The Echo Park Avenue Line was a

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 ...

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 ...

line in

Los Angeles 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 wor ...

. The railway traveled from 11th and Hill Streets in downtown Los Angeles along the Hollywood Line to Sunset Boulevard where it turned right and proceeded north along Echo Park Avenue to terminate at Cerro Gordo Street in the

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east- central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known ...

neighborhood.

History

The route was opened as a

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, ...

line in 1889 under the

Elysian Park Street Railway Company Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...

. Pacific Electric designated the service with the number 32. At the time of the Great Merger of 1911, the line operated only as a shuttle on Echo Park Avenue between Sunset and Cerrito Gordo. Early the following year, the cars were continuing downtown to be through-routed with the

Venice Boulevard Line The Venice Boulevard Line (formerly the West 16th Street Line) was a local streetcar line of the Pacific Electric. It operated between Downtown Los Angeles and Pico/Rimpau, Vineyard Junction, where riders could transfer to interurban cars. Nearly ...

. The inbound terminus was truncated to 9th and Hill in 1916. Between July and September 1926, the terminal was extended to 11th and Hill. Power issues in 1924 forced the route to again operate as a shuttle service on Echo Park between July and November. Through-routing to Venice continued starting in 1932 and persisted until 1950. Evening and Sunday service was converted to bus operations starting in 1939, but was reestablished in 1942 as a wartime measure. Service was reduced to a single franchise car on October 1, 1950, with full abandonment following on December 28.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California
History of Los Angeles Light rail in California Pacific Electric routes Railway lines closed in 1950 Closed railway lines in the United States Railway lines opened in 1889 {{California-transport-stub

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links