Stables and rail tracks in downtown L.A.

The Main Street and Agricultural Park Railroad — seen here slicing past livery stables in (or near) downtown L.A. — was the first suburban line in Los Angeles. The company was chartered in November, 1874 and began operation in 1875 from the Southern Pacific Railroad River Station Depot on North Spring Street. The line operated through the city on Main Street, south to Washington Boulevard, extending to Agricultural Park (now Exposition Park), traveling by way of Washington, Figueroa and Wesleyan (now University Avenue). In 1898, it was purchased by the Huntington Group (headed by Henry E. Huntington), along with the Los Angeles Railway and the San Pedro Street Railway, so that it could be consolidated and expanded. There’s more info on L.A.’s early rail history at The Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. (But don’t believe them that Angels Flight is re-opening Thanksgiving, 2008.)