As part of our secondary interest in railroad or trolley car diners, our old friend Ron Smolen sent me this picture of an unidentified diner. It's obviously an interurban car body. Beyond that we have no information, but what a classic! Be the first to identify it and win undying fame and glory!
Sorry, employees and relatives of Hicks Car Works are not eligible for prizes. Do not send cash or stamps.
EDIT: Well, that didn't take long. As for the location of the Honeymoon Express diner, that seems to be oddly elusive. A comment here suggests it was in Van Nuys, but no other information has yet been found.
3 comments:
It’s Pacific Electric 1045, an ex-Visalia Electric car today preserved at Perris. There’s a photo in the PE roster book showing this car at the museum with its diner lettering still visible.
Frank points out: After service ended on the Visalia Electric, the car was sold to Pacific Electric and ran there until 1934. So it probably became a diner in PE territory, and the street address on the car would be valid for several streets in Van Nuys. That's our best guess right now.
A photo exists of members of the OERM hauling it away on a flatbed trailer in the ‘50’s. At one time Mae West applied for a permit to place a dining car restaurant on Circle Drive in Van Nuys, apparently close to where she lived just off the Pacific Electric turn from old Sherman Way (east, renamed Chandler) onto Sherman Way (central, renamed Van Nuys Blvd.). However, the 7200 block on Van Nuys would actually match another “Circle” up at the north end where the PE lines split with the western divergence going onto Sherman Way (west, now N. Sherman Way), and the north line continuing up N. Van Nuys on the way to San Fernando mission and (via Brand) city. Whether or not Miss West was behind this one has yet to be explored, but she was the friend if an actress who had been in the “Honeymoon Express” (play or film) before then. Surely there must be some records to determine the owners. City directories may help.
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