OCIR.... where top fuelers occasionally ended up on the 5 FWY what a fun place.. My cousins raced at OCIR and Lyons....They had a top fuel funny car called "
Miss Conception"

 

Was never able to go to any dragstrips as a kid. However, I bought enough Car Craft, and Hot Rod magazines that ran stories of them.

Jim

 

We had a strip about a mile from the farm. Arlington Drag Strip, Arlington WA. Held the national record for Top Fuel for a few days in about '67.

We could see the line of smoke from a dragster, then hear the run a few seconds later. (they smoked the tires the full quarter--354s with a 6-71, later 392s)

There was a SBC dragster that ran in the injected gas class, and they had the "bundle of snakes" headers on it for a while--it sounded like it was turning a million rpms.

One local guy would drive his '56 Chev by with open headers. He was running a pretty short gear and it sounded like he was really going when he came by at about 35 mph--we'd stand there and giggle and pee our pants about how mean that car sounded.

We used to sneak in and/or ride our bikes right into the pits. A couple bucks for a pit pass. And we saved them, as they had a strip of color on them--once we found out what the color was, we'd pull the right one out and get in.....

They closed it after a funny car ate it. No injury, just a small fire and parts everywhere. But with all the other nonsense associated with it (it was at an airport) the city decided to quit while they were ahead. I guess.....

 

These are pretty interesting:

25 Photos of the Los Angeles River Before It Was Paved in 1938 - Sepia Tones - Curbed LA

 

Some cool photos:
Hiding Air Bases, Factories and Plants in WWII «TwistedSifter

 

Interesting to say the least.

Jim

 

i should do that to my front yard. Maybe it would save on the water bill

 

Another one of Long Beach circa 1940, with The Pike's Cyclone Racer in the foreground. I'd guess the area with the trees is Lincoln Park at 1st Street & Pacific Ave, which is just East of today's Superior Court building on Ocean Blvd & Magnolia Ave. A forest of oil derricks covers the Signal Hill area in the background.

 

In honor of the NLCS beginning today, here's some more pics of Dodger Stadium being built:

They Moved Mountains to Build Dodger Stadium | LA as Subject | SoCal Focus | KCET

 

Good shot of O'Malley in that article, too.

Pop

 

Interesting old map - move your cursor over an area and click to zoom.

http://www.lapl.org/sites/default/fi...ps/map0001.jpg

 

Great map, thx Steve.

 

That map is too cool! I've now spent a fair amount of time looking at it!

Pop

 

x2, excellent map.

Jim

 

San Pedro celebrates 50-year anniversary for Vincent Thomas Bridge

I was surprised that the bridge was so old. I was pretty sure I remembered when it opened, but since I was 9 years old, I must be mistaken.

Happy Birthday bridge!