Hollywood Line

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Hollywood
Beverly Hills station, c. 1915–1920
Overview
Owner	Southern Pacific Railroad
Locale	Los Angeles
Termini	Subway Terminal Building Beverly Hills
Stations	10
Service
Type	Streetcar
System	Pacific Electric
Operator(s)	Pacific Electric
Rolling stock	Steel 600 Class (last used)
History
Opened	1909
Closed	September 26, 1954 (September 26, 1954)
Technical
Line length	11.7 mi (18.8 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	600 V DC Overhead lines
Route map Legend Coldwater Canyon Beverly Hills Lewis West Hollywood Sherman Quint Crescent Owensmouth / San Fernando Laurel Canyon Gardner Junction Hollywood Western and Franklin Normandie Avenue Sunset Junction surface discontinued 1950 Glendale–Burbank Echo Park Avenue Toluca Substation and Yard Hollywood Subway Subway Terminal This diagram: view talk

The Hollywood Line was a local streetcar line of the Pacific Electric Railway. It primarily operated between Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood, with some trips as far away as Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles. It was the company's busiest route prior to the opening of the Hollywood Subway.^[1][2] Designated as route 32, the line operated from 1909 until 1953.

History[]

The route was an amalgamation of different railroads. The Sunset Boulevard segment was established in 1895 by the Pasadena and Pacific Railroad as a narrow gauge line. Los Angeles Pacific Railway constructed the Melrose Cutoff in 1900, running between Santa Monica Boulevard and Virgil to Prospect Avenue and Vermont Avenue. This was route was largely supplanted in 1905 by the Hollywood Cutoff, which ran from Sanborn Junction northeast to Hollywood and Vermont. The opened in 1909, allowing cars a more direct route to Downtown Los Angeles; the route was converted to standard gauge that same year. The line was acquired by Pacific Electric in 1911 as part of the Great Merger, and the company assumed operations.^[3]

Under Pacific Electric, cars ran between the Hill Street Terminal and Gardner Junction (Sunset Boulevard and Gardner Street). Beginning in 1916, cars were through-routed past the Hill Street Station to serve the Venice Boulevard Local Line — the following year some rush hour trips began terminating at 11th and Hill Street.^[1] On February 7, 1926 the route would begin operating with every-other trip terminating at the new Subway Terminal Building, running via the Hollywood Subway.^[1] By 1932, both subway and surface trips were operating past Gardner Junction. Between 1941 and 1943, trips on the surface line were through-routed with the Venice Short Line in addition to the Locals. Starting in October 1950, all trips on the line were made to terminate in the subway. Metropolitan Coach Lines acquired the service in 1953. The final passenger cars ran over the line in the early hours of September 26, 1954.^[1]

Route[]

The route began at the Hill Street Station which was located at the site of the Subway Terminal Building, on the west side of Hill Street between 4th and 5th Street. The Red Cars exited the station (or later the Subway Terminal Building) at ground level directly into Hill Street. The dual tracks ran north in the center of the pavement of Hill Street, crossing major intersections in Downtown Los Angeles to reach 1st Street. North of 1st Street was the first of the two tunnels on the route. The dual tracks ran through the first tunnel (under Bunker Hill) to Temple Street, while the Hill Street roadway passed through its own parallel tunnel directly to the east. The rails continued north of Temple Street through the second tunnel (under Fort Moore Hill) to Sunset Boulevard, while Hill Street ran above on a separate alignment.

On Sunset Boulevard, dual tracks ran westerly in the center of the pavement, crossing Grand Avenue, Figueroa Street, and over the Pasadena Freeway. The rails continued in a general northwesterly direction, past Beaudry, Elysian Park and Echo Park Avenues to arrive at Park Avenue, where cars routed through the Subway Terminal turned west into Sunset Boulevard.

List of major stations[]

Rolling stock[]

Class 600 cars were assigned to the service in 1924.^[1]

Shuttle routes[]

• Coldwater Canyon ran from Beverly Hills station to the Beverly Hills Hotel by way of Rodeo Drive. It began service under the Los Angeles and Pacific Railway in 1907 and was discontinued in 1923.
• Laurel Canyon ran from Gardner Junction to the foot of Laurel Canyon by way of Sunset Boulevard. Originally a steam line of the Cahuenga Valley Railroad, the line was abandoned in 1924.

See also[]

• Streetcar suburb
• History of rail transportation in California

References[]

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under the public domain as a work of the State of California. License statement/permission. Text taken from 1981 Inventory of Pacific Electric Routes, California Department of Transportation, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use.

External links[]

• Electric Railway Historical Association
• pacificelectric.org Car 5139 in Beverly Hills

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