Tears are sure to flow Sunday when the final blast of the Red Car’s E-flat horn sounds off on its final historic runs along the San Pedro waterfront.
A last-minute appeal by county officials and the area’s congresswoman to save at least part of the Harbor Boulevard line was made late this week, bringing a glimmer of hope that a reprieve yet could be in the works.
But it’s only a glimmer.
Even if an electric trolley line returns in the future, the boxy, high-riding vintage Red Cars probably won’t be used due to numerous safety and regulatory restrictions and costs associated with running them.
Support grows
County transportation officials were the latest to go to bat for the Red Car, asking the port this week to defer closing it Sunday until briefings and meetings could be set up between the two agencies to discuss all of the options.
At a minimum, Red Car supporters and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board — which voted unanimously on the matter Thursday — want to keep a shorter portion of the line operating that wouldn’t be affected by waterfront improvements set to begin construction by mid-2016.
Arley Baker, a port spokesman, said Friday that the letter was received, but plans have not changed on the Red Car’s closing schedule, set for sometime Sunday evening after the end of the Lobster Festival.
“We have already begun collecting the information that they requested,” Baker wrote in an email response to the Daily Breeze. “No decisions have been made to change the Red Car schedule, but we look forward to regrouping with Supervisor (Don) Knabe’s office and Metro next week to further discuss their requests and provide more information about the Red Car operation.”
Emotional last ride
At noon Sunday, Bob Henry, the port official who dedicated four years to re-creating a piece of L.A. and San Pedro history with the Red Car project that opened in 2003, will be joined by Red Car fans for a symbolic and emotional final ride from 22nd to Swinford streets.
“It’ll be packed,” said Henry, who retired 14 years ago and now volunteers at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum at Sixth Street and Harbor Boulevard on the Red Car route. “One of my friends said my hair turned white — twice — during that project.”
Too expensive
Port officials have said that even keeping a car running on a minimal, truncated line — from 22nd Street to Ports O’ Call — would be too expensive. And while construction on realigning Sampson Way and creating a town square on the current track line won’t start for months, the southern portion of the waterfront in general could see big changes in coming years as Ports O’ Call and AltaSea plans move forward.
Los Angeles Councilman Joe Buscaino also is working to clear the way with the state so residential construction could be built along the waterfront.
“The waterfront redevelopment has been going on for quite a while and there have been a number of iterations of that,” Henry said. “The track has become something of an impediment. We tried to minimize the impact as much as possible, but the one thing constant about the port is change.”
But he’s not alone in mourning the loss of what is currently the only operating historic Red Car line in Los Angeles.
“There’s a sense of urgency as it’s slated to be closed this Sunday after the Lobster Fest,” Knabe said at Thursday’s meeting, where his motion was taken up to at least slow down the closure to explore future options.
The most likely fate now for the historic replica cars will be as museum pieces, possibly used in static outdoor displays along the waterfront, in downtown San Pedro and/or at special sites such as Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.
Political support
Knabe stressed that the intent of his motion was not to stop or delay San Pedro’s overall waterfront redevelopment progress.
But Knabe’s assistant press deputy, Andrew Veis, added: “The supervisor’s goal is to keep the Red Car Line operational in some capacity, either via a shorter route or relocating it. He wants to keep it operational versus letting it sit as a museum.”
U.S. Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro — who was the area’s councilwoman when the Red Cars were brought online and is running for what will be Knabe’s open seat next year — lauded the supervisor’s motion.
“It is no secret that I — along with so many San Pedro residents — disagree with the port’s decision to close the line without providing us the opportunity to discuss other options,” Hahn said in a news release Thursday that asked for at least part of the line to stay open.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti — also a member of the county transportation panel — spoke out in favor preserving the Red Car’s history as well and voted for the motion, but said any replacement trolley system in the future needs to be more practical.
“It’s a great ride, but people often go on it (only) once or twice,” he said. “The more we can make it something we can use is what would do history the most justice.”
Knabe compared it to the efforts to save Angels Flight in downtown Los Angeles, which also features a historic trolley car but currently is out of service due to a dispute over providing a proposed evacuation walkway.
“In San Pedro, a similar situation requires our attention to save what many believe is a Southern California treasure,” Knabe’s motion stated.
New, safer cars
Even if a trolley rail line is re-created in the future — port officials insist this Sunday’s closure is a suspension only — it’s unlikely the 1902 replica cars could be operated again, even as a simple attraction ride, because of their design.
“There are a lot of safety issues with the high-platform cars, but also the cost” is high to operate and maintain them, said Doane Liu, deputy executive director and chief of staff for the Port of Los Angeles, which operates the line.
Instead, a revised future trolley line most likely would use more modern (and safer) street-level rail cars, he said.
For decades, throughout the early to mid-1960s, the Red Cars rocked across all of Los Angeles County, fading out after an expanded street bus service took over. Many still lament the system’s demise.
Since opening 12 years ago with one restored original and two replica cars, the waterfront Red Car line “has carried 1.1 million riders and driven around the world (the equivalent of) five times,” Red Car operator Bob Bryant told Metro board members Thursday.
Treasure’s challenges
The Red Car in San Pedro has been considered a rare, living slice of Los Angeles’ storied Red Car era by its many fans. But it’s also proven to be expensive to operate.
Efforts through the years to expand the line into Wilmington, downtown San Pedro and Cabrillo Beach were found — in expensive studies commissioned by the port — to be much too costly and complicated to implement.
So the port was left with a rail line that added a charming ambience but, in the end, did little to actually transport tourists through town.
“If it’s supposed to provide transportation, it’s not really doing its job,” Liu said. “My quick math says it costs us $1.5 million (a year) to operate — that’s $30 per passenger and that’s just not a very viable transportation solution.”
Operating it even on a shortened line, he said, doesn’t make sense.
“It would not be very visible and it wouldn’t be ridden that often,” Liu said. “It would really be kind of a waste of money. We’d much rather spend that money to add to the rubber-tire (street) trolley that the business improvement district uses.”
For Henry, who labored for years to clear regulatory hurdles and have the cars painstakingly refurbished with historic accuracy, the closure after just 12 years will be tough.
“I remember people first getting on these cars. They had tears in their eyes remembering how they used to ride them to downtown Los Angeles,” he said. “Someone said they’re works of art.”
