5 (Los Angeles Railway)

5 or the 5 Car was a streetcar line operated by the Los Angeles Railway, later named the Los Angeles Transit Lines, and by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority. From 1920 to 1932, this route was known as the E Car. This was changed as part of a method to distinguish routes that lacked loops at their termini. Consequently, the 5 Car was unique during the LAMTA era in that it did not use PCC streetcars. It used buses from 1955 to 1964, transferring from LATL in 1958, then splitting the line in two in 1961, until all lines were turned over to SCRTD in August 1964.

5
Overview
OwnerLos Angeles MTA
LocaleLos Angeles, Inglewood, Lennox, and Hawthorne
TerminiColorado Boulevard and Townsend Street (1920–48)
Colorado Boulevard and Eagle Rock Boulevard (1948–55)
Hawthorne Boulevard and Broadway (Hawthorne)
Stations112
Service
TypeStreetcar
SystemLos Angeles Railway (1920–45)
Los Angeles Transit Lines (1945–58)
Los Angeles MTA (1958–63)
Daily ridership15,988 (1940)[1]
History
Opened1920
ClosedMay 22, 1955 (1955-05-22)
Technical
Line length21.8 mi (35.1 km)[2] (1920–48)
21.4 mi (34.4 km) (1948–55)
Track gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification600 V DC overhead line
Route map

1932–1955
Colorado and Townsend
Colorado and Mount Royal
Colorado and Argus
Colorado and Highland View
Colorado and Maywood
discontinued 1948
Colorado and Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock and Yosemite
Eagle Rock and Chickasaw
Eagle Rock and Norwalk
Eagle Rock and Westdale
Eagle Rock and Avenue 45
Eagle Rock and York
Eagle Rock and El Paso
Eagle Rock and Avenue 41
Eagle Rock and Verdugo
Eagle Rock and Avenue 38
Eagle Rock and Avenue 36
Eagle Rock and Avenue 35
Eagle Rock and Avenue 34
Eagle Rock and Avenue 33
Eagle Rock and Avenue 31
Eagle Rock and Cypress
Cypress and Division
Cypress and Macon
Cypress and Elm
Cypress and Arvia
Cypress and Alice
Cypress and Maseo
Cypress and Pepper
Avenue 28 and Idell
Avenue 28 and Figueroa
Figueroa and Avenue 22
Figueroa and San Fernando
San Fernando and Humboldt
San Fernando and Pasadena
Pasadena and Broadway
Solano Canyon
Little Italy
New Chinatown
Broadway and College
Broadway and Alpine
Broadway and Sunset
Broadway and Arcadia
Broadway and Temple
Broadway and 1st
 P 
Broadway and 3rd
Broadway and 4th
Broadway and 5th
Broadway and 6th
Broadway and 7th
 J   R   S 
Broadway and 8th
Broadway and 9th
Broadway Place
 P 
Main and 11th
Main and 12th
Main and Pico
Main and Venice
Main and Washington
Main and 23rd
Main and Adams
Main and 30th
Main and Jefferson
Jefferson and Broadway
Jefferson and Grand
 J 
Grand and 37th
Grand and 39th
I-110
Santa Barbara and Figueroa
Santa Barbara and Hoover
Santa Barbara and Vermont
 V 
Santa Barbara and Budlong
Santa Barbara and Normandie
Santa Barbara and Halldale
Santa Barbara and Denker
Santa Barbara and Western
Santa Barbara and Grammercy
Santa Barbara and Arlington
Santa Barbara and 4th Avenue
Leimert and Sutro
Leimert and Stocker
Leimert and 43rd
Leimert and Vernon
Crenshaw and 48th
 9 
Crenshaw and 50th
Crenshaw and 52nd
Crenshaw and 54th
 8 
Crenshaw and 57th
Crenshaw and Slauson
Crenshaw and 59th
Crenshaw and 60th
Crenshaw and 63rd
Hyde Park
Crenshaw and 67th
Redondo and West
Florence and Redondo
Florence and Prairie
Florence and Centinela
Florence and Hillcrest
Florence and Market
Market and Manchester
Market and La Brea
La Brea and Tamarack
La Brea and Arbor Vitae
La Brea and Hardy
Hawthorne and Century
Hawthorne and 104th
Hawthorne and Lennox
Hawthorne and 111th
Hawthorne and Imperial Highway
Hawthorne and 118th
Hawthorne and 120th
Hawthorne and Broadway

other lines

History

Inglewood Division (1887–1911)

Initially a steam railroad built in 1887,[2] the southern portion of the route began as the Inglewood Division, one of the main lines of the Los Angeles and Redondo Railway. The railroad rebuilt and electrified the route in 1905.[2] From a terminus at 2nd and Spring Streets, railroad ran to Redondo Beach via 2nd Street, Broadway, 7th Street, Grand Avenue, Santa Barbara Avenue, Leimert Avenue, Crenshaw Boulevard, Redondo Boulevard, Florence Avenue, Market Street, La Brea Avenue, Hawthorne Boulevard, Ripley Avenue, Anita Street, and Herondo Street.

In the Great Merger of 1911, the southern portion of the Redondo Railway were given over to the Pacific Electric Railway, while the northern portion became part of the Los Angeles Railway.[3] The Hawthorne Line, as it was then called, terminated at the intersection of Hawthorne Boulevard and Broadway in the heart of Hawthorne, where one could transfer to two Pacific Electric routes. At some point in the 1910s, this route was merged with the Eagle Rock Line to become the longest streetcar route in the United States.[2]

Eagle Rock Line (1895–1920)

The Eagle Rock Line was one of LARy's original routes, connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the small agrarian suburb of Eagle Rock by way of Main Street, Avenue 20, Dayton Avenue, a private right-of-way (on which was soon built Avenue 28), Eagle Rock Boulevard, and Colorado Boulevard to Townsend Street. At Eagle Rock and Colorado, one could transfer to a branch of the Glendale and Montrose Railway.

In 1916, the renovation of the Broadway Tunnel allowed streetcars to run through it. Before this, all routes northeast had to run along Main Street at the Plaza de los Angeles, but now all of Broadway enjoyed direct, continuous service. It was along Broadway that the Eagle Rock Line was re-routed, bypassing most of Lincoln Heights, while increasing service to Solano Canyon and Little Italy.

E, 5, and 6 (1920–1963)

Geographic map; 5 is in magenta

The E Line was the result of combining the Eagle Rock and Hawthorne Lines.[4] At nearly 22 miles (35 km), it was the longest route of the Los Angeles Railway by far,[2] and the route that extended further north, south, east or west than any other route. The route traversed a private right of way in Eagle Rock; Avenue 28; Dayton; San Fernando Road; Pasadena Avenue; North Broadway; Sunset; North Main; North Spring; First; Broadway; Broadway Place; Main; Jefferson Boulevard; Grand; another private right of way; Santa Barbara; and a final private right of way to Hawthorne.[5]

In 1932, the route name was changed to 5.[6][7] An additional route known as 6 followed the same route,[8] but terminated at Avenue 45 in Eagle Rock and Arbor Vitae in Inglewood and ran until 1937.[9]

In 1948, the northern terminus of the route was cut back to the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Eagle Rock Boulevards in the heart of Eagle Rock. From this period onward, a bus following the same route supplemented the streetcar. Streetcar service was discontinued on May 22, 1955[10] due to Harbor Freeway construction. The 5 bus route was split by LAMTA in 1961, the north portion to Eagle Rock Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard was served by route 7 from South Broadway.

After rail service

Today, the route is closely followed by Metro bus routes 40, 84, and a short segment of 81. The under construction Crenshaw/LAX Line will follow the same route between Leimert Park and Market Street in Inglewood.

References

  1. Breivogel, Milton; Bate, Stuart (1942). Mass Transiit Facilities and Master Plan of Parkways (PDF) (Report). Los Angeles City Planning Commission. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. Barrett, Matthew (2014). "Los Angeles Transportation Transit History – South LA" (PDF). LACMTA. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. Veysey, Laurence R. (June 1958). A History Of The Rail Passenger Service Operated By The Pacific Electric Railway Company Since 1911 And By Its Successors Since 1953 (PDF). LACMTA (Report). Interurbans. p. 55. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  4. "'5' - Eagle Rock and Hawthorne Line (1932-1955)". Electric Rail Heritage Association. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  5. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain: Terrass, John (1922). Study and Plan of Relief of the Street Traffic Congestion in the City of Los Angeles, California (PDF) (Thesis). University of California. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  6. Walker, Jim (2007). Los Angeles Railway Yellow Cars. Arcadia Pub. p. 95. ISBN 1531629415.
  7. H.P. Noordwal (1938). "Route Map Los Angeles Railway Electric Car and Bus Routes" (Map). Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. Los Angeles Railway. "Alternate link" (Map). via Google.
  8. H.P. Noordwal (April 1, 1935). "Route Map Los Angeles Railway Electric Car and Bus Routes" (Map). Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Museum and Archive. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Los Angeles Railway. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  9. "'6'-EAGLE ROCK AND HAWTHORNE LINE (1932-1937)". Electric Rail Heritage Association. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  10. "May 22: This Date in Los Angeles Transportation History". Metro Primary Resources. Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Museum and Archive. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
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