D (Los Angeles Railway)

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

D
Overview
Locale	Los Angeles
Termini	Bonnie Brae Street and Beverly Boulevard Central Station
Service
Type	Streetcar
System	Los Angeles Railway
Daily ridership	3,632 (1940) [1]
History
Opened	1920
Closed	August 3, 1947 (1947-08-03)
Technical
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification	Overhead line,  600 V DC
Route map Legend 1927–1947 Bonnie Brae and Beverly 3rd and Bonnie Brae 3rd and Alvarado Alvarado and 6th   H    3   5th and Beaudry 5th and Figueroa   U   5th and Flower 5th and Grand 5th and Olive 5th and Hill 5th and Broadway   P    W    5    9   5th and Spring   N    7    8   5th and Main   O   5th and Los Angeles 5th and Maple 5th and San Pedro Central Station extended 1943 Central and 6th Central and 7th   J    R   Central and 8th Central and Olympic Central and 12th   B   Central and 16th Central and Washington Central and Adams Central and Jefferson Central and 38th Central and Vernon   V   Central and Slauson Los Angeles Railway lines Pacific Electric lines This diagram: view talk edit

D was a streetcar route in Los Angeles, California. The line was operated by the Los Angeles Railway from 1895 to 1947.

History

Bonnie Brae Line (1895–1920)

During the early days of LARy, the route ("Bonnie Brae") had to compete with multiple other streetcar companies, running a circuitous route to avoid them between Central Station and the northern portion of Westlake, by way of 5th Street, Olive Street, 6th Street, Figueroa Street, 7th Street, Alvarado Street, Webster Avenue, and Bonnie Brae Street.

Following the Great Merger of 1911, Pacific Electric divested most of its Los Angeles local routes to LARy, allowing D to use former Los Angeles Inter-Urban Electric Railway trackage on West 6th street Westlake. ^[2] The Figueroa and 7th street portions of the line were eliminated, shortening the trip by one-quarter mile (0.40 km).

D Line (1920–1947)

In 1921, the Bonnie Brae Line was given the letter designation D. ^{[3] [4]} Cars originated at Fifth and Central, running west via Fifth; Olive; Sixth; a private right of way; and Larchmont as far as Melrose. ^[5] Early in the 1920s, the 5th Street segment was extended so that 3, U, and D lines could run straight along 5th Street through Downtown and shortening the route by an additional one-quarter mile (0.4 km). ^[6] This made D little more than a branch of two much more popular routes. Service to Bonnie Brae was resumed in January 1925. ^{[2] [7]}

With the closure of Central Station in 1940, and no major destinations on East 5th Street, ridership downtown reduced significantly (though the removal of the I line improved ridership in Westlake). Ridership along the route spiked in World War II, necessitating extending the service down U line tracks to Slauson. ^[8] The route was removed by Los Angeles Transit Lines in 1947, largely replaced with trolley coach service. ^[2]

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. "'D'". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
3. "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.
4. "Cars To Have Letter Signs" (PDF). Two Bells. Vol. 1, no. 48. Los Angeles Railway. May 2, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
5. 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.
6. 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 .
7. "Board to Study Protests Filed on Car Routes". Los Angeles Times . November 22, 1908. p. 15. Retrieved July 29, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
8. "U Line Service Improvement Planned". The Southwest Wave. September 10, 1943. p. 1. Retrieved February 11, 2022– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• D Line Archives — Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society
• "Los Angeles Railway". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California.