1886-1898
See also Temple Street Cable Railway
In Los Angeles, CAL. two small cable railways were constructed in the year 1886 under patents belonging to these Companies, --the Second Street Cable Railroad and the Temple Street Cable Railway. They are single track roads with turn-outs; one of them being about 6,900 and the other nearly 9,000 feet in length. In operating these roads, where turn-outs are met, the rope is dropped from the grip and the cars pass around the turn-outs by gravitation. There is only one slot for the grip, the rope traveling in opposite directions upon pulleys placed 28 feet apart. The pulleys are constructed in pairs but are not set side by side, one being a foot or two in advance of the other. There is a turntable at each end of the road for reversing the dummy.
These roads were constructed almost entirely in the interest of adjacent property, but have unexpectedly proved to be good investments, and the sucessful operation of them has led to the introduction of the cable system into that city on a very extended scale.
See also: Street Railway History of Los Angeles
Commenced operating July 14, 1886.
Gauge of road 3 feet 6 inches.
Length of road, single track 8,725 feet.
Heaviest grade 72 feet in 800.
Number of engines employed one
Weight of empty car 2,300 pounds.
Weight of empty dummy 2,150 pounds.
Intervals of departure 10 minutes.
Average number of round trips per day 96.
Number of cars and dummys employed 6 of each.
Hours run per day 16.
Number of wire ropes in use one.
Length of ropes used 18,250 feet.
Circumference of wire rope 3.14 inches.
Speed at which ropes travel 616 feet per minute.
Remarks: The engine-house is on top of hill, 6,000 feet from city end of road.
| The Electric Railway Journal -1887- |
More notes:
The powerhouse was at Temple & Edgeware where the Hollywood Freeway now cuts through.
The line ran on Temple Street from Spring Street to Edgeware Road.
The line opened July 14th, 1886, and was extended to Hoover Street April 30, 1889.
The grip was of the single-jaw side type and the cars crossed-over at the ends of the line.
The Temple Street Cable Railway was the most successful cable car line in Los Angeles. It was built by real estate promoters, and it succeeded in raising the value of property along the road. Like the Second Street Cable Railroad, the line climbed Bunker Hill, near the Plaza.
Also, like the Second Street Railroad, the line was originally single-tracked. In 1889, the line was double-tracked from Spring to Union. The Temple Street line also connected with the Cahuenga Valley Railroad, a steam line to Hollywood.
The company was sold under foreclosure February 28, 1898. Henry E. Huntington acquired it in 1902 and incorporated the line into the Pacific Electric Railway. The PE electrified the line October 2nd, 1902. Ownership of the line was transferred to the Los Angeles Railway in 1910 as an item in the "Great Merger." The line dwindled in importance until finally it was nothing more than the Edgeware Road Shuttle, operated by the LARy's little loved Birney safety cars. The line was abandoned in 1946 with the acquisition of the LARy by the Los Angeles Transit Lines.
Return to ERHA homepage
