The Trolley Didn't Take Us There 05.21.10

Workers leaving the Lockheed Plant in Burbank during World War II. Note the destination sign in the bottom left corner. Photo circa 1943 from The Metro Library and Archive.

As anyone who takes public transit and lives in Northeast Los Angeles, or Pasadena knows, getting to Burbank and the greater San Fernando Valley is not easy. So too was the case in 1943 when streetcar ridership was at its height. There was no trolley lines that connected the two valleys, just as today there are no bus lines that travel across the foothills, just partial lines that diverge here and there. But in 1943, the Lockheed workers of Highland Park had it made: a bus of their own leaving after every shift headed for the corner of Avenue 50 and Figueroa.