Tour name: Railroad Revival Tour
Buy tickets to the show in San Pedro: http://railroadrevival.com/stops/2012-san-pedro-california
The Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad was the first of its kind. Built between 1868 and 1869, the 21-mile line connected Los Angeles with the shipping harbor on San Pedro Bay. The railroad was the brainchild of Phineas Banning, an entrepreneur and political operator. As a California state senator, Banning sponsored a bill authorizing the City and County of Los Angeles to finance construction of the railroad. The city and county obliged--and then awarded Banning the contract to construct the line.
The railroad was one of Los Angeles' first modern links with the global economy. That connection became even stronger in 1876, when Los Angeles became the southern terminus of the transcontinental railroad. The legacy of L.A's early railroads still reverberates today. Much of the nation's freight traffic moves through Los Angeles on its way to points inland.
