Foggy Excursion
Artist
Yoko Mazza
Date2017
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions24 x 36 in. (61 x 91.4 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of The Hilbert Collection
Object number2020.025
DescriptionThroughout the 1940’s and 1950’s, Los Angeles began to abandon its once vast electric railway system known as the Pacific Electric Railway. The vast system of tracks and stations were being abandoned in favor of the newly created freeway system. By April of 1961, the Pacific Electric Railway would cease to exist.Before the final days of operation of the PE, railroad enthusiasts would eagerly plan excursions trip with PE cars in order to create an opportunity to photograph the old streetcars and interurbans. The fans would arrange to have cars posed at various locations on along Pacific Electric system and photograph them. Pacific Electric tracks that ran in the San Fernando Valley, down Hollywood Blvd, along the sandy beaches of Playa Del Ray and Huntington Beach, through the vast farmlands between Los Angeles, Covina, Pomona and San Bernardino, became impromptu photo locations for railroad fans to record images of the dying system
The very last Pacific Electric interurban operation to San Pedro California was captured on film by Bruce Ward on December 8th, 1958. Bruce was an avid railfan and aerospace worker that loved the Pacific Electric Railway.
Bruce’s collection of railroad images became part of the Mt. Lowe Preservation Society in 2012. The curator of the collection, Steve Crise, admired the painterly look of Mr. Ward’s image and persuaded his wife Yoko to create “Foggy Excursion” for a show Steve and Michael Patris were curating for the Pasadena Museum of History titled “The Art of Getting There”.
When Yoko was first shown this photo she was instantly drawn to the lure of its nostalgic ambiance. "It’s as if I found clarity amid the fog, his PE car sits still and provides warm and inviting mood with dramatic lights on the ground. I really wanted to capture this atmosphere. It was also good opportunity and a new challenge to paint all those electrical wires!"
This hauntingly beautiful image exquisitely captures the very last evening of operation in San Pedro of the once great Pacific Electric Railway system.
This was not Yoko’s first attempt at creating images of railway equipment. Previously she has painted works based on steam locomotives of the Nevada Northern Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. She has also created works based on diesel locomotives of the predecessor company of the Pacific Electric Railway, Southern California Regional Rail Authority, better known as Metrolink.
-Yoko Mazza (artist)
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