Our May Zoom program, Harvey Laner’s Midwest Traction Review, will be an all-video presentation of streetcar and interurban operations throughout the American Midwest. Primarily from the 1930s to the 1950s, the movie clips that make up this program are from the collections of numerous railfans that were amassed by Harvey from the late 1990s to the present.
Harvey grew up in Chicago, where he was able to ride the North Shore, South Shore, and Aurora and Elgin, along with Chicago’s trolleys and els. In 1953 his family moved to Los Angeles and his Southern California railfanning adventure began. In mid-1954, Harvey joined the Southern California Division of the Electric Railroaders Association (SC/ERA). He was also one of the 14 founding members of the Orange Empire Traction Company in Perris, California, today’s Southern California Railway Museum. As tonight’s presentation will not be recorded, you will not want to miss this!