History
Pacific Electric 457 last ran in the Los Angeles area. It was built for the Southern Pacific Red car operation in the East Bay and ran there as a “Red Car” until 1941. It was built as SP 332, class 58-EMC-1, by American Car and Foundry in 1911. The car was built with large square windows in the front and rear and was painted dark olive green. The cars were repainted to Southern Pacific’s distinctive red starting in 1912 to improve their visibility in poor weather and at night. The cars received round porthole style end windows, reportedly to improve crew safety. The car had 3 and 2 seating and were very light for the number of passengers they carried. The ownership of these cars was assigned to several different Southern Pacific subsidiaries. This car was owned by South Pacific (SP) and carried these reporting marks on the side of the car until the IER took over.
Southern Pacific’s Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley East Bay service was reorganized into the Interurban Electric Railway on November 14, 1934. With the construction of the Bay Bridge, the ferry service was discontinued and the trains ran directly into San Francisco. In 1936 Key System, Sacramento Northern, and Southern Pacific entered into an agreement with the California Toll Bridge Authority to deed a portion of their equipment to the Authority in return for funds to adapt their equipment for cab signals, train stop, automatic car couplers, and high gates for operation across the Bay Bridge. The 332 was one of these cars deeded to and ownership passed to the Authority on abandonment of service in 1941. For several reasons the operation across the Bridge did not prove to be profitable. The last Red Train service in the East Bay was discontinued due to increasing financial loses on July 26, 1941.
At the beginning of World War Two it became United States Maritime Commission 332 operating on the Pacific Electric in Southern California. At the end of the war PE purchased the car in 1947 and it became PE 4637. The car was rebuilt by the PE and became 457. The PE passenger service was sold to the Metropolitan Coach Lines in 1953. The car retained its 457 number at that time. In 1958 MCL sold its holdings to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority and the car became MTA 1707. It was retired in 1960 the electrical and mechanical equipment was stripped at a scrap yard on Terminal Island. The Bay Area Electric Railroad Association purchased the car from the scrap yard and moved it to the Western Railway Museum on a flatcar.
