Downtown L.A. street railroad tracks (no, not the Blue Line :)
Proprclr
rails imbedded in the street. Most of them are buried in the asphalt, with
parts of them sticking up here and there. I am wondering if these were trolley
rails, or for full size freight trains, scince some of these run behind
warehouses which are located east of the toy district.
And a few points of interest:
I've noticed a switch rail junction that was completely burried in
the asphalt (on Los Angeles street, about a couple blocks south of Union
Station, if I'm remembering correctly), except for the very top of the rails.
I can't help but wonder if the switching mechanism is still in place, but
burried, and if the switching rails are forever frozen in the position that
the last locomotive (or trolley) was to go.
I saw a pair of rails that turns right into a small concrete
"bump", which is topped with a chain link fence with a parking lot behind it.
(sorry, I forget which street :)
Near Union station, a bit south of it, and by the freeway, is a wooden
newsstand(?) sitting in a parking lot, right on top of an old railbed. I imagine
a train comming right at it everytime I see it. :)
Bootstrap Bill
"Steve Hoskins" <sjhho...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:l48puvktq9jtvm5sd...@4ax.com...
> The tracks you mention elsewhere, WERE trolley tracks. LARy had
> narrow-guage tracks, and Pacific Electric had standard-guage (4'8.5")
> trackage. As you guessed, most were just covered over with asphalt.
Are they well enough preserved that they could be uncovered and reused,
perhaps by something similar to the Portland street cars? (not MAX)
ExpoRail
>> "Steve Hoskins" <sjhho...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> The tracks you mention elsewhere, WERE trolley tracks. LARy had
>> narrow-guage tracks, and Pacific Electric had standard-guage (4'8.5")
>> trackage. As you guessed, most were just covered over with asphalt.
>
>Are they well enough preserved that they could be uncovered and reused,
>perhaps by something similar to the Portland street cars? (not MAX)
For a proposal to do that, see <www.redcar-la.com>. Dallas' McKinney Avenue
Trolley was started that way; see <www.mata.org> and other Google search hits.
Although it's hard to believe the tracks wouldn't be significantly
deteriorated. The Portland Downtown Streetcar tracks are all new.
Bootstrap Bill
"ExpoRail" <expo...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031226210912...@mb-m11.aol.com...
> >"Bootstrap Bill" wrco...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >> "Steve Hoskins" <sjhho...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >> The tracks you mention elsewhere, WERE trolley tracks. LARy had
> >> narrow-guage tracks, and Pacific Electric had standard-guage (4'8.5")
> >> trackage. As you guessed, most were just covered over with asphalt.
> >
> >Are they well enough preserved that they could be uncovered and reused,
> >perhaps by something similar to the Portland street cars? (not MAX)
>
> For a proposal to do that, see <www.redcar-la.com>.
I first saw that site a couple years ago, and it hasn't been updated
since.Is the project still a possibility?
Bootstrap Bill
"Bootstrap Bill" <wrco...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:imoHb.31931$C87....@twister.socal.rr.com...
should cost less than $13 million to complete. What's holding it up?
M
<wrco...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>Are they well enough preserved that they could be uncovered and reused,
>perhaps by something similar to the Portland street cars? (not MAX)
I know that on Alameda, the tracks have been ripped out. I saw them
ripping out the tracks from roughly Union Station down to around I-10
a year or two ago. I remember as a kid seeing the SP trains going up
and down the street.
Howdy Steve and Bill.
Matt
Bootstrap Bill
"M" <ma...@kungaloosh.com> wrote in message
news:admsuvktlkbjjf3rr...@4ax.com...
Howdy Matt. How goes it?
ExpoRail
>> "Bootstrap Bill" <wrco...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> > "ExpoRail" <expo...@aol.com> wrote:
>> > >"Bootstrap Bill" wrco...@yahoo.com wrote:
>> > >> "Steve Hoskins" <sjhho...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> > >> The tracks you mention elsewhere, WERE trolley tracks. LARy had
>> > >> narrow-guage tracks, and Pacific Electric had standard-guage (4'8.5")
>> > >> trackage. As you guessed, most were just covered over with
>asphalt.
>> > >
>> > >Are they well enough preserved that they could be uncovered and reused,
>> > >perhaps by something similar to the Portland street cars? (not MAX)
>> >
>> > For a proposal to do that, see <www.redcar-la.com>.
>>
>> I first saw that site a couple years ago, and it hasn't been updated
>> since.Is the project still a possibility?
>>
>I just reread the site. At $1 million per mile, both phase 1 and phase 2
>should cost less than $13 million to complete. What's holding it up?
Don't know. I occasionally see it mentioned, but nothing more.
Hank Fung
Steve Hoskins <sjhho...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>from a yard north of Chinatown down to about 25th Street (where they
>then proceeded further south in a divider between both sides of
>Alameda. Nowadays, south of 25th, the tracks are in the "Alameda
>Corridor" trench below street level.
>
The Alameda Corridor does not include the area you are referring to.
Technically, those tracks (also used by Metrolink and Amtrak, on
both sides of the Los Angeles River) have always been there.
>The tracks you mention elsewhere, WERE trolley tracks. LARy had
>narrow-guage tracks, and Pacific Electric had standard-guage (4'8.5")
>trackage. As you guessed, most were just covered over with asphalt.
--
Hank Fung fun...@ocf.berkeley.edu