after World War II to replace the discontinued Red Line trolley tracks but has limited funds to care for them. For decades, neighborhood residents have taken on much of the cost of pruning the trees, which are distinctive for their orange-scarlet blooms, twisting limbs and spreading canopies.

Some years ago, I attended the funeral of a friend's mother at a Los Angeles cemetery so singular that it once was the target of a famous literary satire. Since the family was indifferent to religion, they availed themselves of the facility's nondenominational chapel, where a vague sort of nondenominational service was conducted by a nondenominational clergyman provided by the cemetery. All I recall from his homily that day is that he repeatedly referred to God as "the developer of the universe.

The Westin Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego has newly redone rooms and a deal for downtown visitors. This package comes with trolley tickets, which offers a great excuse to see the city without taking your car. Rooms start at a nice price too. The deal: The Downtown and Downtime package makes it easy to hop around the city. The package includes a night at the hotel and two adult tickets for the San Diego Old Town Trolley , which stops at Balboa Park, the Maritime Museum of San Diego, Old Town, the San Diego Zoo and other sites.

County transit officials have chosen these 12 bus routes for conversions to electric trolley buses from standard diesel buses. The Southern California Rapid Transit District is seeking public comment. Electric trolley buses are quieter and less polluting than diesel buses, but need overhead electric wires supported by poles. County officials have promised to plant thousands of trees to mask the wires and make sidewalks more pleasant.

Sir Walter Trolley beat out Wally Trolley and Jolly Mr. Trolley in a contest to name Lawndale's newly designated mascot, a trolley conductor. Seth Durham, a Mark Twain Elementary School first-grader, came up with the name, winning a $25 gift certificate from a toy store. The city began a free bus service a year ago, using vehicles designed to look like trolleys.

Hugh Martin Jr., a composer, lyricist and arranger who created the enduring standards "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song" sung by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical "Meet Me in St. Louis," has died. He was 96. Martin, who collaborated in an unusual partnership with Ralph Blane on Broadway and in film, died of natural causes Friday at home in Encinitas, north of San Diego, said his niece Suzanne Hanners. The two men shared songwriting credits for "Meet Me in St. Louis," which is set at the turn of the 20th century and follows a Midwestern family on the verge of moving to New York City.

If you are ever in Boston, take the Old Town Trolley narrated tour, which operates daily year-round. This is a delightful way to see the sights and hear the history of the area. You can get on and off anywhere all day. The staff and drivers provide great customer service. Info: (888) 912-8687, http://www.historictours.com/boston/default.htm. Cost: $36 for adults, $33 for seniors, military and students; $13 children 3-12; 2 and under ride free. Discounts available online. -- Cheryl Kohr, Redondo Beach