107-612: The Upland–Ontario Line is a former Pacific Electric streetcar line in San Bernardino County, California . Cars did not travel to Downtown Los Angeles and instead provided a local service between Ontario and Upland with through service to Pomona . Pacific Electric acquired the Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Company on April 13, 1912, bringing their Euclid Avenue Line in Upland as well as their branch to Pomona into
214-517: A 3-foot 6-inch gauge, which matched the gauge used by the cable lines: Crown Hill, University, Maple Avenue, Central Avenue and Pico Street. Pacific Railway’s problems were such that the company was thrown into receivership in 1891, with James F. Crank was appointed as receiver. In 1892, Sherman and Clark electrified the Depot Line, and opened it on August 1. They extended the Crown Hill line east to
321-570: A Jitney-caused drop in patronage and the eventual end of the hobble-skirt fashion. One significant drawback to this design was that they could not be converted to one-man operation. Over the years, less major variations in Type B car designs included different lengths, different seat arrangements, various center section window formats, mesh safety gates vs panels, modifications for cars that made longer runs, and modifications for one-man or two-man operation. Older Type B cars began to be scrapped beginning in
428-640: A complicated stock and bond transaction, Huntington conveyed his 50% of Pacific Electric to the Southern Pacific, while he acquired SP's 45% interest in the Los Angeles Railway. In addition, Huntington conveyed the Los Angeles and Redondo Railway to the Southern Pacific. Huntington retained control of the Los Angeles Railway , the narrow gauge street car system known locally as "Yellow Cars," until
535-554: A controlling interest in this company was sold off by Huntington's estate in 1944. In what was called the "Great Merger" of September 1, 1911, the Southern Pacific created a new Pacific Electric Railway Company, with all electrical operations now under the Pacific Electric name. The constituent railroads were: Following these acquisitions, PE was the largest operator of interurban electric railway passenger service in
642-550: A franchise plan with three-cent fare plan to the Los Angeles City Council, a plan which, if accepted, would have handicapped the other railways severely. Huntington countered with a ticket book which gave the rider 500 miles (800 km) of travel for $ 6.25 (equivalent to $ 212 in 2023), which undercut the Harriman strategy. The Council vetoed the franchise idea, unable to believe adequate service could be provided for such
749-469: A line from Monrovia to Glendora . The system reached La Habra in 1908. By 1910 PE operated nearly 900 miles (1,400 km) of track. Routes had been built into or passed through areas just beginning to grow. 1905 was the Pacific Electric's most profitable year, when the road made $ 90,711 (equivalent to $ 3.08 million in 2023). Profits from the Huntington Land and Improvement Company made up for
856-481: A low fare. Then, on April 14, 1903, Harriman bought Hook's Los Angeles Traction Company, which ran lines within the downtown area and, through its California Pacific subsidiary, was constructing a line from Los Angeles to San Pedro . The final confrontation came over a bidding war for the 6th Street franchise, in which the franchise (thought to be worth maybe $ 10,000), finally went to the top bidder for $ 110,000 (equivalent to $ 3.73 million in 2023), with Harriman
963-510: A more extensive regional mass-transit system. In 1957, it was given the authority to operate transit lines. In 1958, the California state government through its Public Utility Commission took over the remaining and most popular lines from Metropolitan Coach Lines. The MTA also purchased the remaining streetcar "Yellow Car" lines of the successor of the Los Angeles Railway , then called Los Angeles Transit Lines. LARy/LATL had been purchased from
1070-631: A new electric street railway company, the Los Angeles Traction Company , and secured a franchise for a line headquartered at Georgia Street and 12th Street, which was destined to provide stiff competition to LACE. Hook’s first line opened in February, 1896. In 1894, Sherman and Clark began an inter-urban line between LA and Pasadena, The Los Angeles and Pasadena Railway, and acquired all the street railways in Pasadena. In April, 1894 LACE missed
1177-408: A rising new electric railway technology threatened to make the system obsolete. The first electric railway in Los Angeles was built in 1887 to facilitate the sales of a real estate tract on Pico Street . The Los Angeles Electric Railway used the early Daft overhead system with a crude electric car and trailers. Though the real estate venture was successful, after an explosion in the power station,
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#17328523621931284-442: A scheduled bond payment. The bondholders, unhappy with Sherman and Clark's management and their attention to their new interurban railway, secured control of the railway. Sherman managed to retain 49% of the outstanding stock, but he and Clark no longer had any management responsibilities. The bondholders created a new corporation called the Los Angeles Railway (LARy) and March 23, 1895 LARy acquired all of LACE’s assets, except for
1391-444: A total of 68 miles of track, they owned 80% of the trackage in Los Angeles. Then things began to get more “complicated”. Sherman and Clark faced difficulties and distractions. A national depression, begun in 1893, affected Los Angeles as well. As patronage declined, Sherman and Clark cut service on the system. In 1894, a direct competitor to LACE arrived. William S. Hook, a banker and railroad executive from Illinois, incorporated
1498-499: A two-tone yellow paint scheme with a lighter shade for the roof. Under NCL a three-color "fruit salad" scheme was adopted, with a yellow body, a white roof, and a sea-foam green midsection. Original Shops - When the Huntington syndicate acquired the Los Angeles Railway system in 1898, its headquarters was the former property of the old cable car company at Central Avenue and Wilde Streets, just east of downtown. The facility featured
1605-561: A variety of other cars. Shorties or Maggies (Type A) - When the Huntington/Hellman syndicate acquired LARy, the line had a large variety of existing wooden cars. The group of short (35’ 5”), wooden cars, which were later designated ‘’’Type A’’’, were either Pullman cars purchased in 1896 or assorted city cars received from Pacific Electric, in 1910. Most of these cars ran on lighter-used lines due to their smaller capacity. Because many had magnetic brakes they were dubbed “Maggies”. Of
1712-415: A variety of tasks on the railway. This included pay and money cars, various specialized repair cars, fuel cars, locomotives and lighter-duty power cars, cranes, material haulers and flat cars, rail grinders, tower cars for overhead maintenance, maintenance-of-way cars for heavy construction, and emergency cars (wreckers). The railway was well known for its distinctive yellow streetcars. Initially cars had
1819-537: Is at hand when we should commence building suburban railroads out of the city." Hellman added that he had already tasked engineer Epes Randolph to survey and lay out the company's first line which would be to Long Beach. In that same year, Huntington and Hellman incorporated a new entity, the Pacific Electric Railway of California, formed to construct new electric rail lines to connect Los Angeles with surrounding cities. Hellman and his group of investors owned
1926-503: The 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge Pacific Electric system on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles (directly in front of the 6th and Main terminal), on Hill St, on 7th St, on 4th Street, and along Hawthorne Boulevard south of Downtown Los Angeles toward the cities of Hawthorne, Gardena and Torrance. The earliest streetcars in Los Angeles were horse-propelled. The earliest horsecar railway,
2033-596: The Los Angeles Motor Bus Company . A public referendum chose the latter in May 1923. The first service began in August 1923, and by 1925 had 53 miles of bus routes, the second-most in the nation after Chicago . PE operated frequent freight trains under electric power throughout its service area (as far as 65 miles [105 km]) to Redlands , including operating electrically powered Railway Post Office routes, one of
2140-405: The Los Angeles Railway . When his uncle Collis died, Henry lost a boardroom battle for control of the Southern Pacific to Union Pacific President E. H. Harriman . Huntington then decided to focus his energies on Southern California. In May 1901, Hellman, who had been Southern California's leading banker for almost three decades (and owned much property down there), wrote Huntington that "the time
2247-650: The PCC streamline car was introduced in 1937. Continued rail operating expenses and the introduction of GM 45-seat bus led to the abandonment of the L, K and 2 lines by 1941. Further cutbacks in rail service were approved by the Board of Public Utilities and would have replaced all but the busiest lines with bus service. World War II intervened, and tire and gas shortages increased demand for rail service. Old cars were taken out of storage and women began to work in various capacities to meet demand while minimizing resource use. The system
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#17328523621932354-536: The San Fernando Valley , La Habra , Redlands and Riverside , with branches to Colton and San Bernardino . He simultaneously created the Los Angeles Land Company. Huntington owned almost all the stock in the companies, with token amounts allotted to company directors. Although the company allowed Huntington to proceed with construction plans unencumbered by outside interference, the poor state of
2461-588: The Santa Fe Railway . In July 1908, Huntington leased all the lines of the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway to Harriman. In 1909 he sold the systems in Fresno and Santa Clara County to the Southern Pacific. Talks paused after the death of Harriman on September 9, 1909, but resumed in early 1910. On September 27, 1910, Huntington and Southern Pacific management came to a final agreement. In
2568-823: The Spring and Sixth Street Railroad was built in 1874 by Robert M. Widney , and ran from the Plaza area to Sixth and Pearl ( Figueroa ) Street; Not much later, this line would be extended northeast to East Los Angeles (today’s Lincoln Park ). A more ambitious horse-driven line was the Main Street and Agricultural Park Railroad , which ran from the Plaza area, south on Main Street , to Washington Gardens and then to Agricultural ( Exposition ) Park. Transportation technology progressed, and Los Angeles acquired significant investments in cable technology. The first cable car system to open in Los Angeles
2675-536: The St. Louis Car Company . The cars were capable of running in multiple-unit trains for use on heavier lines and were assigned to the Grand Avenue-Moneta line and the S line. The use of multiple-unit operation was stopped in 1930, when reduced patronage due to the depression made the use of trains unnecessary. These cars were updated to accommodate one-operator, two-operator operation between 1934 and 1936. In 1955, due to
2782-460: The interurban network. Connections to main line steam trains were made at Ontario Southern Pacific Station . The Ontario–Upland Line was officially interlined with service to Pomona via North Pomona until 1918, after which Pacific Electric no longer advertised the route as such. The line operated with an irregular schedule between Ontario and Upland until service was abandoned after October 6, 1928. This article related to light rail in
2889-520: The " Wig-Wag " crossing signals. A Christmas tree lot was operated in the small stub yard at the northwest corner of Willow Street and Long Beach Boulevard – the stock arrived in and was stored in a steel sided box car until the Christmas trees were prepared for sale – the busy intersection was where dual trackage departed Long Beach Boulevard and joined the private right-of-way from Huntington Beach and Seal Beach towards Los Angeles. The crossing signal there
2996-509: The "Yellow Cars" and carried more passengers than the PE's "Red Cars" since they ran in the most densely populated portions of Los Angeles, including south to Hawthorne and along Pico Boulevard to near West Los Angeles to terminate at the huge Sears Roebuck store and distribution center (the L.A. Railway's most popular line, the " P " line). The Yellow Cars' unusual narrow gauge PCC streetcars , by now painted MTA two-tone green, continued to operate until
3103-553: The 1920s profits were good and the lines were extended to the Pasadena area, to the beaches at Santa Monica, Del Rey, Manhattan/Redondo/Hermosa Beach and Long Beach in Los Angeles County, and to Newport Beach and Huntington Beach in Orange County. Extra service beyond the normal schedules was provided on weekends, particularly in the late afternoon when passengers wanted to return simultaneously. Comedian Harold Lloyd highlighted
3210-468: The 1930s, and the last of these iconic cars operated through 1952. All-Steel Cars (Type H) were configured very similar to the Type B cars with open ends and a closed center section. After the disastrous Pacific Electric wreck at Vineyard in July, 1913, the drawbacks of high-speed wooden cars led companies to turn to steel construction. From November, 1921 through early 1924, LARy received 250 of these cars from
3317-587: The 6th and Main terminal), on 4th Street, and along Hawthorne Boulevard south of downtown Los Angeles toward the cities of Hawthorne, Gardena, and Torrance. The system had four districts: Electric trolleys first appeared in Los Angeles in 1887. In 1895 the Pasadena & Pacific Railway was created from a merger of the Pasadena and Los Angeles Railway and the Los Angeles Pacific Railway (to Santa Monica.) The Pasadena & Pacific Railway boosted Southern California tourism, living up to its motto "from
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3424-449: The Hellman group sold the rest of their shares and bonds in PE and LAIU to Huntington and Harriman for $ 1.2 million (equivalent to $ 40.7 million in 2023). Huntington and Harriman were now equal partners in ownership of the Pacific Electric. The Hellman syndicate retained their 45% interest in the Los Angeles Railway , which they thought would eventually declare dividends. By 1905,
3531-556: The Huntington estate by National City Lines in 1945. The MTA started operating all lines as a single system on March 3, 1958. The Los Angeles-to-Long Beach passenger rail line served the longest, from July 4, 1902, until April 9, 1961. It was both the first and last interurban passenger line of the former Pacific Electric system. It was replaced by the Motor Coach 36f ("F" representing Freeway Flyer) route. The line, which used long stretches of open country running on private right-of-way,
3638-585: The Key System, which was being converted to buses by National City Lines in late 1948. Many lines were converted to buses in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The last remaining lines were taken over by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (a predecessor to the current agency, The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ( Metro )) along with the remains of the Pacific Electric Railway in 1958. The agency removed
3745-700: The Los Angeles MTA until the agency was reorganized and relaunched as the Southern California Rapid Transit District in September 1964. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the merger of Pacific Electric into the Southern Pacific Railroad on August 12, 1965. Prior to the merger, PE's lucrative freight service had been by Southern Pacific diesel-electric locomotives on the heavy-duty PE rail-bed and rails and tripping
3852-486: The Los Angeles River was in streets shared with automobiles and trucks. Virtually all street crossings were at-grade, and increasing automobile traffic led to decreasing Red Car speeds on much of its trackage. At its nadir, the busy Santa Monica Boulevard line, which connected Los Angeles to Hollywood and on to Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, had an average speed of 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) Traffic congestion
3959-440: The Los Angeles and Pacific Railway and the Pasadena street railways. The new management purchased new cars and began converting all the existing horsecar and cable lines to electricity, a task completed by June, 1896. The system was purchased by a syndicate led by railroad and real estate tycoon Henry E. Huntington in 1898. At its height, the system contained over 20 streetcar lines and 1,250 streetcars , most running through
4066-482: The Los Angeles and Pacific Railway. Moses Sherman, Harry Chandler , Hobart Johnstone Whitley , and others bought the entire southern San Fernando Valley in 1910. The electric railway and a $ 500,000 boulevard called Sherman Way connected the three townsites they were selling. These included Van Nuys , Marion (now Reseda ), and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park ). Parts of Sherman Way are now called Chandler Boulevard and Van Nuys Boulevard . The railway company "connected all
4173-527: The Motor Transit Company, which operated intercity bus service within Southern California. In the pre-automobile era, electric interurban rail was the most economical way to connect outlying suburban and exurban parcels to central cities. Although the railway owned extensive private roadbeds, usually between urban areas, much PE trackage in urban areas such as downtown Los Angeles west of
4280-509: The Newport and Santa Ana lines were completed. In 1906, the Newport line was extended to Balboa, and in late 1906, lines to Sierra Madre and Oak Knoll in Pasadena were finished. The two firms controlled 449 miles (723 km) of track, with the Pacific Electric at 197 miles (317 km) and the LAIU, 252 miles (406 km). Huntington purchased the Los Angeles and Redondo Railway in July 1905, along with
4387-596: The Northern District interurban lines to Pasadena, Monrovia/Glendora, and Baldwin Park versus the alternative of converting to buses, and found in favor of the latter. Remaining PE passenger service was sold off in 1953 to Metropolitan Coach Lines, which was given two years of rent-free usage of rail facilities. Jesse Haugh, of Metropolitan Coach Lines, was a former executive of Pacific City Lines which together with National City Lines acquired local streetcar systems across
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4494-457: The Northern District's Pasadena's Oak Knoll line, and the Sierra Madre line. The Western District's last line to Venice and Santa Monica also ended. The Pasadena and Monrovia/Glendora lines ended in 1951. The various public agencies—city, county, and state—agreed with PE that further abandoning service was necessary and PE happily complied. PE management had earlier compared costs of refurbishing
4601-642: The PE. Large-scale land acquisition for new freeway construction began in earnest in 1951. The original four freeways of the area, the Hollywood , Arroyo Seco (formerly Pasadena) , Harbor , and San Bernardino , were in use or being completed. Partial completion of the San Bernardino Freeway to Aliso Street near downtown Los Angeles led to traffic chaos when inbound automobiles left the freeway and entered city streets. The Southern District's passenger service to Santa Ana and Baldwin Park ended in 1950 as did
4708-508: The Pico Street electric line closed, seemingly for good. Development of an effective electric transportation system based on the new Sprague -based technology began in earnest with the arrival in Los Angeles of Moses Sherman , his brother-in-law Eli P. Clark and San Francisco investors late in 1890. Sherman, originally a teacher from Vermont, had moved to the Arizona territory in 1874 where he
4815-570: The President of the Nevada Bank, San Francisco's largest, became one of the largest bond holders for these lines and he and the younger Huntington developed a close business relationship. The success of their San Francisco trolley adventure and Hellman's experience in financing some early Los Angeles trolley lines led them to invest in the purchase of some existing downtown Los Angeles lines which they began to standardize and organize into one network called
4922-630: The Redondo Land Company, which owned 90% of the land in the beach community. This announcement precipitated a land boom in the area which resulted in a quick return of Huntington's entire investment in the area and in the railway. On March 19, 1906, an agreement was reached to sell control of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad lines, owned by Moses Sherman and Eli P. Clark , for a reported $ 6 million to Harriman (equivalent to $ 203 million in 2023); this turned over all
5029-590: The Santa Fe La Grande station, and also connected to the Southern Pacific Arcade station on Central. They also started a line to East Los Angeles (Eastlake Park) in 1892, laying track on North Spring and North Broadway Streets . They were forced to build a bridge over the Los Angeles River and Santa Fe rails, which postponed the opening of the line until September 26, 1893. The growth of
5136-747: The United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This United States rail–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about transportation in California is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company , nicknamed the Red Cars , was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars , interurban cars, and buses and
5243-556: The W line. As with other cars, in between 1936 and 1938, many cars were updated to accommodate one-operator, two-operator operation. Almost all of these two car types were scrapped after the abandonment of rail lines in 1955. LARy introduced the Streamliners (Type P) in 1937. The streamlined Presidential Conference Car , or PCC, developed by the industry as a hoped-for savior, were the very latest in transit engineering: modern, comfortable, sleek, and smooth-running . The city celebrated
5350-403: The abandonment of many rail lines, many of the units were sold to National Metals for scrapping. In 1956, 41 Type H-4 cars were sent to Seoul and Pusan, South Korea as part of an aid program. LARy also built 50 wood copies (designated Type K) of these steel cars in their own shops between 1923 and 1925. These were initially used on the E (later 5) line; during 1930, they were transferred to
5457-471: The arrival of these modern cars by creating Transportation Week, where the first car was unveiled by young actress Shirley Temple. LARy only received 65 from the St. Louis Car Company, and successor Los Angeles Transit Lines (LATL) ordered 60 more which were placed in service in 1948 on the most popular lines. The PCC cars were used until final abandonment in 1963. In addition to these three major categories, LARy had
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#17328523621935564-441: The autumn of 1890, the legislature passed the so-called 5-block law, which enabled a street railway company to use another company's rails for up to five city blocks. This would help Sherman immensely with his plans for LACE, but later would be used against him. Sherman and Clark began work immediately. In 1891 alone, they accomplished the following: By the end of 1891, the railway had five electric lines running, all which used
5671-563: The bond market meant that he had to turn to stockholders to finance expansion. In 1904 he acquired and finished the Los Angeles and Glendale Railway. In June, LAIU assumed control of the Riverside and Arlington Railway and the Santa Ana and Orange Motor Railway, and soon after, PE and LAIU finished their extension to Huntington Beach and began building a line to Covina . Huntington continued to expand and not declare profits. On December 7, 1904,
5778-516: The center margin of each freeway but the plan was never implemented. There was one exception that was within the Hollywood Freeway through Cahuenga Pass. The San Fernando Valley line from Hollywood took to the center of the Freeway over the pass and exited at Lankershim Boulevard. When that service was terminated, the freeway was expanded onto the former PE roadbed. The Whittier & Fullerton line
5885-404: The city to use public streets for transportation purposes) and by 1889 had constructed four major cable lines crisscrossing the growing downtown area, from Jefferson and Grand to East Los Angeles (Lincoln Heights), and from Westlake Park to Boyle Heights. Though considered the latest word in cable railway technology, construction was expensive, legal and operating problems plagued the system, and
5992-483: The company operated a total of 836 cars. By 1914, the arrival of the automobile began to seriously impact company profits. In 1915 alone, competition from jitneys cost the railroad over a half a million dollars and necessitated the closure of a maintenance shop. Worried by this competition, company workers succeeded in passing an anti-jitney ordinance in 1917, causing them to disappear by 1919. Shortages First World War further restricted expansion efforts and brought about
6099-421: The company’s financial situation. These light cars needed only a single operator, consumed less electricity, and produced less wear on the tracks, which did result in reduced costs. First deployed in September, 1920 on lighter lines, their slow, rough ride, hard seats, and lack of open sections made the cars unpopular with riders. All were placed in storage by 1928, but a dozen were used during World War II. After
6206-438: The conductor could collect fares without having to roam through the car. Center-entrance Cars (Type C), also called “sowbellies” , were modified older Standards with a low-step center entrance and exit to accommodate the “hobble skirt” craze of the early teens. Beginning in 1913, 107 older Standards were converted and 76 new cars were purchased from the St. Louis Car Company, but the conversions were stopped in 1914 because of
6313-463: The controlling majority of stock (double that of Huntington's) and the newspapers of the time referred to it as the Huntington-Hellman syndicate. Using surrogates, the syndicate began purchasing property and rights-of-way. The company's first main project, the line to Long Beach , opened July 4, 1902. Huntington experienced periods of opposition from organized labor with the construction of
6420-570: The core of Los Angeles and serving such neighborhoods as Crenshaw , West Adams , Leimert Park , Exposition Park , Echo Park , Westlake , Hancock Park , Vernon , Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights . The LARy continued to expand throughout the early 1900s purchasing its erstwhile competitor the Los Angeles Traction Company in 1903. In 1910 "The Great Merger" saw Huntington separate himself from Pacific Electric's operations. City operations went to LARy and Pacific Electric took over
6527-836: The country with the intention of shutting them down and converting them to bus operation in what became known as the Great American Streetcar Scandal . Several lines operating to the north and the west which used the Belmont Tunnel from the Subway Terminal Building downtown ceased operation – the Hollywood Boulevard and Beverly Hills lines were shut down in 1954 and service to the San Fernando Valley, Burbank and Glendale using newly acquired PCC streetcars lasted only to 1955. The Bellflower line to
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#17328523621936634-786: The dots on the map and was a leading player itself in developing all the real estate that lay in between the dots". Huntington's involvement with urban rail was intimately tied to his real estate development operations. Real estate development was so lucrative for Huntington and SP that they could use the Red Car as a loss leader . However, by 1920, when most of the company's holdings had been developed, their major income source began to deplete. Many rural passenger lines were unprofitable, with losses offset by revenue generated from passenger lines in populated corridors and from freight operations. The least-used Red Car lines were converted to cheaper bus routes as early as 1925. In 1936, Pacific Electric acquired
6741-515: The electric lines put severe pressure on the Pacific Cable Railway. The two rail companies began negotiations to possibly combine in August, 1892, but foreclosure and sale was their only option. On October 4, 1893, the sale of the Pacific Cable Railway was completed, and LACE acquired all of the assets, including their cable and horsecar lines. LACE was now the largest street railway operator in Los Angeles, owning about 90% of all lines. By
6848-408: The end of 1893, they had 14 lines, with a total of 38.325 route-miles of electric lines including Crown Hill, Central Avenue, University, Maple Avenue, Pico Street, Depot, and East Los Angeles: 20.5 miles of cable lines, including Boyle Heights/Westlake Park, and East Los Angeles/Grand Avenue, and 9.09 miles of horsecar lines, including West Ninth Street, Washington Boulevard, and North Main Street. With
6955-470: The end of rail service in 1963. Large profits from land development were generated along the routes of the new lines. Huntington Beach was incorporated in 1909 and developed by the Huntington Beach Company, a real-estate development firm owned by Henry Huntington, which still owns both land in the city and most of the mineral rights. There are other local streetcar suburbs . Angelino Heights
7062-403: The enterprise. Revenue from passenger traffic rarely generated a profit, unlike freight. The real money for the investors was in supplying electric power to new communities and in developing and selling real estate. To get the railways and electricity to their towns, local groups offered the Huntington interest opportunities in local land. Soon Huntington and his partners had significant holdings in
7169-459: The eventual 74 short cars, many were converted to other configurations between 1910 and 1923. Twenty-eight were lengthened and converted to Type B Huntington Standards and twenty-two were converted to Type C center-entrance cars. After sixteen more were converted to arch-roof cars by 1923, there were only eight of the short versions remaining, which were retired in 1939, after the I line was abandoned. Arch-Roof cars (Type F) - In 1922 fifteen of
7276-417: The existing streetcar companies of Los Angeles. LARy and Pacific Electric succeeded in defeating McAdoo's scheme through a public referendum by proposing their own system, the Los Angeles Motor Bus Company . The first service began in August 1923, and by 1925 had 53 miles of bus routes, the second-most in the nation after Chicago . The Great Depression hit the railway hard, and revenue shortfalls forced
7383-473: The few U.S. interurbans to do so. This provided important revenue. The PE was responsible for an innovation in grade crossing safety: the automatic electromechanical grade crossing signal, nicknamed the wigwag . This device was quickly adopted by other railroads. A few wigwags continue in operation as of 2006 . During this period, the Los Angeles Railway provided local streetcar service in central Los Angeles and to nearby communities. These trolleys were known as
7490-502: The final few miles from private right-of-way to reach the 6th and Main PE terminal and were bogged down within this jammed traffic. Schedules could not be met, plus former patrons were now driving. The San Bernardino line, Pomona branch, Temple City branch via Alhambra's Main Street, San Bernardino's Mountain View local to 34th Street, Santa Monica Boulevard via Beverly Hills, and all remaining Pasadena local services were all cut in 1941. Permission
7597-502: The interurban routes. This took LARy to its historical maximum size, operating on nearly 173 miles of double track. After the merger, Henry Huntington retired and passed control to his son, Howard E. Huntington . Center-entrance, low-floor cars were introduced in 1912 and were joined by a fleet of 75 new cars from the St. Louis Car Company in anticipation of increased traffic from the Panama-Pacific Exposition . In May 1912,
7704-489: The introduction of skip-stop service throughout the system. Even without competition from the jitneys, LARy was forced to cut lines and switch to smaller, more efficient Birney streetcars to maintain profitability. Although the prosperity of the Roaring Twenties brought some relief and a return to the previous quality of service, a proposal to establish a rival bus company by William Gibbs McAdoo greatly concerned
7811-418: The land companies developing Naples , Bay City (Seal Beach) , Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Redondo Beach. Harriman, who controlled the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad , was concerned with the competition that these new electric lines gave his steam railroad traffic, and had been prodding Huntington for joint ownership of the lines but Huntington refused to negotiate. In early 1903, Harriman proposed
7918-540: The line instead. He acquired the line in October, 1890 and renamed it The Belt Line Railroad Company . Sherman created an Arizona corporation called The Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway Company (LACE) on November 12, 1890 with Sherman as President and Clark as General Manager. Future mayor Frederick Eaton was chosen as Chief Engineer. The firm was incorporated in Arizona because Arizona incorporation held certain advantages over incorporating in California. In
8025-478: The lines in downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica and down the coast to Redondo Beach to the Southern Pacific. In January 1907, the Hellman syndicate, after seeing that Huntington ran the Los Angeles Railway similarly to PE, continually expanding and not declaring dividends, sold their 45% stake in the Los Angeles Railway to Harriman and the Southern Pacific. The Covina line was completed in 1907, as well as
8132-656: The modification of the Type-H cars to allow operation by a single driver and the closure of the Division 2 car house. The passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act encouraged union growth and spurred a 1934 strike for higher wages by members of the Amalgamated Transit Union . 1/8th of employees joined the strike and were subsequently fired, damaging equipment in the aftermath. Amid these difficulties
8239-502: The mountains to the sea." The Pacific Electric Railway was created in 1901 by railroad executive Henry E. Huntington and banker Isaias W. Hellman . As a Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), operated by his uncle, Collis P. Huntington , Huntington had a background in electric trolley lines in San Francisco where he oversaw SP's effort to consolidate many smaller street railroads into one organized network. Hellman,
8346-406: The new railways. Tensions between union leaders and like-minded Los Angeles businessmen were high from the early 1900s up through the 1920s. Strikes and boycotts troubled the Pacific Electric throughout those years until they reached the height of violence in the 1919 Streetcar Strike of Los Angeles . The efforts of organized labor simmered with the onset of World War I . Railroads were one part of
8453-462: The poor earnings of the interurban system, with profits of $ 151,000 in 1905 rising to $ 402,000 in 1907 (equivalent to $ 5.12 million and $ 13.1 million in 2023). However, in 1909, earnings were only $ 75,000. Huntington had begun long negotiations with Harriman about consolidating the Los Angeles electric railways beginning in 1907. There had always been a difference between the two men as to
8560-422: The popularity and utility of the system in an extended sequence in his 1924 film Girl Shy , where, after finding one Red Car too crowded, he commandeered another and drove at high speed through the streets of Culver City and Los Angeles. In response to a proposal to establish the first bus company in Los Angeles by William Gibbs McAdoo , Pacific Electric and the Los Angeles Railway proposed their own system,
8667-424: The purpose of the railway, with Huntington seeing the PE as a means to facilitate his real estate efforts, and Harriman seeing it as part of the Southern Pacific's overall transportation system in Southern California . Harriman left Huntington alone until 1910, when the former refused to allow the latter to run a line to San Diego that would have interfered with a competitive arrangement Harriman had worked out with
8774-492: The region attracting millions of workers. There were several years when the company's income statement showed a profit when gasoline and rubber were rationed and much of the populace depended on mass transit. At peak operation toward the end of the war, the PE dispatched over 10,000 trains daily and was a major employer in Southern California. However, the equipment in use was old and suffered from deferred maintenance. The nation's last interurban Railroad post office (RPO) service
8881-602: The remaining 20%. Huntington could expand the PE as he saw fit, but he was not to compete with existing SP lines. A byproduct of this sale was that Harriman sold the banking unit of his Wells Fargo Company to Hellman who merged it with his Nevada Bank operations and established the Pacific Coast's largest, most powerful bank. On June 6, 1903, Huntington created the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway, capitalized at $ 10 million (equivalent to $ 339 million in 2023), with plans to extend lines to Santa Ana , Newport Beach ,
8988-655: The remaining five streetcar lines (J, P, R, S and V) and two trolley bus lines (2 and 3), replacing electric service with diesel buses after March 31, 1963. Historian Jim Walker notes that there were three major classifications of LARy cars: the Huntington Standards , the all-steel cars , and the streamliners . All were built to run on narrow-gauge tracks spaced 3’ 6” apart. The type numbers referred to below were created by LARy in 1920 to categorize their cars; there were many sub-categories (e.g., B-2, H-3, K-4, etc.) not recorded here. The Huntington Standard (Type B)
9095-575: The sale of buses and related products to local transit companies controlled by National City Lines and other companies in what became known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy . National City Lines purchased Key System , which operated the streetcar system in Oakland, California, the following year. The company was renamed as Los Angeles Transit Lines. The new company introduced 40 new ACF-Brill trolley buses which had originally been intended for
9202-485: The secret winner. In May 1903, Huntington made an overnight trip to San Francisco and worked out an arrangement with Harriman. The Pacific Electric would get the Los Angeles Traction Lines, SP's San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railway line, the 6th Street franchise, and some downtown trackage. In return, Harriman got 40.3% of PE stock, an amount equal to Huntington's, with Hellman, Borel and De Guigne owning
9309-552: The short cars were converted into Pay-as-you-enter cars with walkover seats throughout and a distinctive arched roof. Initially used on the 5 line as two-man cars, after World War II, LATL rebuilt them for one-man operation in 1948 and they were used until 1954. Birney Safety Cars (Type G) - In 1919, LARy purchased seventy of these lightweight single-truck cars in response to the California Railroad Commission’s 1919 report which recommended 400 of them to bolster
9416-481: The south closed in 1958 as the Golden State/Santa Ana (Interstate 5) neared completion. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority was established in 1951 to study the possibility of establishing a publicly owned monorail line running north from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles and then west to Panorama City in the San Fernando Valley. In 1954, the agency's powers were expanded to allow it to propose
9523-771: The time there was any opportunity to buy new cars, the new PCC car had been developed. Trolley Coaches - LARy had ordered a Twin Coach demonstrator trolley coach in 1937, to test its feasibility, but at that time didn’t order more. After 1945, LATL transferred 40 ACF Brill trolley coaches from the Oakland Key System to Los Angeles for use on the new Trolley Coach line 3 (converted from parts of rail lines D, U, and 3). Additional Brill coaches were purchased, and were used to convert rail line B to Trolley Coach line 2 in 1948. The two trolley coach lines ran until 1963. LARy had almost 150 work and maintenance cars designed to carry out
9630-433: The war, LATL used them on shuttle lines until they were abandoned in 1946. Funeral Cars (Type D and Type E) - LARy created two unique Funeral cars to serve the areas cemeteries. The first, a smaller car was rebuilt from a passenger car in 1909 and called “Paraiso”, but was converted again to a passenger car in 1911 when a new, larger car, named “Descanso”, was created. The larger Descanso was used until 1922, when it, too,
9737-408: The world, to a large extent because they were featured in many early movies. The Standards were either rebuilt from older cars or were purchased from manufacturers between 1902 and 1912. Pay-As-You-Enter (PAYE) Standard - Beginning in 1910, Standards were lengthened to 44 feet and modified into a PAYE format. Each end of the original cars were lengthened and an additional entrance door was added so
9844-454: The world, with 2,160 daily trains over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of track. It operated to many destinations in Southern California, particularly to the south and east. The Southern Pacific now began to emphasize freight operations. From 1911, when revenue from freight was $ 519,226 ($ 17 million adjusted for inflation), freight revenue climbed to $ 1,203,956 in 1915 (equivalent to $ 36.3 million in 2023), 13% of total revenue. During
9951-682: Was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent local services which complemented the Pacific Electric "Red Car" system's largely commuter-based interurban routes. The company carried many more passengers than the Red Cars, which served a larger and sparser area of Los Angeles. Cars operated on 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow gauge tracks, and shared dual gauge trackage with
10058-640: Was built around the Temple Street horsecar, which was later upgraded to electric streetcar as part of the Yellow Car system. Highland Park was developed along the Figueroa Street trolley lines and railroads linking downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. Huntington owned nearly all the stock in the Pacific Electric Land Company. West Hollywood was established by Moses Sherman and his partners of
10165-512: Was cut in 1938, Redondo Beach, Newport Beach, Sawtelle via San Vicente, and Riverside in 1940. When the San Bernardino Freeway opened in 1941 but was not yet connected to the Hollywood Freeway, while the "Four Way" overpass was being constructed, westbound car traffic from the SB freeway poured onto downtown streets near the present Union Station. PE's multiple car trains coming and going from Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia/Glendora used those same streets
10272-474: Was involved in business and civic affairs, real estate, and street railways. Clark, too, came from the Arizona territory, and was similarly involved in business and civic affairs. Sherman became interested in opportunities in Los Angeles after vacationing there in early 1890. He joined the efforts of a group attempting to resurrect the Second Street Cable Railway , but persuaded them to electrify
10379-593: Was later utilized when the Southern California RTD was designing and building the Metro Blue Line light rail line. The Blue Line, the first modern mass transit line in Los Angeles since the discontinuation of the Red Car service, was first opened in 1990. The few remaining trolley-coach routes and narrow gauge streetcar routes of the former Los Angeles Railway "Yellow Cars" were removed in early 1963. The public transportation system continued to be operated by
10486-410: Was numerically LARy’s largest, with an eventual count of 747 cars. Designed in 1901-1902 by LARy engineers and originally 38’ long, these wooden “California Cars” had open sections on both ends and an enclosed center section, but their most distinctive feature was the five-window front, with two elegant curved corner windows. These cars seemed to dominate the Southern California landscape in the eyes of
10593-459: Was of such great concern by the late 1930s that the influential Automobile Club of Southern California engineered an elaborate plan to create an elevated freeway-type Motorway System, a key aspect of which was the dismantling of the streetcar lines, replacing them with buses that could run on both local streets and on the new express roads. When the freeway system was planned in the 1930s the city planners planned to include interurban tracks in
10700-412: Was operated by PE on its San Bernardino Line. This was inaugurated comparatively late, on September 2, 1947. It left LA's new Union Station interurban yard on the west side of the terminal, turned north onto Alameda Street at 12:45 pm and reached San Bernardino at 4:40 pm, taking three hours for the trip while making postal stops en route as required. It did not operate on Sundays or holidays. This last RPO
10807-402: Was pulled off May 6, 1950. Aware that most new arrivals planned to stay in the region after the war, local municipal governments, Los Angeles County and the state agreed that a massive infrastructure improvement program was necessary. At that time politicians agreed to construct a web of freeways across the region. This was seen as a better solution than a new mass transit system or an upgrade of
10914-615: Was rebuilt as a passenger car, and the original, smaller car was re-rebuilt and named “Descanso”. The second Descanso was later donated to the Railroad Boosters. Experimental cars (Type L and Type M) - LARy purchased two special cars for possible future use. Type L was a low-floor, all-steel car delivered in March, 1925, and Type M , two Peterr Witt pay-as-you-pass cars with front entrances and center exits were delivered in March, 1930. The Depression prevented additional purchases, and by
11021-674: Was received in September 1942 to abandon the shuttle line to General Hospital which company officials said had been operating at a loss for several months. The Glendale line survived to the early 1950s due to the convenience of a subway into downtown Los Angeles and used the company's only modern equipment, a group of streamlined PCC cars. In 1940, Pacific Electric sold its Glendale , Burbank , and Pasadena operations to Pacific City Lines . San Bernardino operations were sold to San Bernardino Valley Transit. PE carried increased passenger loads during World War II, when Los Angeles County's population nearly doubled as war industries concentrated in
11128-483: Was sold in 1944 by Huntington's estate to American City Lines, Inc., of Chicago, a subsidiary of National City Lines , a holding company that was purchasing transit systems across the country. The sale was announced December 5, 1944, but the purchase price was not disclosed. National City Lines, along with its investors that included Firestone Tire , Standard Oil of California (now Chevron Corporation) and General Motors , were later convicted of conspiring to monopolize
11235-558: Was the Second Street Cable Railway . Opened in 1885, it ran west from Second and Spring Streets out First Street to Texas Street (Belmont Avenue). Each of these early railroads were built to further the sale of real estate that was considered too far away from the downtown area. The Los Angeles Cable Railway (later named the Pacific Cable Railway , and incorporated in Illinois) owned many exclusive franchises (agreements with
11342-651: Was the first installation of the final design of the Magnetic Watchman wigwag crossing signal and crossbucks. Oil tank cars were still shuttled to Signal Hill even as the surface street tracks were torn up from the center of Long Beach Boulevard long after the copper overhead catenary supply wires had been removed. Southern Pacific (now part of Union Pacific ) continues to operate freight service utilizing former PE right-of-way. Los Angeles Railway [REDACTED] The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars , LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines )
11449-536: Was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s. Organized around the city centers of Los Angeles and San Bernardino , it connected cities in Los Angeles County , Orange County , San Bernardino County and Riverside County . The system shared dual gauge track with the 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow gauge Los Angeles Railway , "Yellow Car," or "LARy" system on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles (directly in front of
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