Built: 1925 by the J.G. Brill Company  Retired: 1959 

Construction: Steel.  Length: 52’ 2”.  Weight: 61,700 lbs.  Seats: 65. 

Car 717 comes from the PE’s largest, and best-known, class of cars. Nicknamed “Hollywood Cars” for their many years of service on lines in the Hollywood area, a total of 160 were built between 1922 and 1928, at the height of the system’s development. The cars were equipped for multiple-unit operation, and ran in trains of up to three cars. 

The Museum acquired car 717 in 1960 following the abandonment of the last line to use the Hollywood cars, the Watts Local. The image of car 717 has been immortalized by the Disney Studios, who used this car as the basis for building a replica Hollywood car for the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” 

From the mid-1960s until 2009, Car 717 was painted to recreate the unique “Valley Seven” subclass for the Museum’s collection. In 1938, cars 735-749 were modernized to provide better service between Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.  Dubbed “Valley Sevens”, these 15 cars received rewound traction motors to increase their top speed, upgraded brake equipment, and a new paint scheme. All 15 of the “Valley Sevens” were among a group of cars sold to Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1952. 

In 2009, the car was repainted into its original solid red paint scheme, which it wore from 1925 until remodeled in 1939. The car returned to regular service on the Museum Railway in February 2010. 717 is one of five Hollywood Cars in the Museum's collection, all of which have finally received an indoor home with the completion of the Ruffulo Carhouse project. Information on the restoration work appears below.

Renumberings: Car 717 was renumbered 5167 in 1949, and became MTA 1815 in 1958.  

Links & Additional Photos:

PE Hollywood Cars video compilation

PE Magazine 1949 article: "One Man Car Operation Pushed" The story of converting the 600-class cars into the one-man 5050 configuration. (2 meg pdf file)

Frank Hicks photo 2004	Night photo 2004 from Railpictures.net	A 'Valley Seven' alongside a modernized Hollywood Car
The image of 717 was immortalized in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" with this full-size movie prop. Bill Volkmer photos		717 prior to modernization in 1938-39
In service at the Museum, 1965. Walter Abbenseth photo, OERM Collection	In service at the Museum, 1973  Robert B. Petersen photo, OERM Collection	PE Weekend, 2010. John Smatlak photo
PE Weekend, 2010. John Smatlak photo	PE Weekend, 2010. John Smatlak photo

Restoration of PE 717-  Part I, Running Gear

Pacific Electric's famed "Hollywood" cars are some of the most recognizable images of the golden age of electric traction. OERM is fortunate to own five of the famous cars, but time and outdoor storage has not been kind to them. The final group of ten Hollywood Cars that survived into the late 1950's received an incredible amount of heavy service in their final years with only minimal maintenance. Cars like the 717 then saw many decades more service upon arrival at Perris. The time has now come for major rebuilds of the cars in order to permit them to safely transport passengers once again.  

For decades, Car 717 was one of the most regularly used cars on OERM's Museum Railway. By the late 1990s, the wear on the car's wheels reached the point where the car was removed from the regular operating pool, pending a complete rebuild of its trucks and motors. Work began on the first truck for 717 in January 2004 and was completed in April 2005. Work was completed on truck number two in July 2006. 

The photos below provide details of some of the effort necessary to rehabilitate the badly worn components on the trucks and motors. OERM volunteers provided the majority of the labor for the job, with bearing and traction motor contracted out to help shorten the project timeline. Approximately $30,000 was spent to rebuild a pair of trucks for car 717, with generous support from a variety of OERM friends and members.

John Smatlak photos -click to enlarge-

January 2004- an unrebuilt truck is removed from under car 5123 for overhaul	The extent of wear on some of the brake rigging components is illustrated in this view of one of the live levers, seen here after sandblasting.	Here are a group of the brake levers during rebuild. In this view you can see the new bushings that were installed.
The truck frame in primer- August 2004	Bearings like these axle bearings that support the traction motors were repaired, rebabbitted and machined.	Old pedestal liner on the right, new liner on the left
Hanger brackets with new bushings installed	Refurbished brake rigging being installed- February 2005	Refurbished traction motor
The finished truck (less motors) is rolled out of the OERM shop in April 2005.	Builder's view of truck	Installing the traction motors in the truck, April 2005
717 is lifted in the OERM shop in order to roll the trucks out from underneath the car	This truck was the first to be replaced- note the obvious wheel wear	Old truck out from under the car
Preparing to remove the carbody brake rigging for inspection and repair	New truck in place under the car 6/26/05	At work on the second truck frame
Inspecting the switch group	Motor change-out on second rebuilt truck, 2006	Back in action with two rebuilt trucks- 2006
Restoration of PE 717-  Part II, Carbody Refurbishment Following the rebuilding of the car's running gear in 2004-2006, the car returned to special event service on the Museum Railway. In February, 2009, work began to repaint the car so that its appearance will match its excellent mechanical condition. The car has been  repainted into its original solid red paint scheme, which it wore from 1925 until remodeled in 1939. The car will return to regular service on the Museum Railway in the summer of 2009. You can help work continue on OERM's Hollywood Cars with a tax-deductible donation to the Hollywood Car Fund. OERM, PO Box 548, Perris CA 92572. Donations can also be charged to your credit card. Contact the Museum office during regular business hours at (951) 943-3020. This closeup of the car side reveals the condition of the old paint. Many paint jobs, one on top of the other had left a less than satisfactory appearance. Test fit of one of the cap pieces on a window post. PE used this same technique on the cars decades ago. The crew discusses the next move. 2/15/09       Window post caps fitted to the car 2/14/09 2/14/09- 717 is turned on the wye Bondo being applied to one of the car ends 3/9/09       One of the many steel patches that was welded onto the carbody. The hole is for clearance around a rivet. Work scene 3/15/09. PE 498 at right First primer is applied 3/16/09. Looking good!       TIG welding was one of the restorative techniques used to repair corrosion damage.  Closeup of a section of beltrail repaired with TIG welding Car being turned once again on the wye 3/28/09       Test fitting refurbished parts on the car end 4/12/09 At work on the windows inside the Woodshop Freshly painted windows          4/19/09 4/25/09 At work on the roof 5/2/09         The first of the new red paint is applied, 5/9/09       Grinding out rusty areas along the edges of the roof 5/23/09 Painting the roof 5/24/09 Progress as of 5/24/09       Machining new headlight parts, permitting the headlight to be "back dated" to the correct pre-1938 appearance. Masking off the center doors for paint 6/7/09       Freshly painted center doors Stripping paint from the brass window sash guides 6/6/09 Cleaning up the car for Pacific Electric Weekend 6/20/09       In action during Pacific Electric Weekend, June 2009. Still to come is application of the lettering, refurbishment of the end doors, and interior touchup painting. Work begins on the lettering. The Museum supplied full size stencils and drawings which were converted to traditional pounce patterns. After the pounce bag is applied, a chalk outline of the letters appears on the car side to serve as a guide for painting the letters..  Lettering work nearing completion, June 2009.            Looking sharp with the newly applied lettering July 2009  Some of the restoration team Fitted with an Eclipse fender for its official return to operation, February 2010.        More scenes from the first day operations On the line, Marty Bernard photo       John Smatlak photos, except as noted -click to enlarge-