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There was a fairly sizable ceremony held today at Evergreen Cemetery to dedicate a memorial wall for remains of immigrants found during construction of the Eastside Gold Line Extension. The remains were first discovered in June 2005 at First and Lorena streets in Boyle Heights. Construction was halted and ultimately [continue reading]
Plucked from the fabulous Metro Library coffers, this cover page from “Rapid Transit – A Reality” shows a proposed ultramodern train on its way to Century City, as well as an ambitious list of other hot spots — all scheduled for completion by July, 1968. The document was part of a 1963 presentation. Accompanying [continue reading]
A female conductor, called a “conductorette” in the attached vintage caption, poses on Spring Street in downtown L.A. with a special Los Angeles Railway Car decorated for a WW II bond drive. Note the Hall of Records behind on the left and the Hall of Justice on the right. Some [continue reading]
My how times flies when you’re under construction. Not really. But in this case, it’s surprising to note that it was just four years ago (Feb. 23, 2006) that tunneling began on the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension. In a relatively short period of time, two tunnel boring machines dug out [continue reading]
Casual Fridays on the Los Angeles Railway? Not during the 1930s, as shown by an employee gazing at a Division 3 mirror marked with uniform and personal care directives: “Clean Shave, White Colar, Shoes Shined, Pants Cleaned and Pressed.” Metro operators today also have strict uniform requirements that do not [continue reading]
Better late than never to celebrate an anniversary: On Jan. 30, 1993 the first segment of the Metro Red Line opened carrying passengers 4.4 miles between Union Station and Westlake/MacArthur Park … to Langer’s Deli for some of the best pastrami in town. (The full Red Line opened to North Hollywood [continue reading]
Move over “Avatar,” “The Road” and “The Book of Eli.” When it comes to contemplating the demise of civilization, L.A. transit is way ahead of you with a subway plan including stations that double as fallout shelters. L.A’s 1961 New Proposed Backbone Route Plan, which outlined elevated rail from El Monte to [continue reading]
Almost overlooked because of the holidays was the 108th birthday last Thursday for Angels Flight, the tiny cable railway opened in 1901 to shuttle passengers from L.A.’s central business district up the steep hill to the posh Bunker Hill residences above. Angels Flight ferried riders between Third and Hill and [continue reading]
Did you know that Wilshire Boulevard is the only street in Los Angeles to have surface-level rail banned from operating on it (although not under it) between MacArthur Park and Beverly Hills? Early 20th Century elites who built their mansions near the boulevard may have been LA’s first “NIMFYs” (Not in My [continue reading]
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 [continue reading]
