1922: Los Angeles Railway debuts a new “car de luxe” on its Eagle Rock and Hawthorne Line.
Car No. 1101 was formerly used for special service — the larger of two funeral cars when those were in use.
After being retrofitted for passenger service, modifications are reminiscent of a Pullman railroad car.
Each seat has its own window with colored decorative glass at the top, with cross-seats used throughout to carry a total of 52 passengers.
More information can be found in the January 30, 1922 issue of Two Bells, the Los Angeles Railway employee news magazine.
1924: 18-year-old Arthur Winston begins working for Los Angeles Railway.
He works until 1931 but returns three years later and continues working for successive transit agencies for the next seventy years.
His lengthy employment through Los Angeles Railway, Metropolitan Coach Lines, Southern California Rapid Transit District and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority earn him a Congressional Citation from President Clinton as “Employee of the Century” in 1996.
On January 22, 1997, the “Arthur Winston Mid-Cities Division” is decreed by Metro Board action.
On January 23, 2004, LACMTA renames Division 5 “Arthur Winston Division 5.”
He was the feature of a front-page article in the Los Angeles Times on February 13, 2004.
By age 98, he still serves as attendant leader at Arthur Winston Division 5 in South Los Angeles, overseeing a group of 11 employees who maintain LACMTA buses.
He retires the day before his 100th birthday in 2006.
More information can be found in the March, 1997 issue of Metro Family, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee news magazine.
1925: Los Angeles’ mid-block pedestrian traffic signals have their origin with the City’s landmark traffic code which become effective on this date.
Pedestrian regulations, the first in the nation, came into effect the following day.
More information regarding mid-block pedestrian traffic signals can be found in Transportation Topics and Tales: Milestones in Transportation History in Southern California, and more information about the subsequent pedestrian regulations can be found in the same publication.
