D was a

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

route in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The line was operated by the

Los Angeles Railway The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent loc ...

from 1895 to 1947.

History

Bonnie Brae Line (1895–1920)

During the early days of LARy, the route ("Bonnie Brae") had to compete with multiple other streetcar companies, running a circuitous route to avoid them between

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

and the northern portion of Westlake, by way of 5th Street, Olive Street, 6th Street,

Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Driv ...

, 7th Street,

Alvarado Street Alvarado Street is a north–south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California in the United States. The street was named after California governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. Geography North of Glendale Boulevard, it starts off as a residential street ...

, Webster Avenue, and Bonnie Brae Street. Following the Great Merger of 1911,

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 was the largest electric railway system ...

divested most of its Los Angeles local routes to LARy, allowing D to use former

Los Angeles Inter-Urban Electric Railway LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service (transportation), Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a ...

trackage on West 6th street Westlake. The Figueroa and 7th street portions of the line were eliminated, shortening the trip by .

D Line (1920–1947)

In 1921, the Bonnie Brae Line was given the letter designation D. Cars originated at Fifth and Central, running west via Fifth; Olive; Sixth; a private right of way; and Larchmont as far as Melrose. Early in the 1920s, the 5th Street segment was extended so that 3, U, and D lines could run straight along 5th Street through Downtown and shortening the route by an additional . This made D little more than a branch of two much more popular routes. Service to Bonnie Brae was resumed in January 1925. With the closure of Central Station in 1940, and no major destinations on East 5th Street, ridership downtown reduced significantly (though the removal of the I line improved ridership in Westlake). Ridership along the route spiked in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, necessitating extending the service down U line tracks to Slauson. The route was removed by Los Angeles Transit Lines in 1947, largely replaced with trolley coach service.

Sources

External links

D Line Archives
— Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society * Los Angeles Railway routes Railway lines opened in 1920 Railway lines closed in 1947 1920 establishments in California 1947 disestablishments in California {{California-transport-stub