Lomita Railroad Museum Locomotive

I thought I'd put up a couple shots from the Lomita Railroad Museum. The Engine here is number 1765, and is really cool to go in and explore. The locomotive is a true Southern California piece of history, as it was mainly used around this part of the state. Built in 1902, the engine was retired in 1958. The museum features several train cars as well. A couple of them, a boxcar and an oil tank, are across the street in a small park.

A reverse 3/4 view gives a better angle of the size of the train. The museum is hidden a a small neighborhood in Lomita.

Visit the Lomita Railroad Museum's website here.

Previous post on the museum

Tags: Lomita Railroad Museum Roadside Attractions

LAX Theme Building Closes

For a little while anyway. I was at work the other day when a coworker was watching television during her break. I heard the ABC7 anchor speak the line "Los Angeles Landmark has closed." Of course he didn't say which one it was, and I always get alarmed when I hear a teaser like that. Eventually they announced that it was the famous Theme Building at LAX. I was relieved to learned that it was only a temporary closure. Inside the 1961 structure is the ultra Retro/Modern restaurant "Encounter", which is now closed for several months. The reason is because a large chunk of stucco fell off one of the arches onto the roof of the building. It should take six months to complete the necessary repairs, and the restaurant may even open earlier.

The Theme Building is such a part of Los Angeles that even before I learned what had caused the problem, I knew they were going to fix it. The news report stated that in surveys about Los Angeles the Theme Building was second only to the Hollywood Bowl in recognizability. I pass the building often and I always remain in awe at the shear beauty of the structure.

View a little more information about the building here.

Tags: Architecture LAX Theme Building

Old Towne Mall- Artisan Way

Watch the Artisans at Work

Artisan Way was a C shaped loop off of the main Old Towne lane. Here, over 40 shops of handcrafted merchandise featured everything from Greg Quayle's metal sculptures, to macramé and pottery. Local artist Kris Wallace also sold nature paintings at his booth. It was very unusual to find a section in a mall that specialized in home made arts and crafts. It gave many young artists an outlet to express and display their artistic visions.

I don't know much about Artisan Way other than what I just wrote. How long did this section of the mall last? I can't remember ever seeing it when I was a kid in the 80's. In 1982 the mall allowed discount retailers in. Perhaps that was the end of Artisan Way. Maybe I just didn't care so much for "art" back then and never paid attention to that part of the mall.

Visit Greg Quayle's website and see his wonderful Fleas here. (you can see a picture of him at Old Towne in 1973 in the "Meet the artists" page)

Visit kris Wallace's website here.

Tags: Old Towne Mall Torrance California

Movieland- Modern Love

Here's a nice and dark picture of silent film star turned talkie star Charley Chase waving to all the excited guests of Movieland Wax Museum. He's seen here in the 1929 motion picture Modern Love. Chase shares the set with the far more famous Buster Keaton, but the little amount of detail and time given to Charley doesn't seem to bother him much. He just keeps on waving and smiling.

A flash shot of Mr. Chase shows a little more detail than the precious picture (with all of its mood lighting) does.

His figure sure kinda looks like a rat. That was the first thing that stuck out to me.

Yes, Charley did star in many Hal Roach pictures. The Charley Chase figure sold at the Movieland auction for $650, more than $3000 less than the Buster Keaton figure did.

Find more information on Charley Chase here.

See more wax museum photographs at Houses of Wax here.

Tags: Movieland Wax Museum Wax Figure Wax Charley Chase