W 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 ...
line 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' ...
. It 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 ...
(LARy) from 1895 to 1956.
History
The Washington Line was one of the first to be built by LARy. The Maple Street Line was the first electric railway in Los Angeles, built by the
Los Angeles Electric Railway Company — this line was taken over by the
Los Angeles Consolidated Railway and in turn acquired by LARy in 1895. A former
horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
route, the
Los Angeles Consolidated Railway, was acquired by the Los Angeles Railway and electrified for streetcar service in 1895, dubbed the Kuhrts Street–Easlake Park Line.
These were merged in 1902 to form the Maple Avenue and East Lake Park Line. Its northern terminus was at the intersection of Piedmont Street and
Pasadena Avenue in
Garvanza
Garvanza is a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. Fourteen Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are located in the neighborhood.
History
The town of Garvanza was originally part of the Rancho San Rafael, owned by Jose Maria Verdugo. Its na ...
. This segment of the route closely followed the
Arroyo Seco,
ATSF
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...
main line,
Los Angeles Terminal Pasadena branch, and
Los Angeles and Pasadena 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, a measure used by traffic engineers
* Level of significance, a measure of statistical significan ...
, stopping quite close to
Highland Park Station. From there, it entered Downtown Los Angeles by way of Piedmont, Avenue 61, Monte Vista Street, Marmion Way,
Dayton Avenue,
Avenue 20,
Main Street,
Tenth Street, Flower Street,
Washington Boulevard, La Salle Street, and 22nd Street to a terminus at 22nd and
Western Avenue.
In 1911, the route was extended along Washington Boulevard to Rimpau Boulevard. The section of track on 22nd Street and La Salle was kept as a shuttle route until 1921. At the northeast end, an extension was built along
Eagle Rock Avenue to Buena Vista Terrace. In 1919, the Tenth Street segment was eliminated and streetcar tracks were built through the
Broadway Tunnel, enabling the line to bypass Main Street entirely, and instead run through Downtown Los Angeles by way of
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, 11th Street, and Flower Street. In 1921, it was renamed "W."
Around 1922, a branch line was built from Pasadena Avenue up
York Boulevard
York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6, it starts in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over Hamilton Harbour, ...
to Avenue 50, and was quite popular. In 1948, the Annandale section was abandoned and York Boulevard became the sole northern terminus. In 1955, the entire northeastern segment of the route was abandoned and the W line then ran east via Broadway to Lincoln Park Avenue. The entire route was abandoned a year later on November 18, 1956, with substitute bus service becoming the 12 Line.
[ ]
References
External links
W Line Archives— Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society
*
Los Angeles Railway routes
Railway lines opened in 1895
Railway lines closed in 1956
1895 establishments in California
1956 disestablishments in California
{{California-transport-stub