This old photo of the Pacific Electric car was taken by former Los Cerritos resident Stephen Dudley, a member of the Bixby family. He took this photo just after he hopped off a train. At one time there was a more elaborate “station” with access for cars, steps down to the tracks and a small shelter on the west side of the tracks. In the 1950’s when many in Los Cerritos worked in downtown Los Angeles, there were two three-car express trains each weekday that made their last stop coming out of Long Beach at Los Cerritos and first stop coming south from Los Angeles at Los Cerritos. Many left their cars parked at the stop, but numerous spouses came down and waited for the train. A very busy time when the trains arrived – and vice versa in the morning when people were dropped off. Mr. Dudley remembers using the P.E. car to return home to the neighborhood from Poly High school.
The Red Cars were wonderful! I used to ride these trains with my grandmother from Los Cerritos to downtown Los Angeles to go shopping at Robinson’s department store, and in the other direction, to downtown Long Beach, for shopping at Buffum’s. My older brother got to ride the Red Car to Poly High, but by the time I started high school in 1962, the Red Cars had been discontinued. I was relegated to take the bus from the Long Beach Boulevard bus stop!