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A photo history of nightmare LAX travel, from 1928

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A photo history of nightmare LAX travel, from 1928

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Old Nov 26, 2015, 2:16 pm
  #1  
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A photo history of nightmare LAX travel, from 1928

The airport is expected to be the busiest in the US this Thanksgiving season, with 2.1 million passengers traveling through in the last 10 days of November.

So as holiday travel season dawns, let's take a look back at LAX through the years, and realize it was always kind of a giant pain:

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/1...story.php#more
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Old Nov 30, 2015, 8:27 pm
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Thanks for sharing this, the article has some really great photographs in it. I didn't realize that it took them so many years to add two levels to the roadways outside the terminals.
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Old Nov 30, 2015, 8:33 pm
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Thanks for posting. Love these kinds of photo time capsules.
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Old Nov 30, 2015, 8:49 pm
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Originally Posted by CMK10
I didn't realize that it took them so many years to add two levels to the roadways outside the terminals.
The upper roadway, Terminal 1 and TBIT were build in the early 80's in preparation for the 1984 Olympic games.
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Old Dec 7, 2015, 3:25 pm
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That is really cool, thank you for sharing!
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Old Dec 8, 2015, 9:25 am
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Originally Posted by TWA884
The upper roadway, Terminal 1 and TBIT were build in the early 80's in preparation for the 1984 Olympic games.
I don't know the history, but what we have in LAX today seems like the result of separate terminal projects, with little or no thought to how the airport would work as a whole.
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Old Dec 8, 2015, 10:14 am
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Originally Posted by dhuey
I don't know the history, but what we have in LAX today seems like the result of separate terminal projects, with little or no thought to how the airport would work as a whole.
The airport was built primarily for O&D traffic, not as a connecting hub. I remember when there were only six terminals in the late sixties. T2 was the international terminal, Pan Am and National also operated from there, T3 was primarily TWA, T4 American, T5 Western, T6 Continental and T7 United. I don't recall where PSA was located; probably with WA or CO. Other smaller operators, such as Braniff and Delta, were scattered around.
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Old Dec 8, 2015, 12:34 pm
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Looking at the pictures reminds me that emerging from baggage claim was a whole lot less awful in the old days. Arriving visitors' first view of LA is really dismal now: a fume-filled, noisy, grey tunnel with very little to suggest you're near the beach or that the sky is probably blue.
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Old Dec 8, 2015, 1:22 pm
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Originally Posted by TWA884
The airport was built primarily for O&D traffic, not as a connecting hub.
Do you recall the history of car rental facilities at LAX? I'm curious if they used to be located in the parking area surrounded by the terminals.

LAX is a nightmare for families with young children when they are renting cars. I mean that literally. With one or more car seats and lots of baggage in tow, you have to wait for your shuttle bus on a narrow concrete strip, with traffic zooming past on each side. If your kid were to dart off in either direction, it might be tragic (wonder if that's ever happened).

Maybe there are airports even more badly-designed than LAX, but it tops my list.
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Old Dec 8, 2015, 2:57 pm
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Originally Posted by dhuey
Do you recall the history of car rental facilities at LAX? I'm curious if they used to be located in the parking area surrounded by the terminals.
Being that it is my main home airport, I've never had to rent a car at LAX. However, I have taken a parking shuttle more times than I can count and I agree with you 100% about the pickup area for the shuttle buses on the narrow concrete median.

As I recall, prior to the construction of the upper deck, there was no traffic island/median in the middle of the roadway - it was probably constructed to house the upper deck support columns - and the shuttle buses stopped at the curb, right outside the terminals doors.
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Old Dec 10, 2015, 10:24 am
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Originally Posted by dhuey
LAX is a nightmare for families with young children when they are renting cars. I mean that literally. With one or more car seats and lots of baggage in tow, you have to wait for your shuttle bus on a narrow concrete strip, with traffic zooming past on each side. If your kid were to dart off in either direction, it might be tragic (wonder if that's ever happened).
Not just car rentals- coming back home and waiting for the WallyPark shuttle is just as bad! Thankfully our kids are past the darting age, but I can't think of an airport with a worse pickup design.
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Old Dec 13, 2015, 11:31 am
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I wished they had posted a photo of Mike Lyman's restaurant at the old LAX. When we were very little, it was such a fun place to go and watch the planes.

http://i1.wp.com/www.martinturnbull....k-building.jpg
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Old Dec 13, 2015, 3:21 pm
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Is anyone aware of any long-term plan for LAX, similar to the one SFO had a little over a decade ago? The most pressing need I see is for an airport train that would connect the terminals with a new car rental facility, parking lots and the Green Line station.
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Old Dec 13, 2015, 3:45 pm
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Originally Posted by dhuey
Is anyone aware of any long-term plan for LAX, similar to the one SFO had a little over a decade ago? The most pressing need I see is for an airport train that would connect the terminals with a new car rental facility, parking lots and the Green Line station.
Mind-blowing Plan to Un-[fubar] LAX Transportation

Last edited by ajGoes; Dec 13, 2015 at 4:00 pm Reason: Un-FLW the URL
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Old Dec 13, 2015, 3:48 pm
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Thanks, but I get "Sorry, that page was not found" when I click the link.
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