For a short five years, the Wilmington area of Los Angeles was connected to the Willmore area of Long Beach by a street railway, initially pulled by a horse and later by a steam engine. Officially, called the Wilmington & Long Beach Rapid Transit Railroad, it was more popularly known as the “Get Out and Push Railroad.” That’s because the railway’s under-powered locomotive frequently required assistance from its passengers for overcoming steeper sections of the route. Despite the poor performance of the little steam engine that couldn’t, the railroad served its purpose because it was faster than the old horse-pulled rail cars. In 1887, the line was taken over by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the light rails were taken out and replaced with standard rails. Before the end of the year, trains were running directly from Los Angeles to Long Beach and passengers no longer had to get out and push.
