Pacific Electric West 16th Street Line

Pacific Electric West 16^TH Street Line

Introduction:
W WEST 16^th STREET LINE HISTORY: The W. 16^th St. Line extended from Hill St. Station to Vineyard, a distance of 5.48 miles. Trackage on Hill St. from the Hill St. Station to 8th St. and on W. 16^th St.(Venice Boulevard.) from Georgia St. to Burlington Ave. was built in 1896 by the Los Angeles Traction Company(3'-6" gauge); trackage on Hill St. from 8th to 16^th Streets. and on W. 16^th St. from Hill St. to Georgia and from Burlington to Vineyard was built in 1897 by the Pasadena & Pacific Railway Co., a predecessor of LAP(also 3'6" gauge). In 1908 this line was standard gauged by LAP, with the 3'-6" third rail being continued for use by Los Angeles Railway's W. Adam St. Line; combination gauge trackage on the West included HIll St. from Temple to W. 16^th St., W. 16^th St. from Hill St. to Burlington, and W. 6th St. from Olive to Figueroa. PE took over operation of this line in 1911 and operated it until conversion to motor coach operation on October l, 1950. OPERATION: This line performed local service from Hill St. Station to Vineyard, relieving interurban trains from performing this task. Previous to 1912, interurban cars had performed this service, cars of the Santa Monica via Sawtelle Line and Redondo via Del Rey Line being required to make local stops. During 1912 a comprehensive, independent local service was established. As of January 6, 1913, there was 7 minute service on this line, through-routed with Echo Park Ave cars. On October 25, 1916, this line was separated from the Echo Park Ave. Line and became through-routed with the Hollywood Boulevard. via Hill St. Line. As of April 1, 1922, headways were 8 minutes in the morning rush , ten minute base, 6 minutes in evening rush, 10 evenings, and 12 minutes on Sundays. The last car left Hill St. Station at 12.05 AM. As of January, 1932, headways were 7 minutes in the morning rush, 10 minute base, up to 5 minutes in evening rush, and 15 minutes nights and Sundays. On January 18, 1932, night and Sunday service only was separated from the Hollywood Boulevard. Line and through-routed with the Echo Park Ave. Effective October 1, 1932, rush hour service was in addition through-routed with the Western-Franklin Ave. Line; this ended in 1935. On September 18, 1938, all service was again through-routed with the Hollywood Boulevard. Line. Night service on this line was entirely discontinued on January 8, 1939; the last car left 5th & Hills Streets. at 6:45 PM, with Venice Short Line and Santa Monica via Sawtelle trains performing local service after that hour. On June 22, 1939, Sunday service on this line was similarly discontinued. On July 7, 1940, this line was extended from Vineyard via trackage of the abandoned Santa Monica via Sawtelle Line to San Vicente Boulevard & Genesee St., with night and Sunday service reestablished. A 10 minute base headway was established to Vineyard, 20 minute service to the new terminus, with rush hour service continuing to Genesee on a 10 minute headway. Nights and Sundays a 30 minute headway prevailed to Genesee; at these times a 15 minute headway was provided to Vineyard, but alternate cars were Venice Short Line trains making local stops. On April 18, 1943, as a war measure, the VSL trains ceased performing local work except nights and Sundays. All base hour service was performed by independent local cars on a 10 minute headway to Vineyard and 20 to Genesee, with rush hour headways about 7 minutes in the morning and 5 in the evening to Genesee. Nights and Sunday VSL trains performed local service east of Vineyard, with a local shuttle car (a 100) running from Genesee to Vineyard on a 20 minute headway. On September 17, 1950, the VSL was converted to motor coach operation, but the rail shuttle service to Genesee St. ran from Vineyard to the terminus until October 1, 1950 when it, too, was abandoned with no replacement. EQUIPMENT:1911-1922: 100s, 200s, 400s 1922-1950: 600s(rebuilt into 5050, one-man, and a shuttle car, 100 TRACK: From Hill St. Station to Second Ave., track was 128-lb girder rail laid on treated ties with concrete and asphalt pavement. From 2nd Ave. to 7th Ave., rail was 75-lb t-rail, laid on redwood ties with gravel ballast. From 7th Ave. to Victoria Ave. track was again 128-lb girder rail on treated ties with asphalt pavement. From there to terminus, 75-lb T-rail with redwood ties and gravel ballast were used. ELECTRICAL FACILITIES Power for this line came from two substations: Vineyard and Burlington. FREIGHT: None east of Vineyard except box motors and RPO cars. MISCELLANEOUS: Cars used on this line were stored at Vineyard, 34 cars, Hill St. Station, 17 cars, and West Hollywood, 190 cars. Combination gauge trackage was maintained as follows under Joint Track Agreements between Los Angeles Railway and PE: Hill St. from Temple St. to north portal of tunnel, Hill St. from south portal to 4th St., Hill St. at entrance to Hill St. Station, Hill St. from 9th St. to Venice Boulevard., Venice Boulevard. from Hill to Georgia---maintained by PE. Hill St. from 4th to 9th Streets. and Venice Boulevard. from Georgia to Burlington---maintained by LARy. Automatic block signals were located between Genesee St. & San Vicente Boulevard. and Virginia Road. Outbound local cars at Berendo St. and inbound local cars at 3rd Ave. were required to head into siding and permit limited cars to pass when such cars were in sight. All members of local crew were held equally responsible for failure to comply. Outbound track switch at Vineyard was kept lined for Venice Short Line. In addition to observance of block signal rules, all trains approaching Vineyard were required to be under control and could not exceed 15 mph during last 100 feet before reaching the junction fouling point. This line always suffered from heavy competition from Los Angeles Railway lines; on Pico Boulevard. there was the excellent line P with very frequent service and PCC cars after 1937; on Venice Boulevard. itself, there was Line A from Burlington Ave. downtown; and on Washington Boulevard., Line W drained off yet more potential patrons. And to top it all, LARy consistently offered lower fares. MILEAGE: Genesee & San Vicente: 0.00 Vineyard: 1.81 11th & Hill Streets. 6.35 Hill St. Station: 7.29 Bonnie Brae St.: 9.95 Hollywood Junction.: 11.54 Gardner St.: 16.01 Fairfax Ave.: 16.71 West Hollywood: 18.06 Beverly Hills: 19.50

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