In 1892, when this photo of Frederick Wood and John Fowler of the Temple Street Cable Railway in Los Angeles demonstrating their cable-rail system was taken, electric streetcars were about to cast these two capable men into historical obscurity. One wonders whether the men at General Motors who have filled their basket with so many eggs bearing names like Suburban, Escalade, and Hummer have a similar sense of apprehension.

NEW ORLEANS! Fabulous, vivacious, romantic New Orleans—city of contrasts and contradictions. . . . It is cosmopolitan to the n-th degree, and at the same time as provincial as a small town off the beaten track. —E. Harper Charlton, Street Railways of New Orleans (1955) When this photo on the cover and following page was [...]