User:1951bfrj


1951bfrj is a new user as of February 10, 2010.

I tend to favor printed sources for the subjects I write about, as they seem to be the most comprehensive and well-researched. Sometimes web resources are difficult to understand, fragmentary or even in error (horrors!). Look for the Bibliography on the articles I contribute to - and the inline references.

Was born and raised in Los Angeles - family here since 1883 - banking, politics, volunteer work.

I am interested in a wide variety of subjects, but I guess my main interest is in the history of Los Angeles. I especially like transportation history, but not as much the nuts and bolts part as the growth of the systems, the people who created these amazing networks and the neighborhoods the cars sped through - and what happened to them. Fascinating stuff.

I grew up in the fifties about a block from San Vicente, where the PE line had gone from Vineyard through Carthay Center to Brentwood and Santa Monica. Then we moved in the sixties to Redondo Beach, and I got interested in the history of that area - used to take my streetcar books and drive all over to see where the lines had gone; traveled from Redondo and other coast cities to San Bernardino and Riverside; hiked up to Mount Lowe several times. Took "after" pix in the seventies in several areas, using the pictures in the books as the "before" versions.

Built a large personal library of all things Los Angeles - histories, architectural books, biographies. Fascinated with it.

Hope to edit relevant articles so they are more robust and as accurate as they can be.

More later...