Corralitas Public Staircase: The Big Parade Is Coming, May 21 & 22, 2011

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 13, 2011.  It looks like the Corralitas Public Staircase will not officially be in the Big Parade this year, but both days bring the route close enough for those intrepid enough to dare the climb.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

Next weekend, May 21 - 22, 2011, The Big Parade is back for a third year.  The Big Parade is a 2 day, 35 mile, 100+ public staircase hike from Downtown Los Angeles to the Hollywood Sign.  It's a fun, community oriented, free event for all ages. 

Join The Big Parade for a few staircases, a couple miles or both days.  Routes are posted on The Big Parade's website, where you can link to their Facebook & Twitter feeds. 

Both days last year, I watched about 100 people take the Red Car Neighborhood's public staircases.  So for the next week, we'll be looking at our neighborhood's public staircases.  Info: http://www.bigparadela.com/  

Over the years, we've extensively highlighted our public staircases.  Click here for all our public staircase posts.  

Corralitas Drive: Slow Down, Snake Crossing!

Photo: Esteban Gonzalez, May 11, 2011.  Gonzalez was driving onto Corralitas from Rosebud around 11:30 AM and stopped his car, grabbed his cell phone and shot a series of photos of the  2 1/2 to 3' long Gopher Snake crossing the road.  (Click on photo to enlarge - you can even see the snake's tongue.)

Photo: Esteban Gonzalez, May 11, 2011.  The recent brush clearance on the slope across from the freeway has been attracting predators with an ample supply of rats and gophers.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

 

Photo: Esteban Gonzalez, May 11, 2011.  Gopher Snakes have excellent camouflage for the dry slopes.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Hopefully, the camouflage will help it escape the hawks nesting 100' away at Rosebud and Allesandro.  This is the same part of the street where, just last Sunday, I watched both hawks sitting 25' apart on the telephone wires, intently staring the freshly cleared slope for some tasty prey.  

See all our neighborhood snake photos.

LA River: Red Car Trolleys Crossed Wildlands

Photo: Unknown Photographer, circa 1904-1906 (when the Glendale Line first opened).  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Last week, Red Car Historian Paul Ayers shared photos of our neighborhood from his archives with me.  I asked if he'd ever seen the LA River bridge photo from around 1904, shot at grade from Monte Sano, where nothing but chaparral surrounds the Red Car bridge, with Griffith Park in the background. I'd seen this photo about 10 years ago, but had not seen it since.  Ayers almost immediately sent me this photo. 

It is one of my favorite shots of the Glendale Line, and I can't believe the LA River advocates don't use this shot constantly. 

The Red Car Trolley Glendale Line crossed the LA River at what's now the Hyperion Bridge.  It looks like the trolley bridge came well before the motor vehicle bridge seen in yesterday's post.

1927 LA River Flood 

Photo: Unknown Photographer, 1927.  The 1927 LA River flood washed out a number of bridges, including this one, which appears to be the auto bridge at Glendale Blvd, as seen from the Atwater side.  The Red Car Trolley bridge is on the left.   (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

I had never seen this photo before, so it was indeed a bonus from Ayers.  Again, we'd like to thank Red Car Historian Paul Ayers for sharing archives with us.  He's got a lot more photos than the ones we published this week. 

If you want to see more, attend the Glendale Historical Society sponsored "Ride the Red Cars to Glendale" 7PM, tonight at the Glendale Public Library.     

Monte Sano: Last Trolley Stop Before Crossing Riverside Drive & The LA River

Photo: Unknown photographer, early 1900s, from the Ayers Family archive.  The Red Car Trolley bridge over the LA River at Glendale Blvd.  The Monte Sano Station is adjacent to the viaduct over Riverside Drive in the foreground.  The photo was shot from (what would be, as of 1923) Monte Sano Hospital at Waverly & Glendale Blvd.

Photo: Ira Swett, undated.  The river was already lined with cement at the Hyperion Bridge in the background.  Shot from the Monte Sano Trolley stop.  The Trolley is about to cross the Riverside Drive Viaduct, before crossing the LA River.  (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

The Riverside Drive Viaduct was dismantled in June 1959, four years after the last Red Car crossed the LA River. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 25, 2009.  The Sam Menlo-owned, 157-unit, Riverglen Apartments sit atop the old Monte Sano Red Car Trolley stop.  You can still see the Hyperion Bridge trolley footings in LA River.   (Click on photo to enlarge.) 

See many more before & after photos of the Pacific Electric Glendale Line tomorrow, May 12, 2011, 7 PM.  Red Car historian Paul Ayers will give a free presentation at the Glendale Public Library. 

Click here for all our Monte Sano related posts. 

Historic Red Car Viaduct: June 19, 1955

Photo: Loren Ayers, June 19, 1955.  The Ayers family rode the Big Red Car Trolley across the Fletcher Viaduct on the last day of service in 1955.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 2004.  In 2003, the City declared the Pacific Electric Viaduct Footings at Fletcher, cultural historic landmark #770.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Red Car Historian Paul Ayers shared some of his family archives with us. Ayers will give a free presentation featuring hundreds of historic photos combined with current views of the Pacific Electric Red Car Trolley's Glendale Line, Thursday, May 12. Click here for more information.  

Click here for all our historic viaduct posts.