Los Angeles 1941

The Los Angeles urban rail transit system before widespread abandonments on 4 Oct. 1941.

VIDEOS

Above: YouTube^CA video - Los Angeles Streetcars - The Final Years - Length: 3:19 mins.

Above: YouTube^CA video - 1947 LOS ANGELES RAILWAY TROLLEY MOTORMAN & BUS DRIVER RECRUITING FILM "IT'S A BIG JOB" MD17454 - Length: 22:19 mins.

Above: YouTube^CA video - Huntington's LA: The History of Pacific Electric - Length: 14:18 mins.

PHOTOS

MAPS

Main Los Angeles tram map – 1941

FIRST INSET: CENTRAL LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles central part tram map – 1941

SECOND INSET: NORTHERN LOS ANGELES REGION

Los Angeles north interurban map – 1941

THIRD INSET: EASTERN LOS ANGELES REGION

Los Angeles east interurban map – 1941

FOURTH INSET: SOUTHERN LOS ANGELES REGION

Los Angeles south interurban map – 1941

ABBREVIATIONS ON THE MAPS

AS	ROW along Arroyo Seco	MC	Heliotrope Av.
CG	Cerro Gordo St.	MW	Marshfield Way
DA	Dalton Av.	OK	Oak Knoll Av.
DS	Daly St.	PA	Pasadena Av.
EPA	Echo Park Av.	SF	San Fernando Road
FS	Figueroa St.	SG	San Gabriel
GP	Gramercy Pl.	SM	San Marino
HA	Heliotrope Av.	USC	University of Southern California
HL	Highland Av.

I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).

Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.

DISCONTINUATION DATES OF LOS ANGELES RAILWAY STREETCAR LINES BETWEEN 1 JULY 1941 AND 1 JAN. 1961 [affected route indicators in parentheses]:

1941 Oct. 4:
- Santa Fe - Mateo (M)
- Boyle Av. (4)
1941 Oct. 5:
- Jefferson [between Central & Main] and on E 41st (K)
- Pasadena Av. - Griffin Av. - Montecito Hts (2)
- 39th St. – Western Av.(U*)
1942 Oct. 28: Fountain [between Edgemont & Berendo] (A)
1942 Nov. 30: Fountain [between Berendo & Vermont] (A)
1946 Jan. 17: Dalton Av. - Vernon Av. (10)
1946 June 30:
- Fountain Av. - Virgil Av. – Temple St. – Hill St. – Venice Blvd. - Burlington Av. – Hoover St. - 24th St. – Normandie Av. - Adams Blvd. (A)
- City Terrace Dr. – Wabash Av. – Evergreen Av. – 4th St. - Euclid Av. (E, B [in part])
- Fresno Av. - 4th St. – 3rd St. (F)
- Griffith Av. – Jefferson Blvd. - McKinley Av. (G)
- Gage St.(34)
- Indiana St. (35)
1946 Aug. 11: Echo Park Shuttle [Temple to Kensington] (37, earlier 10)
1947 Aug. 3:
- Alvarado St. – Bonnie Brae St. (D)
- 6th St. [E of Alvarado] - 5th St. [between Flower & Central Stn.] (D, U, 3; formerly also 2*)
- 6th St. [W of Alvarado] – Gramercy Pl.; Larchmont (3)
- Maple Av. - Wall St. (H); Western Av. [between Santa Monica & Melrose] (H, S)
- Western Av. [between Santa Monica & 3rd] (S)
- Melrose Av. – Heliotrope Av. - Beverly Blvd. - Vermont Av. – 1st St. - 2nd St. - Rampart Blvd. - 6th St. – Alvarado St. (H)
- Main St. [between Florence & Broadway] (O)
- Estrella Av. - 23rd St. - Hoover St. - 32nd St. - McClintock Av.; Figueroa [between 5th & 11th] (U)
- Central Av. (U)
1948 March 18: Colorado Blvd. [between Townsend & Eagle Rock] (5)
1948 Apr. 18: N Figueroa St. [in Pasadena] (W*)
1949 Jan. 30: Brooklyn Av. – Macy St.; 12th St. – Hooper Av. – 33rd St. - Ascot Av. (B)
1950 Sept. 10: 9th St. (N)
1954 June: 3rd (between LaBrea and Gramercy Place) (R)
1955 May 2:
- Broadway [between San Fernando Road & 1st] (W, 5, 9)
- 10th [between Broadway & Main]; Cypress Av. (5)
- Main [between 10th & Jefferson] (F, 5, 7, 8)
- Jefferson [between Main & Grand] (F, 5)
- Grand Av. [between Jefferson & Santa Barbara] (F, 5, 9)
- Santa Barbara Av. – Crenshaw Blvd. - West Blvd. - Florence Av. - Hawthorne Av. (5)
1955 May 5:
- Leonis (between Pacific & Downey) (V) and Santa Fe (between Vernon & Slauson) (V*)
- Spring St. (7, 8, formerly N)
- 54th St. (8)
- Broadway (between Main St. & 54th St.) (7, 8)
- Broadway (between 54th St. & 116th St.) (7)
- Broadway - Lincoln Park Rd. (9)
1955 May 22: San Fernando Road - Marmion Way – Monte Vista St. – Figueroa St. - York Blvd. (W)
1956 Nov. 18:
- Washington Blvd. [between Figueroa & Rimpau] (W)
- Figueroa [between Washington & 11th] (W, formerly also U)
- 11th [between Figueroa & Broadway] (W)

DISCONTINUATION DATES OF PE LINES BETWEEN 1 JULY 1941 AND 1 JAN. 1961 [affected route indicators in parentheses]:

1941 Aug. 23: Venice via Hollywood (VH)
1941 Nov. 30: Alhambra - San Gabriel (AS)
1942 Oct. 17: South Pasadena Local (PL)
1943 Jan. 9: Riverside - Arlington (RA)
1946 Dec. 24: East Broadway (EB)
1947 March 28: Baldwin Park - San Bernandino (SB), incl. branch to San Dimas; Baldwin Park - Pomona (PO)
1950 June 30: Newport Beach (NB)
1950 July 2: Bellflower - Santa Ana (SA)
1950 Oct. 15: Los Angeles - Baldwin Park (SB, later BP)
1950 Dec. 28: Pasadena (via Oak Knoll) (OK); Sierra Madre (SM); Echo Park Ave. (EP); Venice Boulevard (VB)
1951 Sept. 30: Monrovia - Glendora (MG); Pasadena Short Line (PS); Sierra Vista (SV)
1952 Dec. 28: Lankershim – Van Nuys (VN)
1953 May 31: South Hollywood - Sherman (SS)
1954 Sept. 26: Beverly Hills (BH); Hollywood Blvd. (HB)
1955 June 19: Burbank (BU)
1958 May 24: Bellflower (BF)
1958 Dec. 7: San Pedro (SP)
1959 Nov. 2: Watts (WA)

ROUTES

STREETCAR ROUTES

Operator: Los Angeles Railway ["Yellow Cars"]

A	Edgemont St. - Fountain Av. - Virgil Av. – Temple St. – Hill St. – Venice Blvd. - Burlington Av. – Hoover St. - 24th St. – Normandie Av. - Adams Blvd. – Alsace Av.
B	[In rush hours: Miller St. - City Terrace Dr. – Wabash Av. – Evergreen Av. –] Brooklyn Av. [today: Cesar Chavez Av.] – Macy St. [today: Cesar Chavez Av.] - Main St. – 12th St. – Hooper Av. – 33rd St. - Ascot Av. – 51st St.
D	Central Station – 5th St. – 6th St. – Alvarado St. – Bonnie Brae St. – Westlake (1st St.)
E	Miller St. - City Terrace Dr. – Wabash Av. – Evergreen Av. – 4th St. - Euclid Av. - Whittier Av. (In rush hours, only Brooklyn Av. [today: Cesar Chavez Av.] - Whittier Av.)
F	Evergreen Cemetery (1st St.) – Fresno Av. - 4th St. – 3rd St. – Main St. – Jefferson Blvd. – Grand Av. – Santa Barbara Av. [today: Martin Luther King Blvd.] – Hoover St. – Vermont Av. – South Los Angeles (116th St.)
G	E 12th – Stanford Av. - E 14th St. - Griffith Av. – Jefferson Blvd. - McKinley Av. - Vernon Av.
H	Western Av. – Melrose Av. – Heliotrope Av. - Beverly Blvd. - Vermont Av. – 1st St. - 2nd St. - Rampart Blvd. - 6th St. – Alvarado St. – 7th St. – Maple Av. – Santa Barbara Av. [today: Martin Luther King Blvd.] - Wall St. – 53th St. – San Pedro Av.
J	Jefferson Park (10th Av.) – Jefferson Blvd. – Grand Av. – 7th St. – Mateo St. - 9th St. - Santa Fe Av. – vernon Av.- Pacific Blvd. – Florence Av. - Seville St. - Huntington Park (Palm Place)
K	Florence & Vermont – Vermont Av. – Jefferson Blvd. – Central Av. - 41st St. - Ascot Ave.
M	Santa Fe Depot – Santa Fe Av. – Mateo St. - 7th St.
N	Union Stn. - Macy St. [today Cesar Chavez Av.] - Main St. - 1st St. - Spring St. – 9th St. [today, in part James M. Wood Blvd.] – Vermont Av. - 8th St. – 8th & Western
O	Lincoln Park – Mission Rd. – Main St. – Florence Ave.
P	Dozier St. - Rowan St. – 1st St. – Broadway – Pico Blvd. – Mid City (Rimpau Loop)
R	La Brea Av. – 3rd St. – Vermont Av. – 7th St. – Boyle Av. - Whittier Ave. – East Los Angeles (Brannick Av.)
S	East Hollywood (Santa Monica Blvd.) – Western Av. – 3rd St. – Vermont Av. – 7th St. – San Pedro St. – Avalon Blvd. – Gage Av. - Central Av. – Watts (Manchester Av.)
U	Slauson Av. – Central Av. – 5th St. – Figueroa St. – Washington Av. - Estrella Av. - 23rd St. - Hoover St. - 32nd St. - McClintock Av. – [U: Vermont Av. – Florence Av.] [U*: 39th St. – Western Av.]
V	East Hollywood (New Hampshire Dr.) – Monroe St. – Vermont Av. – Vernon Av. – Pacific Crossing
W	Rimpau Av. – Washington Blvd. – Figueroa St. – 11th St. – Broadway – San Fernando Road - Marmion Way – Monte Vista St. – Figueroa St. - [W: York Blvd. – Avenue 50] [W*: Figueroa St. – Buena Vista Terrace]
2	Filipinotown (Temple & Belmont) – Belmont Av. – 3rd St. – Flower St. - 5th St. – Broadway - Pasadena Av. - Griffin Av. - Montecito Hts
2*	Filipinotown (Temple & Belmont) – Belmont Av. – 3rd St. – Flower St. - 5th St. – Central Station
3	Central Station – 5th St. – 6th St. – Gramercy Pl. - 3rd St. – Larchmont Blvd. – Hollywood (Melrose Av.)
4	E. 7th & Boyle - Boyle Av. - 9th St.
5	Townsend Av. – Eagle Rock Blvd. – Cypress Av. – San Fernando Road - Broadway – 10th St. - Main St. – Jefferson Blvd. – Grand Av. – Santa Barbara Av. [today: Martin Luther King Blvd.] – Crenshaw Blvd. - West Blvd. - Florence Av. - Hawthorne Av. – Broadway
7	Sunset & Spring – Spring St. - Main St. – Broadway – South Los Angeles (116th St.)
8	Sunset & Spring – Spring St. - – Main St. – Broadway – 54th St. – Park Mesa Hts. (Crenshaw Blvd.)
9	Cranshaw Blvd. – 48th St. - Hoover St. - Santa Barbara Av. [today: Martin Luther King Blvd.] - Grand Av. – Pico Blvd. - Broadway - Lincoln Park Blvd. - Mission Rd.
10	Echo Park – Temple St. - Hill St. - 11th St. - – Grand Av. – Santa Barbara Av. [today: Martin Luther King Blvd.] – Dalton Av. - Vernon Av. – Arlington Av.
34	Blanchard St. – Gage St. – Hammel St. - Rowan St. - Brooklyn Av. [today: Cesar Chavez Av.]
35	1st St. – Indiana St. – Whittier Av.

INTERURBAN ROUTES

Operator: Pacific Electric (PE) Railway ["Red Cars"]

Note: The two-character codes used to identify routes below and in the maps are for convenience only, and were not used by the operating company.

AS	Alhambra – San Gabriel	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - Valley Junction ROW – Huntington Dr. – Sierra Vista – Alhambra – San Gabriel - Temple City (Las Tunas & Kaufman Dr.) [In San Gabriel, there is an alternate routing through a loop around the S edge of the downtown area]
BF	Bellflower	6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – Santa Ana Blvd. – Bellflower
BH	Beverly Hills	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. - Sunset Blvd. – Hollywood Blvd. – ROW (Marshfield Way) - Santa Monica Blvd. - Beverly Hills (Canon Dr.)
BU	Burbank	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. – Alessandro St. - Riverside Dr. – Glendale Blvd. – Brand Blvd. - Glenoaks Blvd. - Burbank (Cypress Av.)
EB	East Broadway	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. – Alessandro St. - Riverside Dr. – Glendale Blvd. – Brand Blvd. - E. Broadway - Glendale (Chevy Chase Dr.)
EP	Echo Park Avenue	11th & Hill – Hill St. – Sunset Blvd. – Echo Park Av. - Cerro Gordo St.
GL	Glendale	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. – Alessandro St. - Riverside Dr. – Glendale Blvd. – Brand Blvd. - Mountain St.
HB	Hollywood Blvd.	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. - Sunset Blvd. – Hollywood Blvd. – Gardner St.
LB	Long Beach	6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – Willowbrook Av. – Compton - Dominguez Junction - Del Amo – Cota – North Long Beach - American Av. (today Long Beach Blvd.) - Long Beach [Loop: American Ave. - Ocean Blvd. - Pine Av. - 7th St.]
LS	Long Beach – San Pedro	Long Beach – Wilmington - San Pedro (5th St.)
MG	Monrovia – Glendora	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - Valley Junction ROW – Huntington Dr. – Sierra Vista – San Marino – Arcadia - Monrovia – Duarte - Azusa - Glendora
NB	Newport Beach	6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – Willowbrook Av. – Compton - Dominguez Junction - Del Amo – Cota – North Long Beach – Seal Beach – Huntington Beach – Newport Pier (McFadden Square) [Infrequent service]
OK	Pasadena (via Oak Knoll)	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - Valley Junction ROW – Huntington Dr. – Sierra Vista – S Oak Knoll Av. - S Lake Av. - Colorado St. - Fair Oaks Av. - Pasadena (Fair Oaks Carhouse)
PL	South Pasadena Local	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – ROW (along the LA River) - Daly St. - Pasadena Av. - Figueroa St. -ROW along Arroyo Seco - Mission St. - S Pasadena (Fair Oaks Av.)
PO	Pomona	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - El Monte – Baldwin Park – Covina – ROW along Badillo St. - Lone Hill - [branch: - San Dimas – San Dimas Quarry] - ROW along Arrow Highway - Garey Av. - Pomona (2nd & Main)
PS	Pasadena Short Line	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - Valley Junction ROW – Huntington Dr. – Sierra Vista - Fair Oaks Av. - Pasadena (Colorado St.)
RA	Riverside – Arlington	Riverside (7th & Main) - Main St. – 14th St. - Magnolia Av. - Arlington (Van Buren Blvd.)
SA	Santa Ana	6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – Santa Ana Blvd. – Bellflower - ROW (La Palma - Cypress - Garden Grove) - Santa Ana (4th St. - French St.)
SB	Upland – San Bernardino	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - El Monte – Baldwin Park – Covina – ROW along Badillo St. - Lone Hill - ROW along Arrow Highway - ROW (Clairmont - Upland – Etiwanda - Fontana - Rialto) - San Bernardino (3rd & E St.)
SM	Sierra Madre	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - Valley Junction ROW – Huntington Dr. – Sierra Vista – Sierra Madre Blvd. - Sierra Madre (Mountain Trail Av.)
SP	San Pedro	6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – Willowbrook Av. – Compton - Dominguez Junction - Wilmington - San Pedro (5th St.)
SS	South Hollywood - Sherman	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. - Sunset Blvd. – Santa Monica Blvd. – Sherman Blvd. (now San Vicente Blvd)
SV	Sierra Vista Local	6th & Main – San Pedro St. - Aliso St. – Ramona Blvd. - Valley Junction ROW – Huntington Dr. – Sierra Vista (Main St.)
VB	Venice Boulevard	4th & Hill (Subway Terminal) – Hill St. – Venice Blvd. – San Vicente Blvd. - Genesee Av.
VH	Venice via Hollywood	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. - Sunset Blvd. – Santa Monica Blvd. – Santa Monica – Ocean Av. - Barnard Way - Pacific Av. - Venice
VN	Lankershim – Van Nuys	Subway Terminal – Glendale Subway – Glendale Blvd. - Sunset Blvd. – Santa Monica Blvd. – Highland Av. - Cahuenga Blvd. - Lankershim Blvd. – Chandler Bkvd. - Van Nuys Blvd. - Van Nuys (Sherman Way)
VS	Venice Short Line	4th & Hill (Subway Terminal) – Hill St. – Venice Blvd. – Venice (Pacific Av.)
WA	Watts	6th & Main – Main – 9th St. – Long Beach Av. – 103rd St.

NB: Routes providing a very limited number of services per day (1 or 2 runs), such as the Santa Monica Air Line and the Catalina Dock Line, are not shown.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM

NETWORK LENGTH

Streetcar lines: ca. 275 km.
Interurban lines: ? km.

HISTORY

Horse-drawn streetcars: 1874 - 1896
Cablecars: 1888 - 1896
Electric streetcars (Los Angeles): 1 July 1891 - 1963
Electric streetcars (San Pedro): Jan. 1903 - 23 Jan. 1938
Interurban railways: 1887 - 9 Apr. 1961
Light rail: 14 July 1990 - today.
Subway: 30 Jan. 1993 - today
Funicular: (1st) 31 Dec. 1901 - 18 May 1969; (2nd) 24 Feb. 1996 - today.

GAUGE

Streetcars (Los Angeles Railway; San Pedro streetcars): 1067 mm.
Interurbans (Pacific Electric): 1435 mm.
Light Rail: 1435 mm.
Subway: 1435 mm.
Funicular: 762 mm.

TRAM PRESERVATION

The Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, southeast of Riverside, owns and operates a large collection of vintage Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway streetcars over 0.8km dual-gauge and 2.4km standard gauge track.

SOURCES

PRINT

"Los Angeles and San Francisco", The Modern Tramway, Nov. 1949 (12: 143), p.221-224.
Simons, V. "LA Light Rail on the move", Tramways & Urban Transit, May 2017 (80: 953), p.172-175.
Simons, V. "Los Angeles: Gone but not forgotten", Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb. 2010 (73: 866), p.76-77.
Simons, V. "Los Angeles: Light rail to the Beach - and beyond", Tramways & Urban Transit, Aug. 2016 (79: 944), p.295-300.
Simons, V. "Los Angeles - The transformation continues", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2023 (86: 1032), p.468-470.
Simons, V. "Los Angeles transformation", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2009 (72: 864), p.460-463.
Simons, V. "Update from Los Angeles", Tramways & Urban Transit, May 2013 (76: 905), p.175.
Skelsey, G. "Hill Street Blues" [The Pacific Electric Railway (PE)], Modern Tramway & Light Rail Transit, Aug. 1988 (51: 608), p.263-269.
Smith, G.E. "Los Angeles - The S route", The Modern Tramway, Oct. 1961 (24: 286), p.295-298.
Veysey, L.R. A history of the rail passenger service operated by the Pacific Electric Railway Company since 1911 and by its successors since 1953 Los Angeles: Interurbans, 1958.
Walker, J. Images of Rail: Pacific Electric red cars. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.
Wansbeek, C.J. "Los Angeles - Megacity needs more light rail", Tramways & Urban Transit, May 2007 (70: 833), p.172-176.
Wansbeek, C.J. "Los Angeles - New light rail line brings gold to Pasadena", Tramways & Urban Transit, June 2007 (70: 834), p.217-219.
Wansbeek, C.J. "Los Angeles - Metrolink: Successful urban rail", Tramways & Urban Transit, July 2007 (70: 835), p.258-261.

WIKIS

WEB SITES

Thanks to Urs Mattmann (from London, England) for the information and photos he kindly sent me concerning the Santa Monica Air Line.

Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.

To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.

Flags on this site are from the FOTW Flags Of The World website.

LOS ANGELES

CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

1 July 1941