Pacific Electric Railway Volume 4 Western District

Henry Huntington’s impact on the public transportation system of Southern California was far reaching. His Pacific Electric red interurban cars went everywhere — except for the western portions of Los Angeles County, where Sherman and Clark’s 180-mile Los Angeles Pacific Railroad dominated. As of March 19, 1906, an agreement was reached to purchase the system for $6 million, securing a controlling interest in the LAPR on behalf of the Southern Pacific.

Pacific Electric Railway Volume 4: Western District includes coverage of the entire merged system, including the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad, Balloon Route Trolley Trip, Port Los Angeles-Santa Monica Canyon Line, Venice Short Line, Redondo Beach via del Rey Line, Western-Franklin-Brush Canyon Line, Westgate Line (Brentwood), Lagoon Line, Santa Monica Air Line, Coldwater Canyon Line, Hollywood Boulevard Line, Santa Monica Boulevard Line, Hill Street Station, Los Angeles-Vineyard Local Service, Sherman Car House and Shops (including the West Hollywood Car House), Hill Street Tunnels, Vineyard-Beverly Hills-Sawtelle-Santa Monica Line, Echo Park Line, Glendale-Burbank Line, Edendale Line-Edendale-Atwater Line, Canoga Park Line, San Fernando Line, Van Nuys Line, Subway Terminal Building and the Subway, Freight Service, Inglewood Line, and Los Angeles-Hollywood-Beverly Hills-Venice Line.

The name of the author and compiler of this book is well known in the blue book of railroad historians. Donald Duke established Golden West Books in 1960 to publish his own works, but eventually published the work of other authors as well. To date, his patient research and editing have enriched more than 140 hardbound titles.

He was a youth when his family moved to Alhambra, while awaiting construction of their new home in San Marino. The Alhambra home was next to the tracks of Pacific Electric’s San Bernardino Line, and there his interest in interurbans was born. The new San Marino home was located two blocks from PE’s Monrovia-Glendora Line.

Duke attended Colorado College, in the heart of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad’s narrow gauge country. He remained in Colorado for two years after his graduation, working as a commercial photographer. He is well known for the razor-sharp photographed produced by his 4×5 Super-D Graflex.

Besides publishing his own books, he has written numerous historical articles, frequently focused on railroads. He was literary editor for his Kappa Sigma fraternity for 20 years, and was editor of the Los Angeles Corral of Westerners’ Branding Iron for two periods of time totaling 15 years. He is a past director of the Southern California chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society and was a founding member of the chapter. He is a member of the Lexington Group of Railroad Historians, and belongs to many railroad historical societies.

For Donald Duke, photography, writing, publishing, interurban railroading and western history all go hand in hand as rewarding professional pursuits and personal interests.