Some fear San Pedro's Red Car may disappear forever

SAN PEDRO, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- This is your last chance to ride Los Angeles' historic Red Car in San Pedro for quite a while. The electric trolley will be taken out of service after the Lobster Festival this weekend.

San Pedro's Red Car is the little engine that could -- at least it can through Sunday. That's when the mile-and-a-half-long rail car route is slated to shut down to make way for a waterfront construction project.

Many throughout L.A. are concerned the Red Car will go away permanently.

The Red Car line is run by the Port of Los Angeles, which wouldn't talk with Eyewitness News on camera about the upcoming closure. But the port said the line will be out of commission for at least a year and a half, and may be too expensive to put back online after that.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, though, not only wants it back, but even bigger.

"We've asked the port and MTA to look at what we can do in the future to get that up and running, maybe even one day extend it to places that are used by more folks that live down there," said Garcetti.

Garcetti isn't alone. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors also wants the port to keep the Red Car rolling. It's just 12 years old and cost $10 million to build, using old tracks that already ran along the waterfront.

"This is our history," said Paul Schindler, a Red Car supporter. "Of course, the red line built Los Angeles. There would be no L.A. as we know it if it were not for these trains."

"History is what's important. It's who we are," said Cindy Runyan, a Red Car supporter. "And to take away things? We need to bring them back."

Of course, San Pedro's Red Cars are modeled after the old Red Cars that moved the masses across L.A. throughout the early 1900s, which actually may be a curse since L.A.'s history is littered with failed trolleys and rail lines.

Come Sunday, when the Port of L.A. Lobster Festival wraps up, the little Red Car line could be on track to join them.