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ChineseMetroFlickrLA: Pacific Electric Painted Metro Blue Line Train
For weekend editions of MetroFlickrLA, this feature will reach deep into the well of resources of the Metro Library and Archive. Metro runs a library rich with transit data as well as historic artifacts. It has become a valuable resource for transportation planners not just in L.A., but also for government agencies locally and nationwide.
Metro’s staff have been digitizing and sharing their vast collection of photos through Flickr, which makes this image possible. Metro’s images are available to use through a Creative Commons license.
In keeping with the Summer of Rail theme for July, this photo is a real gem. In 2000, a group of railfans collaborated with Metro Blue Line maintenance to create a unique celebration for the 10th anniversary of the Los Angeles to Long Beach light rail line. Two cars, 109 and 148, had been repainted in the red and orange livery of the fabled Pacific Electric Red Cars.
Granted, the old Red Cars never ran the modern Nippon Sharyo light rail vehicles, but the artisans working on this car took the greatest of pains for these celebration cars, right down to the closest matching pigment of the red boy colors. The interior was also redecorated. Instead of the baby blue wall panels and the hard rainbow-pattern seats, the walls panels were light green and the seats had soft, forest green cushions.
The cars ran in the Pacific Electric motif for a few years, but in the early 2000s, 109 and 148 were painted over into the gold-band Metro Rail motif.
Note the time stamp of the photo: July 14, 2000. That is the Blue Line’s 10th birthday.
Discussion
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Wad:
Thanks for putting this out on the “net.”
Yours truly along with many other “fans” was on that “special.”
—”Ken” Ruben—
[...] For the anniversary that marks the first generation of modern urban rail in Los Angeles, July 14, 2010, was a day like any other on the Blue Line. No fanfare, no recognition, just people going about their business. The inaugural run of the Blue Line was the talk of the town. The Militant Angeleno was there, and he provided footage. The 10th anniversary was marked with a modern train paying an homage to history. [...]