Posted by Peter D We exited the tunnel just on the edge of Echo Park. We would get off and walk east toward my Aunt's place. I always loved to ride the "subway" since in those days it was not felt that the loose soil in L.A. would ever be suitable for tunnel construction. I also remember playing with kids from the neighborhood on the flattened and graded bed of what was to become the Hollywood freeway as it headed toward the downtown interchange and joined the Harbor and Pasadena freeways. This was circa 1950 or so. As a side note I also remember riding various big Red Cars to places like Long Beach, Venice, etc., etc. I particularly remember the Red Car that went to Long Beach also traveled along tracks that were part of the rail road system from the train yards in the eastern part of down town L.A. That particular Red Car went along Alameda Blvd. on part of its route. If only the city fathers had know about what was to become of the L.A./Orange county population in years to come. They would never have allowed the various rights of way to be given up. Surface travel would have been impossible with city cross traffic, but imagine the use of monorails in todays environment.
on 12/30/2006, 8:19 pm
76.171.193.151
When I was about 7 to 10 years of age, my Mother worked in a doctors office at 4th and Broadway in downtown L.A. Her sister, my Aunt, lived a few blocks from Echo Park. Either my Mother or my Aunt would often take me from downtown to the Echo Park area via the sleek red car subway system. The station was on 6th and Olive and we would go down a ramp to the below ground platform to board the street cars. As I remember the trip took only a few minutes because the tunnel was only a couple of miles long.
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