Ollie: As instructed, I got off the trolley at the National stop and walked up a block…
“The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s.” Wikipedia
Los Angeles’ once great transit system plays a big role in On The Tinsel Front, Ollie using it to move around the city in a number of episodes. In Episode 1 when he first comes to Culver City to discover the First Motion Picture Unit, I have him taking the Venice Short Line — which ran from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica via Venice Beach. But he very well could have taken the Santa Monica Air Line.
Located at the intersection of Venice and Culver Boulevard in Culver City, Culver Junction was the connection stop for the above two lines and the Del Rey-Redondo Beach Line (which will figure in Episode 4).
This electric railway system was one of the causes of Los Angeles’ infamous suburban sprawl. The Pacific Electric Railway Company was a real estate developer as well as transit operator. At the turn of the 20th Century before car ownership became common, lines were built in large part to provide transportation between downtown LA and far-flung housing developments that would otherwise be inaccessible.
This map shows just how extensive the system was in 1925.
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