The LARY-LATL H Line: Everyone wanted it, except management
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Ralph CantosWhen the Los Angeles Transit Lines purchased the Los Angeles Railway Co., the new corporation began an immediate house cleaning of a large portion of the LARY rail system. LATL management called it “trimming the fat.”
On Aug. 22, 1947, all Birney-operated shuttle lines were abandoned. Also, several major rail lines were abandoned, including the “Lovable U” Line.
One of the most popular lines to be abandoned on that fateful day was the H line. Los Angeles City Council member, the late Kenneth Hahn, was admittedly opposed to the H line abandonment. He even went so far as to propose a court injunction to stop the H Line abandonment.
But alas, LATL went ahead with the massive rail abandonment, and to make sure the H line was gone for good, crews began ripping up the rails on two sections of the line’s private-right-of-ways, literally minutes after the last H line car ended its run.
Today, if you know where to look, traces of the “back yard” right-of-way between Bimini Place on the west and a mile and a half to the east end of right of way at 2nd Street and Lafayette Park Place can a still be found.
All along the right-of-way easement, a utility pole line follows the rail line and newer 1950s homes are shoehorned on the narrow right-of-way between houses dating to the early 1910s.[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-1212-at-la-fayette-park-place-1947-2.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”1212 leaving the right-of-way at 2nd and Lafayette Park Place” caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458392261{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]This scene is unrecognizable today. The house and apartment building on both sides of the tracks were bulldozed away, and replaced by a huge 1960 apartment.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-1258-h-line-at-virgil-ave-aug.1947.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”1258 H Line at Virgil Avenue, August 1947″ caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638457844035{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]1258 crosses busy Virgil Ave under the protection of an ACME traffic signal. Notice the traffic signal censor on the overhead wire. That censor on the west bound track, reset the ACME signal after the H car was safely across the street. There was a censor on the east bound trolley wire as well. Today, this scene is unrecognizable. Both the nice houses on each side of the tracks and the right-of-way, were bulldozed away years ago to make way for a large apartment building.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-1364-at-virgil-ave-4.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”LATL 1364 at Virgil Avenue” caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638457967534{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Another shot of the H Line at Virgil Ave. That big, beautiful wonderful “railfan house” is gone today.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lary-1370_h-line-at-bimini-right-of-way-2.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”1370 on the H Line at Bimini right-of-way” caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458079189{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]1370 is seen here at the west end of right of way at Bimini Place between 1st and 2nd Streets. Today, this curve is very visible, it leads to an auto repair shop built on the spot where the 1370 was photographed.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-1245_at-bimini-place_1947.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”LATL 1245 at Bimini Place, 1947″ caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458177852{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]1245 is seen here at Bimini Place and the short section of right-of-way. Today, the rails that the 1245 are on, have been uncovered and preserved.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-v-line-rails-bimini-pl-2020.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”LATL rails preserved at Bimini Place, 2020″ caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458264819{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Today, the rails leading out of the short right-of-way onto Bimini Place have been uncovered and preserved. This was the inbound track .[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-1st-street-loop-2020.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”LATL 1st Street Loop, 2020″ caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458544944{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The former H Line tracks at 1st and Bimini was converted from a “run through” to a loop after the H Line abandonment . It was used by the LATL-LAMTA V line cars right up to the last day, March 31, 1963. To my knowledge, this is the very last streetcar rail to be seen any place in LA as it looks today.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/1387-on-heliotope-ave-h-line.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”1387 on Heliotrope Avenue, H Line” caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458649691{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]LATL 1380 rolls southbound along Heliotrope Drive just south of Melrose Ave. Today, this once-tranquil scene has been shattered by the Hollywood (101) Freeway that was built over Heliotrope Drive, taking everything seen here with it. This is shortly before abandonment.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/heliotrope-bl-1996.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”Ralph’s wagon on Heliotrope in 1996 with freshly revealed H Line rails” caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638458756914{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]I took this photo of my car along Heliotrope Drive in 1996, almost 50 years since the rails were paved over. The 50-year-old pavement was scraped away, revealing the perfectly preserved H Line car tracks. The Hollywood Freeway is seen in the background. We will have to wait until about 2046 to see these rails again.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/latl-1305-at-melrose-western-h-line.jpg” image_size=”full” title=”LATL 1305 at Melrose and Western, H Line” caption_location=”outside-image”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1638461361315{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The west end of the H Line at Melrose and Western Avenues. Car 1305 in on the H Line and car 1391 is northbound on Western Ave. The end of rail service on both this section of the S Line on Western Ave. and the entire H Line was only days away when this photo was taken.
I must say, that if the H Line cars were still changing ends in the middle of Melrose Ave. today, auto traffic would be backed up along Melrose clear back to West Hollywood. An off-street loop or “Y” would have been built for the H Line PCCs, if Kenny Hahn had had his way.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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LARY-LATL 1st Street Loop: Then and Now
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1583080148275{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]By Ralph CantosLATL no. 1327 is seen here working the H line during the last days of that line. The rail service was abandoned on August 3, 1947. Despite vigorous opposition by the Los Angeles City Council headed by Kenneth Hahn, and passengers alike, LATL abandoned the line. To make sure the rail service would not return, the tracks were pulled up before any rust could form on the still shiny rails.
LATL management told the city that nearby bus service was no more then a few blocks away from any part of the H line west of Downtown. So if the displaced H line passengers did not like the parallel bus service, they could “hoof it” …. and that was that.
Today, if you know where to look, there are still identifiable traces of the long gone right of way between Benton Way on the east and Bimini Place on the west. The most significant remnant of the H line remaining today, is the short one block long right of way at Vermont, 1st Street and Bimini Place.
After the H line was abandoned, the short “run through” section of right-of-way was reconfigured into a loop. It would become known as “The First Street Loop.” The loop was used for rush hour V and R line “turn backs.” In the wee hours of the night, R cars would terminate there, rather then go to 3rd and Gramercy. During construction of the Hollywood Freeway at Vermont Ave. V line cars turned back there. The loop remained in service to the very end by the LAMTA.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”20″][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/lamta-3156-at-1st-vermont-loop-copy.jpg” image_size=”full”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1583352039765{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]First Street Loop, 1963: LAMTA no. 3156 poses for the camera in the loop while on a 1963 fan trip as the end of streetcar service in LA neared. The HUB Café building , a fixture of the loop for decades, is slated for demolition. The owners wanted to reopen the small eatery, but the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has demanded a mandatory multi-million dollar earthquake retrofit be made before the eatery can re-open. This demand is far beyond the what the owners can afford, so the little eatery will be demolished later this year. The track configuration of the loop clearly visible.[/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”20″][mk_image src=”https://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/latl-1st-street-loop-2020-2.jpg” image_size=”full”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1583080253317{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]First Street Loop Today: This recent photo shows the remains of the 1st Street Loop as it looks today. The loop is now on private property and the current owners have no plans to remove or cover the rails. They are aware of the historical value of the rails.
As far as I know, this location is the VERY LAST bit of streetcar tracks to be seen in Los Angeles. There might be some visible rails at Vernon Yard, but I have not been to that location in decades, so I have no idea what, if anything , remains of the loop that was located there. If anyone out there knows of any more visible rails in LA, please feel free to leave a comment..[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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LATL 1305 and 1391
Philipott and Baldridge Collection
Los Angeles Transit Lines cars nos. 1305 (H Line service) and 1391 (S Line service) at a crossing at Western Avenue in this undated photo.
Philipott and Baldridge Collection
READ MOREH Line Rails on Heliotrope Boulevard (1996)
Ralph Cantos Photo, Ralph Cantos Collection
By Ralph Cantos
After the very unpopular 1947 Los Angeles Transit Lines abandonment of the H line, the City Of Los Angeles paved over unneeded rails of the well constructed line including Heliotrope Blvd.
Like so much of LA’s vast trolley system, much of PE’s and LARY’s rail lay just a few inches below the asphalt. Back in the summer of 1996, the rails of LARY’s H line saw the light of day along this section of Heliotrope Bl. after being buried for 48 years.
City Street Maintenance crews had already scraped off the 1948 pavement in preparation for repaving. The track was completely intact in both directions, and in excellent condition from Melrose Ave down to Oakwood St. where the H line went into PRW (private right-of-way). I hastily made an H line dash sign out of cardboard, pulled into the car tracks, and snapped this photo.
I may not be around to photograph these rails the next time they make an appearance sometime around 2046.
Ralph Cantos Photo, Ralph Cantos Collection
Here’s a bonus photo of Ralph with his 1978 Ford Fairmont / Pacific Electric Trolley Wire Maintenance Division wagon! Awesome!
Ralph Cantos Collection
687 on the H Line near Hoover
Ralph Cantos Collection
Los Angeles Transit Lines car no. 687 rolls inbound on the H line just east of Hoover Street.
From Ralph Cantos:
The H line was very popular, and was well patronized, but the powers in charge at the “new” LATL didn’t give a damn, and the H line was an early LATL abandonment. The #44 bus line on nearby Beverly Blvd was called upon to “pick up the slack.”…
Ralph Cantos Collection
READ MORE637 at Melrose and Normandie
Ralph Cantos Collection
Los Angeles Railway car no. 637 on the H Line is captured paused at Melrose and Normandie in this undated photo.
Ralph Cantos Collection
READ MORE1301 on the H Line
Ralph Cantos Collection
Los Angeles Transit Lines (ex-Los Angeles Railway) H Line car no. 1301 is captured in an image from the last week of H Line service.
Ralph Cantos Collection
READ MORE1258 at Virgil Avenue
Los Angeles Railway H Line car no. 1258 emerges from private right-of-way at Virgil Ave. Note the ACME traffic signal and the contact on the trolley wire to activate it.
Ralph Cantos Collection
READ MORE1404 Waiting for Pedestrians
Jack Finn Collection
It’s 1948 and Los Angeles Transit Lines (ex-Los Angeles Railway) H Line streetcar no. 1404 waits for pedestrians to cross the busy intersection at 7th and Alvarado (MacArthur Park) before proceeding. The H Line ran between South Los Angeles and East Hollywood. This location is home to Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant since 1947.
Jack Finn Collection
READ MOREWatching the Streetcars Roll By
Jack Finn Collection
Two children watch Los Angeles Railway H Line street car no. 1153 as it emerges from its private right-of-way at Commonwealth Avenue. The destination board reads “Maple Ave. to 53rd Street.” The H Line ran from South Los Angeles to East Hollywood.
Jack Finn Collection
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