VIDEOS
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| Above: YouTubeCA video - Los Angeles Streetcars - The Final Years - Length: 3:19 mins. | Above: YouTubeCA video - 1947 LOS ANGELES RAILWAY TROLLEY MOTORMAN & BUS DRIVER RECRUITING FILM "IT'S A BIG JOB" MD17454 - Length: 22:19 mins. | Above: YouTubeCA video - Huntington's LA: The History of Pacific Electric - Length: 14:18 mins. |
PHOTOS
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MAPS
FIRST INSET: CENTRAL LOS ANGELES
SECOND INSET: SOUTHERN LOS ANGELES REGION
I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).
Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.
ROUTES
STREETCAR ROUTES
Operator: Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA) ["Yellow Cars"]
| J | Jefferson Park – Jefferson Blvd. – Grand Av. – 7th St. – Mateo St. - 9th St. - Santa Fe Av. – Pacific Blvd. – Florence Av. - Seville St. - Huntington Park |
| P | Dozier St. – Rowan St. - 1st St. – Broadway – Pico Blvd. – Mid City (Rimpau Loop) |
| R | 3rd & Wilton – 3rd St. – Vermont Av. – 7th St. – Boyle Av. - Whittier Ave. – East Los Angeles (Brannick Av.) |
| S | 8th & Western – 8th St. – Vermont Av. – 7th St. – San Pedro St. – Avalon Blvd. – Central Av. – Watts (Manchester Av.) |
| V | East Hollywood (Monroe St.) – Vermont Av. – Vernon Av. – Vernon Yard |
All Los Angeles streetcar lines ceased operation on 31 March 1963.
INTERURBAN ROUTE
Operator: Pacific Electric Railway ["Red Cars"]
Note: The two-character codes used to identify routes below and in the maps are for convenience only, and were not used by the operating company.
| LB | Long Beach | 6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – Willowbrook Av. – Compton - Dominguez Junction - - Long Beach Blvd. - Long Beach [Ocean Blvd. & Pacific Av.] |
The last interurban route was discontinued on 9 April 1961.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM
NETWORK LENGTH
- Streetcar lines: ? km.
- Interurban line: ? km.
HISTORY
- Horse-drawn streetcars: 1874 - 1896
- Cablecars: 1888 - 1896
- Electric streetcars (Los Angeles): 1 July 1891 - 1963
- Electric streetcars (San Pedro): Jan. 1903 - 23 Jan. 1938
- Interurban railways: 1887 - 9 Apr. 1961
- Light rail: 14 July 1990 - today.
- Subway: 30 Jan. 1993 - today
- Funicular: (1st) 31 Dec. 1901 - 18 May 1969; (2nd) 24 Feb. 1996 - today.
GAUGE
- Streetcars (Los Angeles Railway; San Pedro streetcars): 1067 mm.
- Interurbans (Pacific Electric): 1435 mm.
- Light Rail: 1435 mm.
- Subway: 1435 mm.
- Funicular: 762 mm.
TRAM PRESERVATION
The Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, southeast of Riverside, owns and operates a large collection of vintage Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway streetcars over 0.8km dual-gauge and 2.4km standard gauge track.
SOURCES
- "Los Angeles and San Francisco", The Modern Tramway, Nov. 1949 (12: 143), p.221-224.
- Simons, V. "LA Light Rail on the move", Tramways & Urban Transit, May 2017 (80: 953), p.172-175.
- Simons, V. "Los Angeles: Gone but not forgotten", Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb. 2010 (73: 866), p.76-77.
- Simons, V. "Los Angeles: Light rail to the Beach - and beyond", Tramways & Urban Transit, Aug. 2016 (79: 944), p.295-300.
- Simons, V. "Los Angeles - The transformation continues", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2023 (86: 1032), p.468-470.
- Simons, V. "Los Angeles transformation", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2009 (72: 864), p.460-463.
- Simons, V. "Update from Los Angeles", Tramways & Urban Transit, May 2013 (76: 905), p.175.
- Skelsey, G. "Hill Street Blues" [The Pacific Electric Railway (PE)], Modern Tramway & Light Rail Transit, Aug. 1988 (51: 608), p.263-269.
- Smith, G.E. "Los Angeles - The S route", The Modern Tramway, Oct. 1961 (24: 286), p.295-298.
- Veysey, L.R. A history of the rail passenger service operated by the Pacific Electric Railway Company since 1911 and by its successors since 1953 Los Angeles: Interurbans, 1958.
- Walker, J. Images of Rail: Pacific Electric red cars. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
- Wansbeek, C.J. "Los Angeles - Megacity needs more light rail", Tramways & Urban Transit, May 2007 (70: 833), p.172-176.
- Wansbeek, C.J. "Los Angeles - New light rail line brings gold to Pasadena", Tramways & Urban Transit, June 2007 (70: 834), p.217-219.
- Wansbeek, C.J. "Los Angeles - Metrolink: Successful urban rail", Tramways & Urban Transit, July 2007 (70: 835), p.258-261.
WIKIS
- Angels Flight
- History of LACMTA
- List of Pacific Electric lines
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
- Los Angeles Metro Rail
- Los Angeles Railway
- Pacific Electric
- Santa Monica Air Line
- Streetcars in San Pedro
WEB SITES
- Angels Flight Railway®
- Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California
- Los Angeles (on UrbanRail.Net)
- Metro
- Metrolink
Copyright Gabor Sandi 1998-2026
Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.
To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.
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