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This article is about a historical rail line in Los Angeles. For the modern rapid transit line, see B Line (Los Angeles Metro).

The B was a streetcar line in Los Angeles, California. It was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1920 to 1948, originally running from Ramona Boulevard and Miller Street in East Los Angeles to Ascot Avenue and 51st Street.

History

Brooklyn and Ascot Lines (1895–1911)

The first Brooklyn line was built in 1895 by the Los Angeles Consolidated Railway as a horsecar road. It terminated at the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and Evergreen Avenue. The line was electrified the following year and rerouted downtown. In 1902 the route was bought by the Pacific Electric Railway to be standard gauged, but never was.[citation needed] In 1908, the Brooklyn Avenue Line ran from Arcade Depot to Evergreen Cemetery via 5th Street, Main Street, Macy, Pleasant Avenue, Bridge, and Brooklyn Avenue.[2]

Following the Great Merger of 1911, control of the route returned to the Los Angeles Railway. They extended the route north and east along Evergreen and Wabash Avenues to the city limits in 1915.[3]

Expansion and later removal (1911–1949)

The line was rerouted on May 9, 1920[4] and given the letter designation B the following year.[5][6] Tracks on 9th Street were taken over by the N Line and the remaining service was merged with the Ascot Line, a previously unconnected route which ran by way of Main Street, 12th Street, Hooper Avenue, a private right-of-way alongside the Santa Monica Air Line, and Ascot Avenue.[7][3] (A section of this, between Adams Boulevard and 41st Street, has since been filled in.)[citation needed]

In 1924, rush hour trips were extended northeast along the newly built Harrison Street (later Ramona Boulevard, and later still City Terrace Drive) to Alma Street in East Los Angeles.[3] Completion of the Macy Street Bridge in April 1926 allowed through-routing to Brooklyn Heights.[8] The line began serving Union Station upon its opening in 1939.[9] The final extension of the line was north to City Terrace and Miller Street on March 13, 1931.[3][10] Streetcars were replaced with trolleybuses on December 5, 1948.[11]

Sources

  1. ^ Breivogel, Milton; Bate, Stuart (1942). "Mass Transit Facilities and Master Plan of Parkways" (PDF). Los Angeles City Planning Commission. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  2. ^ Wood, J. Henry (1907). Security Map And Street Railway Guide of the City of Los Angeles and Vicinity with Map of Beaches and nearby Points of Interest (Map). Los Angeles, California: Security Savings Bank. Retrieved September 4, 2021 – via David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.
  3. ^ a b c d "'B'". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Street Car Rerouting". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. May 5, 1920. p. 10. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  5. ^ "May 1: This Date in Los Angeles Transportation History". Metro Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved February 16, 2022. 1921: Large letter signs indicating the routes of different lines are placed on top of Los Angeles Railway streetcars.
  6. ^ "Cars To Have Letter Signs" (PDF). Two Bells. Vol. 1, no. 48. Los Angeles Railway. May 2, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is 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 January 29, 2021.
  8. ^ "Cars Operating on Macy Bridge". Los Angeles Times. April 6, 1926. p. 2. Retrieved February 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  9. ^ "They have Streamlined the Pueblo". Los Angeles Times. May 6, 1939. p. 7. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "New Trackless Trolleys Mark Changeover on the 'B' Line". California Eagle. December 9, 1948. p. 4. Retrieved December 19, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon

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