Contributed by
Wad on July 29th, 2010 at 1:00 am
Copyrighted image by raphaelmazor; used with permission from the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool. All rights reserved.
As this month and its theme, Summer of Rail, wind down, MetroFlickrLA returns to downtown Long Beach with this portrait of the Blue Line at First Street station. It was taken by Long Beach resident Raphael Mazor.
The photo, set in late 2006, won’t look very much like this much longer. That parking lot to the left of the station has become too valuable to leave as a flat patch of asphalt. Plans call for a new hotel at that site. Already, just a few hundred feet away at the Promenade, new high-end apartments have been completed. What will remain for the forseeable future is the U-shaped tower standing proudly at Broadway.
The Pacific Tower, originally the Andrus Building, was built in 1923 by W. Horace Austin. He was one of Long Beach’s most prominent architects of his time. Many of his projects have since been demolished, yet this is one that has lasted for almost 90 years. According to BeachCalifornia.com, some of Austin’s other projects still standing include Horace Mann Elementary School, Wilson High School, the Long Beach Airport Terminal, the Press-Telegram Building, Santa Ana City Hall, the Bowers, Museum, Seal Beach City Hall and the San Pedro Post Office.
Contributed by
Wad on July 28th, 2010 at 2:30 am
Did MetroRiderLA founder Fred Camino find this image that has been aging in a trunk for generations? That can’t be — the oldest parts of the Red Line are merely 17 years old, and Fred hadn’t been in L.A. during that time. 
This shows the wonders of Photoshopping. This image, taken just this past June, according to the Flickr date stamp, shows a Red or Purple Line train arriving at 7th Street Metro Center. The collection of blemishes help this month-old photo seem like an heirloom. Note the jagged photo edges, the graininess of the train and the sepia tone near the top corners. Very artistic, very nice.
Contributed by
Wad on July 27th, 2010 at 1:00 am
Copyrighted image by rjmcconnell; used with permission from the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool. All rights reserved.
Here’s another winning image by rjmcconnell, who also shot the Blue Line’s Long Beach prairie near the Los Angeles River. He cast his camera to the Blue Line portal in Downtown Los Angeles and captured the transformation occurring in the area.
This is about a block north of the Pico Station platform, yet drab office buildings and warehouses were transformed into the upscale dwellings of South Park. These residents pay thousands per month and get to see the Blue Line, Staples Center, the Convention Center, L.A. Live … well, all of what makes downtown, downtown, through teal-colored glass.
The teals, the white of the train, and the blue of the sky pop out in this high-contrast gem.
Contributed by
Wad on July 26th, 2010 at 1:00 am
Copyrighted image by Salaam Allah West Coast Transitphotography KING!; used with permission from the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool. All rights reserved.
MetroRiderLA wraps up its birthday celebrations this month with this Salaam Allah image of the Gold Line that’s a hit on Flickr. A highly regarded photo is just what this occasion needs. It was on July 26, 2003, when the light rail line opened between Union Station and Pasadena.
More than a hundred times a day, Gold Line trains race through this section of South Pasadena. Our intrepid photographer was able to capture this train, perfectly centered between the signals, barreling toward the lens. Very dramatic. Even the arrangement of poles helps reinforce a three-dimensional appearance of depth and motion.
Contributed by
Wad on July 25th, 2010 at 3:30 am
Before getting into today’s image of the day, let’s clear off a few reminders for this Sunday the 25th.
- Next month’s passes are now on sale.
- Tomorrow (July 26) is the deadline to submit public comments for the Wilshire bus lane proposals.
- Next month’s MetroFlickrLA theme: Metro buses. Also, the Green Line celebrates its 15th anniversary this year in August, so look for some photos of that in the mix. Better yet, contribute your own photos to the MetroRiderLA Flickr pool.
- Next month’s Transit Oriented Dining: Beat the heat with sweet treats. August is still summer, so count on a few sweat-drenched days. So, two ways to have it made in the shade — and that’s the last rhyme, I promise — is to get on an air conditioned bus or train, and take said vehicle and buy yourself a refreshing frozen dessert. Might want to bookmark this list for those surprise October and November heat waves.
On with the show.
Sure, this may be a screen grab, judging by the buttons on the bottom, but it’s a novel artistic promotion for the Gold Line and a nod to Southern California history. This poster promoted the Gold Line, with credit given to the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Blue Line Construction Authority (!), with labels found on old-style orange crates.
Southern California had a rich citrus-growing history, with orange groves as far as the eye can see. Alongside that history was Los Angeles’ rich urban rail network. For many years, both existed side-by-side. Then the oranges disappeared. Later, so did the rail. 
This new light rail project paid tribute to the old with this promo. That’s a sleek new Siemens-built train shuttling away from downtown Los Angeles. The bridge through the urban forest represents the Arroyo on the way to Pasadena. If money and political will hold up, then the modern-day rail cars can go back to where the oranges once were.
Oranges inspired this promo, but the Gold Line inspired another promo … with apples. To commemorate the 2003 opening, Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Highland Park custom-ordered Belfast Sparkling Cider with a vintage Gold Line label.
Contributed by
Wad on July 24th, 2010 at 4:00 am
Monday is the seventh anniversary of the Gold Line between Pasadena and Union Station, so this weekend is given over to some more Gold Line love from the Metro Library collection. Metro has almost 7,000 — and growing — Creative Commons licensed public transportation photos, providing a digital window into history.
The Gold Line has a brief history, and this hyar photo only dates to January 2007. But what a photo!
The blurs, the vivid colors, the sharpness of the Gold Line car … this image crosses the line between photograph and illustration. If this were on the cover of a brochure, you’d immediately pull it.
The Breda car, a vehicle that has been savaged by Metro employees and riders alike for unreliability, discomfort and noise, looks like the star of a music video in this nighttime shot at the Chinatown station. The station, and the downtown skyline, stretch out in a motion blur. Note the violet-blue light that emerges on the train’s front and near the rear car and the light bouncing off the horizontal stripes for the illuminative effect.
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