Being an interurban, the PE was somewhat less susceptible to jitney competition than the streetcars operated by the L.A.Ry. Battery powered jitney’s would likely be a help for the likes of the PE as it would make the last miles problem a lot easier. One other thing, up till the 1950’s, most of the electric power in the L.A. area came from hydro plants. SDG&E was the only major utility in California that had to rely almost solely on thermal plants from the beginning.
I did a quick look and found that the average horse needs 12 to 15 pounds of hay each day. Assuming the LA area needing 1 million horses, we’d be looking at 7,000 tons of hay each day, which would a number of trains a day from the Central Valley. Distributing that would have been good business for the likes of PE.
I-294 is actually pretty good to bypass the city north-south. It’s all toll and so the bad and reckless drivers being cheap don’t tend to use it. And the south and west sides of the city are worse than the north.
Illinois tolls are among the lowest in the US. 17th out of 24. Second the Illinois Tollway gets no government money nor do they give the government any money. It’s 100% self funded.
I drive in freeways too. They’re crowded and poorly maintained. You get what you pay for. A toll along what I suggested would have been a $1.25 for 34 miles. Just calced it on google maps. Here it is.
Several years ago I took my race car up to Mamaroneck, NY to the individual who built it for some frame work. From Maryland I took the Interstate route through Harrisburg and the rest of PA & NJ and using the Tappan Zee Bridge. Think I paid something like $8 in tolls on my EZ-Pass on the trip up with trailer. Coming back home, somewhere along the line I missed a turn or took a wrong turn and ended up having to navigate the George Washington Bridge, Garden Sate Parkway, NJ Turnpike, Delaware Turnpike and the Maryland Turnpike with just my pickup truck to the tune of something exceeding $37.
Tolls for the PA Turnpike have become absolutely usurious as the years have added up. No wonder I use I-70 & I-68 as my gateway West. In the 70’s with our home in Maryland and my ex’s family in Akron there were many trips over the PA Turnpike between Breezewood and the Ohio Turnpike. Presently for the 160 miles the EZ Pass rate is $19.12 and the full rate for a two axle vehicle is $38.24 with toll by plate.
Interesting that two of the worst-maintained roads I have suffered on are the western part of the New York State Thruway (a stretch actually damaged the rear suspension on one of my Jaguars!) and the execrable Indiana Tollway or whatever it’s called.
And yes, I’m thoroughly used to the endless waves of tilted 20’ slabs on I-20 west of Shreveport, and pitted pavement in New York City.
That’s a shame. Too much politics is ruining the eastern toll roads including Indiana. And yes they are in terrible shape because the governments siphon off the tolls into the general fund. Like a piggy bank. The Illinois toll roads are well maintained, because the tolls are reinvested.
I was at an 1871 Innovation Hub award ceremony once. It’s a hi-tech hub. I was shocked and originally jaundiced that one of the contestee’s was the Illinois Tollway Authority. In retrospect they deserved it.
CSX owns and controls the track west of Hoffmans (a bit west of Schnectady). East and south of there the track is leased and controlled by Amtrak to Poughkeepsie. South of there it’s owned and controlled by Metro North to NYC.
Between Buffalo & about Syracuse the ride is rough enough to make walking inside the cars a good way to get a dislocated shoulder, or to make folks in the upper bunks fearful from time to time of being hurled to the floor. Other than that, “It’s the water level route; you can sleep.”
Sure, just not real well.
Who owns the track across the Castleton Cutoff to Selkirk (bypassing what is now Amtrak’s West Albany Hill)? Who owns the railroad east on the ex-B&A?
What is the ‘improved’ peak speed limit between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie now? I had the great delight of sitting at an outdoor cafe table in Cold Spring and enjoying a Turboliner a few feet away at what was said to be (and felt like) 100mph…
I’m pretty sure it is pre-earthquake. For one thing, there’s no signs of destruction. Secondly, I’m pretty sure that the cable car lines on Market Street didn’t survive the quake and were replaced, afterwards, with electric trolley lines that still exist today.
