Shirley Temple inaugurates Los Angeles' New Streetcars,1937

Shirley Temple inaugurates Los Angeles Streetcars - 1937 /

Child actress Shirley Temple and Los Angeles Mayor Frank L. Shaw inaugurate the Los Angeles Railway's new PCC streetcars during Transportation Week, March 25, 1937.

Images from our archive related to the introduction of PCC streetcars in L.A. are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolib...

Also see: http://www.oerm.org/pages/lary3001.html

• Category

  Autos & Vehicles

[Lampshade51]

By all accounts, Shirley was a well adjusted kid who really enjoyed her stardom and seemed to get a kick out of doing things like this. It shows in the newsreel. She grew up to be quite an accomplished woman in diplomacy. Just saw her on the Screen Actors' Guild broadcast (at age 80!) accepting their award.

She still looked pretty good, and still had that bubbliness in her speech.

Quite a lady.

[berdooflyer]

And to think....LA is spending billions of dollar today trying to get back what they threw away when they scrapped the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railways. 

[93Vet]

yes, but there are metrolink rails now to take their place and they go all over.

[shepherdewan]

good girl shirley

[jkfan2005]

Yes definitely Lowell Thomas narrating.

[TheGentlemanCaller88]

Damn General Motors and damn LA City legislation for buying into the oil and auto companies' goddamn plots. We had the largest and best public transit system IN THE WORLD at one point! Now, it's nothing but a mere memory. All that's left are the old-timers who share their stories of the streetcar and a few abandoned, rotting tracks that the city people were too lazy to cover up. Our transit sucks now and it's all thanks to greed.

[RTD1]

Sadly in 1963 that same car 3002 would tour the LAMTA system painted with a crying face to announce the end of the street railway system.

[davendea]

Ah, nuts, it's the #3002. The identical #3001 is the one that was saved and restored to full operating condition at the Orange Empire RR Museum in Perris, CA, near Riverside.

[BFF1]

Incidentallym the following year (1938), Mayor Shaw was recalled from office because of a number of scandals, despite protests from the Los Angeles Times, his chief ally.

BTW, that sounded like Lowell Thomas narrating that newsreel segment.

And most adult actors Shirley worked with at the time marveled not only at her ability to act, but how well she handled herself off-screen, unlike many child stars. Carole Lombard, who worked with her in "Now And Forever," was especially admiring.

[girlonlaptop]

i LOVE Shirley Temple! She is the best.