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LOS ANGELES, CAL., JUNE 10, 1925 No. 1

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OUR NEW SUBWAY TERMII~TAL IN THE MAKING

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4 2. Underpinning adjoining buildings. ~ ~~~

f~'' - At some locations shafts are driven to

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3. Operating over old trackage just ~ t .

~•, ~ prior to use of relocated station had

k~ many handicaps, but was done withminimum delay to service.

s,; 4. Re-located station, on site of old H ! ~r

~ ~ ~ s. Masonic Club Bldg., five days before

~l: ti!~,~~' first use. Record time was made in 4,a.

finishing and equipping it. r,y,,~,~;

~ S. D. W. Pontius, Vice President &

'~ General M eager, and Chief Engineer - ~~.

i ~ Johnson, on tour of inspection. Track- ~!

~,. ~ age layout is capable of handling ~': ,x

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1922 subway plan would have made Hill Street Station look

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For final plan, see page 42-L.

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Shown on this page are plan layouts of Hill Street Station

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at four different periods in its history. This first one

ishows the tracks and buildings as they were when taken over

ifrom Los Angeles Pacific in 1912,

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rebuilt to allow Hollywood cars more room; date: 1916.

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I~OLLYWOOD SUBVO/~4►YLos Angeles first and, to date, only

subway was a mile-long double track boreextending from Beverly & Glendale Blvds.into the basement of the Subway TerminalBuilding at 417 S. Hill St. It was thesomewhat forlorn realization of Harriman~sdream of 1907: a four-track subway west toVermont Ave., blanching then to Vineyard,Hollywood, Beverly Hills and elsewhere.Although the subway which PE built in 1925was far from being the major trunk line en-visioned by Harriman, its downtown terminuswas crowned by z notewortk~y station-officebuilding and the stories of both the subwayand the terminal proper are important partsof any Western District history.

Pacific Electric was ordered to buildthe so-called Hollywood Subway under OrderNo. 9928 of the California Railroad Comm-ission, issued in connection with authori-zation to increase fares to Hollywood from6¢ to two 6¢ zonas with a through fare oflOQ, effective January 1, 1922• PE couldthink of other reasons for building thistunnel: (1) $36,865 estimated savingsyearly in operation, plus $25,000 more dueto less maintenance of tracks in citystreets, congestion, injury claims, etc.(2) $'159000 of the total cost of tracksand property would be used in the futuresubway to Vineyard. (3) Building the sub-way would forestall Los Angeles Railway sextending into Hollywood.

On February 11, 1924, plans were complet-~ed for the construction of the tunnel andits downtown terminal. This culminated manyyears of preparatory work, dating from theearly 1906 plans o; LAP through 1913-191L~when heavy expenditures for land were madefor rights of way to Vineyard and to First& Beverly Blvds. Alignment maps and pro-files were prepared on both projects; thesewere little changed when the time came tobuild the first subway tunnel.

The Hollywood-Glendale-Valley Subway ex-~tended from the westerly line of Hill St.in a northwestex*ly direction approximatelyparallel with Fourth.St., under and acrossOlive, Grand, Hope, Flower and Figueroa,thence on a five-degree curve about 900in length to the north, under and acrossFremont and Beaudry Avenues and the inter-section of Fourth &Boylston Sts., thenceon a tangent in a northerly direction un-der and across Crown Hill Ave., Ttird St.,Sapphire, Bixel and r~merald Sts., and tothe intersection of First St. & GlendaleBlvd. From the westerly portal of the tun-nel to First St. & Glendale 231vd., about500, open cut construction was used.

The tunnel as tiuilt turned out to be adouble-track, concrete lined, semi-circul-ar arch section with averhedd trolley.Station facilities were provided at HillSt. in the basement and ground floor of alimit-height office building of heavy steeland concrete construction. Original planscalled for a terminal at grade at Hill St.but these were later changed (see "SubwayTerminal'). From Hill St. to a point 65'west of Olive St., where the station tracksconverged into the two main line tracks,the grade was level. From a point 65~ westof Olive St. to Flower St. the grade wasplus .5~,~and from Flower to First & Glen-dale Blvd. a plus 2.1~. The total lengthof the tunnel was Q,325 lineal feet; itswidth was 28 feet, and its height 213".

CONSTROCTION: On February 18, 1924, finalplans and specifications

were placed in the hands of prospectivebidders. Upon opening the bids subm.ttedby six engineering contracting firms, iCwas interesting to note that several of thebids were within $100,000 of the estimatedX1,250,000 cost of the tunnel. On April 16of that year the tunnel contract was award-ed to TwoY~y Brothers of Portland, Oregon.Ground was broken at 10:00 AM on Saturday,May 3, 1924, at First St. & Glendale Hlvd.There were no official ceremonies, but PEwas represented by D. W. Pontius, its Vice-

president & General Manager, and a number

of the members of his official staff, in-cluding E. C. Johnson, Chief Engineer, who

han direct supervision of construction.Also present were civic representativesfrom Los Angeles, Hollywood, Glendale Van

Nuys, San Fernando and Burbank.

Dirt from the first 500 feet of open cut

at the western portal was removed by steamshovels and dump trucks. Lucas St. had tobe realigned to avoid a grade crossing andthis was done at that time. The first tun-nel drift was commenced at the west portalon Friday, June 13th---possibly an omen of

the subways short service life.

The tunnel was excavated by the driftmethod; about 60~ of the material excavatedwas loaded directly into dump cars withoutadditional handling. A standard gauge spurtrack was built into the tunnel from theGlendale Line and with the construction ofa trestle and bunkers, sufficient storagespace was made for sand and~~gravel for usein the tunnel lining. A cement house anda small repair shop for emergency repairswere also constructed at that point.

Bunkers were also built on the southerlyside of the open cut, with narrow gaugetrack running from these bunkers to thedrifts. Dirt was removed from the driftswith the use of small gasoline locomotivesand specially constructed steel dump cars.These cars were of one yard capacity andspecially designed by the contractor forrapid dumping and were built by a localfirm. Loaded dirt cars were hauled fromthe tunnel to the bunkers, which were at aheight sufficient to permit dump trucks toload underneath; it was then hauled away tolocal dumps.

In addition to starting work at the westportal, the contractor also made an opencut between Figueroa and Flower Sts., a dis-tance of about 300 feet, and from this open

cut worked drifts in each direction in thesame manner as at the vest portal. Thus thework was greatly speeded, as shifts could baworked continuously at each of the threeheadings. As the bottom of this open cutwas some forty feet below street level, itwas necessary to install a hoist to raisethe excavates dirt into bunkers. The sametype of small gasoline locomotives and steeldump cars were used at this location.

Most of the tunnel excavation was throughsoft shale and this material was loosened byusing low per cent dynamite in small quanti-ties and by use of pneumatic air drills.Excavating proceeded by making two advancedrifts, one on the lower right and one onthe lower left of the face of the tunnelrunning about three cubic yards per linealfoot, each. Timbering to support thesedrifts was placed so that the uprights wereof sufficient distance apart to allow thepassage of dump cars; the outside uprighttimber was placed at a sufficient distancefrom the outsine excavation so that formscould be built and the concrete wall pour-ed without disturbing these timbers. Thistimbering also formed the base for the tim-bering of the two following drifts immedi-ately above the lower drifts, each of whichcontained about 2.3 cubic yards per linealfoot and also supported the inside formsfor the concrete arch. All of these Fourdrifts were excavated to the outside lineof concrete and found support against thecore or center portion, ~ihich measuredabout 16 feet wide and 17 feet high and ranapproximately 9.3 cubic yards per linealfoot. The third operation in excavationwas the removal of the wings and arch whichin most cases was accomplished in one oper-ation, running approximately 4.8 cubicyards per lineal foot. Each drift as itprogressed was decked over with lagging andthe necessary portion of lagging removed topermit excavated material to drop into dumpcars in the lower drifts by gravity.

Dynamiting was generally done during thenoon hour or at the time of shift changes.No blasts were set off without warning, and

a watchman was left to prevent worlffien frompassing into the danger zone.

At no time did the gasoline locomotivesenter the drifts. Empty cars were broughtto within about 300 feet of the face of thedrifts and were dropped into the lowerdrifts either by gravity or pushed in byworkmen. Loaded cars were pulled from thelower drifts by a cable leading to a hoistdriven by an electric motor some 300 feetback from the drifts.

As the concrete lining was poured, setand stripped of form lumber, before theearth core was removed, the core was usedfor supporting the arch segments upon whSchthe concrete form lumber was placed. Invery heavy and swelling ground, concretingalways followed closely behind the wing andarch excavation.

Grades and lines were checked daily fromsubstantial monuments which were establish-ed on the lines of the lower drifts at in-tervals of about 600 feet on tangent andabout 150 feet on the curve. A daily driftrecord was kept by the engineer and compu-tations made at the end of each month forpayments to the contractor. These paymentswere based on the lineal feet of drift pro-gress.

The concrete lining in the tunnel sect-ion had an inside clear opening at trie topof rail of 28 feet and the spring line was5~q~~ above top of rail. The arch had aradius of 1Q feet with a minimum thicknessof 24 inches and wasreinforced with squaredeformed bars. The footings had a minimumwidth of 3~2" and extend en 36" below thetop of rail with an additional depth of 12inches where wet ground was encountered.Four-foot fiber ducts were provided in theside walls on each side for feeder and ten-sion lines in connection with electricaloperation, telephones, signals, etc. At50-foot intervals along each side wall, arefuge recess was provided.

This section extended from the westernportal to a point 65 feet west of Olive St.From that point to the west line of OliveSt. the tunnel was flared by flattening thearch and from the west line of Olive Streetheavy type steel construction was used, allfootings, columns and girders designed totake the weight of a limit height building.

All concrete in the tunnel section wascomposes of one part Portland Cement, threeparts washed sand to five parts washed rivergravel. Six-inch air lines were laid in thetunnel from large compressors and concretewas mixed and placed through these lines inone operation. Apiece of rubber and cottonfabric, ten feet in length, was used as adepositing nozzle and it was an easy matterto deposit the concrete at any point in theforms.

The total length of the tunnel sectionwas 4,325 lineal feet. The concrete liningcontained 26,203 yards of concrete, and thetunnel excavation was 135,000 cubic yards.

The contractor worked three shifts at ~each heading and daily total number of menemployed amounted to about 650. The reportof Jctober~ 1924, shows an average of approx-imately 2Q lineal feet of completed tunneldaily.

LNalls and arch were poured together, mak-ing a monolithic mass, except in one or twoexceptional cases such as the open cut atFigueroa St., at which point the walls werepoured first. Pacific electric furnishedrock, sand and cement for the concrete lin-ing; two spur tracks were used for deliveryof these materials: at the west portal andat the Figueroa St. open cut.

Water seepage into the tunnel which roseto about 24,000 gallons daily during the ex-cavation period, gradually decreased to aflow of about 15,000 gallons daily. Thisheavy seepage puzzled the contractor, and

RAPID PROGRESS ~BE~l\TG 1VIADE ON TUI~TNEL ~ „

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Hoist and earth bunkers, through which excavated material is brought to surface and fed into trucks, one of which can be seen~in pictureat lower left-hand corner. 2—Gasoline locomotive and dump trains used in bringing material from tunnel to bunkers. 3—Hoist machin-ery used in connection with removal of material at the Figueroa Street shaft.

TLTNI~TEL WIRIl\TG IS ~I~TISHED IN RECORD TIME

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posts are sufficiently spaced to permit operation of dump cars between them.

the most plausxbie explanation came from an

old-timer: the water seeped doRn Prom the

Echo Park Lake, about half a mile above the

west portal on the Glendale Line. To get

easy drainage an eight-inch main of concrete

Pipe with closed points was placed for the

betweenn~racks and aboutla~footebeloxetheine

sub-Brade. Along each side of the tunnel 2

feet in from the walls a six-inch concrete

pipe was placed with open bell points, and

at intervals of 25 feet cross drains Were

laid of six-inch concrete pipe with open

bell Joints connecting the outside lines of

pipe with the eight-inch main in the center

between tracks. Over the top of all these

drains for a depth of from twelve to eight-

een ilaced~to bring the fl o g of the gtunnelwas P

up to the track sub-grade. The eight-inch

main led to sumps constructed under the sub

grade at Olive St. and at Flower St.; these

sumps were e4~-PPed with electric automatic

pumps which lifted water from the sumps to

storm drains at these two points.

It took less than a year to drive the

tunnel through to Hill St. Ground was bro-

ken at the west portal on May 3, 1924, and

the bore was completed on April 16, 1925.Y'hen began the work of laying rail and in-stalling trolley wire.

Th9 doubly track in the tunnel section

eras built on twelve-foot centers. Ninety-

pound rail was used with standard t1e plates

and rail anti-creepers. Redwood ties of 6~~

by 8" by 8' were used and eight i;iches ofcrushed rock ballast was placed beneath theties.

Electrificatioh of the new tunnel involy-ed some unusual features. Underground cab-les, running lengthwise through the tunnelvralls, were first to be installed. A crewof ~~overhead~~ men was made over into a crewof °underground's men with much success; asthis was a new line of work for them, it wasxiacessary. to obtain considerable new equip-rnent. A standard cable-pulling winch wasassembled in Torrance Shops, a steel pullingcable was salvaged from elevator cables dis-carded at Sixth & Main Station; duct rodsaxid other paraphernalia obtained and actualwork started on June 25, 1925. BY July 3rda total of 2Q,000 feet of No. 1¢ rubber cov-erod wire had been installed for the light-ing system; ¢,000 feet of 1,000,000 C1S leadcovered feeder cable, ¢,000 feet of No. 3conductor, lead covered, 2,200 volt cable,and IIy000.feet of ten pair lead covered tel-ephone cable had been pulled into their res-pective ducts, ready for the cable splicers.

T'_ne trolley contact system was of catenaryconstruction, and presented several interest-ing features. The supporting messengers were300,000 c.m. copper cables, which also actedas auxiliary feeders. They were attached tothe tunnel roof at 15 ft. intervals by meansof porcelain suspension insulators of stand-ar~ design. The trolley contact conductorswere of 4/0 copper, hung to the supportingmessengers at 15 ft. intervals, midway be-tween the messenger insulators, by means ofn mach type C.S. catenary hangers.

At intervals of 600 feet, taps were runup through the tunnel proper, the trolleysb~'?~g held in alignment in the curve by theuse of a new type of steady brace, developedin the electrical department of PE and made~~~ the Torrance Shops. This permitted thetrolley wire to raise with the pressure oftrolley poles, but prevented it £rom movings_deways. It consisted of a maple blockYastened to the roof brackets by insulatedbolts, with an iron arm, swiveled at eachend, running down at an angle to a standardtrolley ear. An iron plate was bolted onone side with a hook to carry the supporting~~ssenger.

Lights in the tunnel were spaced at fiftyfoot intervals on both sides. They were put~~ the refuge pockets where men could stepback in a recess built into the wall. Everyt~ausand feet a specially built refuge pock-et housed a subway telephone coru~ected dir-act to the terminal; colored lights designat-ed these so they could be reached quickly incase of an emergency. The lighting systemwas fed at 1,500 foot intervals from taans-f~x°mers ehich also fed the signals. These

13

transformers were tapped from the 2,200 volt Toluca Substation cost $120,000 and firstcable by means of subway type terminal boxes went in service on June 15, 1925.which provided proper protection Prom fail-ure.

A feature of the use of the new type of^stead brace~~ described above was that itpermitted complete elimination of trolleyspan wires, always a source of trouble whentrolley poles wander.

The five-track terminal beneath the Sub-way Terminal Building employed a type of dir-ect suspension, it being a slow speed zone.The 4/0 copper trolley wire was fastened bymeans of special spring type barn hangersspaced every 15 feet on tangents, 7 feet oncurves, to 2x12 inch planking, which in turnwas suitably attached to the. concrete beamsof the ceiling. More than 2,000 lineal feetof Oregon pine planking were used. Trolleywire when installed was stretched to a ten-sion of 2500 pounds; thereby providing a per-fectly horizontal under-run, even under the „maximum pressure of the trolley wheel.

A new substation, Toluca No. 51, was con-structed adjacent to the west portal to pro-vide most of the power needed for tunnel andterminal operation. This new unit, in add-ition to carrying the mayor portion of thetunnel-terminal load, also distributed allof the electrical energy required for oper-ating the entire railway facilities in therelocated Hill St. Station. Due to its lo-cation, the Toluca Substation relieved theexisting heavy load on the Olive Substationand materially improved voltage conditionson the Hollywood and Glendale Lines.

Toluca Sub was automatic, and was equippedwith a 1500 kw., 600 volt DC, 6 phase, 50cycle, 600 RPH compound wound synchronousconverter, with complete automatic equipment,all of the most modern type and incorporatingthe latest developments in the industry. Thebuilding was of concrete construction and ab-solutely fireproof. Its exterior design wasconsiderably more attractive than the usualPE utilitarian design for such structures.

Toluca Substation was interconnected bymeans of feeders with the Maple Avenue, Oliveand Ivanhoe Substations. Suitable switchingequipment was installed for operating thefeeders, singly or collectively, thus provid-ing a unified system and flexible electricalenergy supply to meet the varying demand ofan exceedingly diversified load.

In addition to the relays and other de-vices required for starting and shutting downthe station machine under normal conditions,there were protective relays for limitingoverloads and overspeeding; for disconnectingthe machine in case of power failure, singlephase operation and reversed polarity.

Across the two maln line tracks Prom thenew substation was Toluca Yard, built in late1925. The yard contained four passenger carstorage tracks with a total capacity of 22cars. It had 1700 lineal fast of track, oneinspection pit and miscellaneous maintenancefacillties and storage sheds.

Safety was insured by 21 block signals,automatic train stops, and an interlockerplant at the throat of the terminal; thisinterlocker was located in a tower fourstories belo'vr OliveStreet. The automaticblock signals were arranged to handle onetrain every 25 seconds.

The first work train operated throughtY.e tunnel and into the terminal on Sep-tember 10, 1925.

Now We leave the tunnel and turn ourattention to the great Subway Terminal.

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF CGWSTRUCTION:

Showing an elapsed time of but 1B monthsand 27 days from the date of breaking ofground to operation of first scheduledpassenger train, the following is a chron-ological table of important events in theconstruction of the tunnel and terminal:

Feb. 11, 1924 Pins completed for can-struction of tunnel andterminal.

Feb. 18, 1924 Bids asked.Mar. 18, 1924 Bids submitted by pros-

pective contractors.Apr. 16, 1924 Tunnel contract awarded.May 3, 1924 First ground broken.June 13, 1924 First tunnel drift begun.Jan. 2, 1925 Work on Toluca Substation

begun.Mar. 1, 1925 Completion of first driftoApr. 16, 1925 Tunnel bore completed..May 13, 1925 Excavation for terminal

building begun.June 23, 1925 Wiring of tunnel begun.July 4, 1925 Toluca Sub in service.July 7, 1925 Structural steel erection

begun.Aug. 23, 1925 Building excavation finished.Aug. 31, 1925 Track laying in tunnel

begun.Sep. 10, 1925 Operation of firs* work

train through to terminal.Oct. 15, 192: Laying of track finished.Oct. 2Q, 1925 Structural steel erection

finished.Nov. 2¢, 1925 Wiring of tLUUiel finished.Nov. 30, 1925 Official ceremonies and in-

spection by public.Dec. 1, 1925 Operation of first sched~ed

passenger train.

POWER UNIT COMPLETE FOR SUBWAY SERVICE

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14 RAPID PACE CONTINUES AT TERMINAL SITE_.- _ ~_ - ~ w ~.

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Progress on Hill Street terminal continues at rapid pa :e, 75% of excavation on site having been completed on July 10th,

PicYUre herewith shows extent of excavation being made, ttie timbering being temporary support insuring permanency of side walls

pending completion of structure.

NE~V TERIO~INAL STILL PROG~tESSES RAPIDLY

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Structural steel workers are maintaining the same dizzy pace that has characterized the progress of other crews on terminatand tunnel project. Vice-President Pontius and Chief Engineer Johnson are seen on a tour of inspection.

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Above: The 1926 plan for integrating Hill Stree3 Station with Subway

Terminal, xhich was carried out as shown; compare xith plans on page

42-E, (Right) Renouncement carried in all cars of chaagea effective

7 Feb 26 xhich brought Valiey and many Hollgvrood cars into Subcray,

(Belox) Tolnca Yards circa 194~i; car storage tracks at right. Car

at left ie about to enter eubxay. (a21, Hagna Collection)

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mprove ~ erv~ceHollywood Boulevard Line

Santa Monica Boulevard LineVan Nuys Line

Effective Sunday, February 7, 1926

In connection with the commencement of operation

into the Subway Terminal, following routings, schedules,

etc., will be in effect far service to the Hollywood and San

Fernando Valley districts.

Hollywood Boulevard LineAll Hollywood Boulevard cars (except

Hollywood-Vineyard and Hollywood-SantaMonica cars) will be operated into and out ofthe Subway Terminal.

Hollywood Vineyard .LineNo change will be made in this service,

same to be operated under ten-minute head-way as at present via Hill Street.

Santa Monica Boulevard LineAll Santa Monica Boulevard cars will be

operated into and out of the Subway Termi-nal (except Western and Franklin AvenueLine).

Western and Franklin Ave. LineWestern and Franklin Avenue cars will be

operated as at present along Hill Street to andfrom Twelfth and Hill.

Echo Park Avenue LineEcho Park Avenue cars will be operated as

at present along Hill Street to and fromTwelfth and Hill.

Van Nuys. LineAll Van Nuys Line trains will be operated

into and out of the Subway Terminal (excepttrain leaving Van Nuys at 11:44 p.m. and trainleaving Los Angeles at 4:15 a. m., which trainswill be operated via Hill S#reet to and from HillStreet Station).

Hollywood-Santa Monic~-Venice Line

All throug~n Hollywood-Santa Monica-Ven-ice Line trains ~.vill operate as at present to andfrom Hill Street Station via Hill Street

Fare Collection Plan for LocalCars Through Subway

Fare collectors will be placed at head oframp in main waiting room in Subway Term-inal, to whom passengers will pay- fares insteadof to conductors on cars. Such collectors willissue identification checks (if going beyondInner Zone), also transfers, eta

PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAYFebruary 2, 1926

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S~JBWAY ~E~tM~N~LJfhenever Pacific Electric wanted to make

a mayor improvement, executives at Sixth &Main, after numerous conferences, workedout a formalized ~~Request for Authority forExpenditure of Funds.~~ This was submittedfirst to SoutherA Pacific Headquarters inSan Francisco; if approved there,it wenton to New York City for final approval orrefection by the Southern Pacific Board ofDirectors. These Requests were cogent andprecise; years later they remain highly in-teresting to read. Here is the Request forthe construction of the Subway Terminal:

'Request for Authority for Expenditureof $696,155; January 1, 1924•

"To construct depressed passenger ter-minal and provide other facilities.

'Recommendations:

~~1. Construct depressed passenger ter-minal from Hill St. to Olive St. for flolly-wood Subway service.

~~2. Purchase of lot on Olive St. foradditional yard space.

~~3. Construct retaining wall in OliveSt. cut and construct Olive St. undergradecrossing.

~~y. Demolish old 'leanto~ building ser-ving as passenger station for Santa ivionicaBay district trains.

"5. Relocate trackage serving Santa Mon-ica Bay district trains.

~~6. Y'Jreck Masonic Temple Building toconstruct new station to accommodate con-cessionaire tenants and provide a stationfacility for Santa Monica F3ay District cars.

"7. Purchase furniture and fixtures.

~~8. Construct 1,000 lineal feet ofsingle track in depressed terminal in add-ition to xrackage under ~~,Vork Order 22,000.

"9. Provide 165 lineal feet of doubletrack tunnel.

"Reasons: To permit sale of northerly141 feet of terminal property reservingterminal rights in limit height buildingto be erected by purchaser. If the termin-al were constructed at Hill St, grade asfirst planned, it wouln be impossible toever improve with an office building ascost would be prohibitive. Purchaser hasbeen founn who will buy the property andconstruct a limit height building under thefollo~xing conditions:

~'(a) Pacific Electric Railway Companyto retain perpetual rights to entire base-ment area, the west 194' of ground floorarea on Hill St. level, and the groundfloor area fronting twenty feet on Hill St.giving access +.o rear and basement areas.

~~(b) Pacific Electric to construct foun-dations and basement structure for a limitheight structure up to and including therough concrete floor at the Hill St. leveland bgver will pay PE $400,000 as full pay-men~ for such work.

'!This plan will permit expansion to carefor future subway requirements by connect-ion from remaining terminal property on thesouth, while original grade terminal planprecluded the possibility of extending thesubway system in the future.

~~Present station building and old Mason-ic Temple building will have to be wreckedin order to relocate the Venice Short Lineterminal tracks. These track changes alsorequire the purchase of a lot at the south-west corner of the station grounds.

"Additional advantages are: (1) Largeoffice building at terminal drawing andit-ional railway travel and anchoring businessto vicinity. (2) 200 more concessionairerevenue, up to $27,000 per year. (3) Rail-

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• The great Subway Terminal Building at ¢17 S. Hill St. is o,e of Los Angeleslargest office buildings, ccljitairiing 1100 rooms. In this photo, the nevi HillStreet Station snd yard are seen in forzground. (SFiu)

way property having frontage of 1~1~ on westside of Olive St. will be little affected invalue by new plan as tracks will be so farundergrounn that surface and air rights willbe extremely valuable. Former plan wouldhave prevented arty return from property.'

iVork Order 22,000 referred to above wasthe authorization to construct the subwayitself. The ~~former plane mentioned had todo with the original plan to bring tracksin from Figueroa St, via a tunnel-~to westedge of Hill St. Station yard, then emergeon grade level with Hill St.; this plan isreproduced on page ¢2-E.

The 'purchaser" above mentioned was theSubway Terminal Corporation, formed by someof the city~s leading citizens. This cor-poration paid PE $705,000 for the land onwhich the huge structure was built, plus$400,000 for construction work from found-ations to and including the ground floor.

Ground for the Hollywood Subway was bro-ken on May 3, 192Q at the west portal, itwas more than a year later that excavationwork began on the site of the terminal it-self: ~6ay 13, 1925. Plans for the build-ing were prepared by Schultze & ~;veaver, Los&ngeles and New York architects. The tunneland terminal project, jointly accomplishedby PE and the Subway Terminal Corporation,represented the largest relief offered upto that time for traffic congestion; itbrought outlying communities three milesnearer the central business district inpoint of time; it stabilized property val-ues for many blocks arounn; it provided abusiness and professional office address~,nequalled in the city.

The Subway Terminal Building contained600 offices; a garage, entered from OliveSt., afforded parking for exclusive use oftenants. 122,000 cubic yards of earth wereexcavated for the building---the largestexcavation for any building in the city upto that time. The building had a frontageof lyl feet on Hill St. and a depth of 330feet. The steel framework for its limit

height hugeness contained more steel thanany other building in Los Angeles: 6,000tons, of which 2,400 tons were below thestreet level; the latter figure was greaterthan the total of all steel used in thecity~s largest hotel, the biltmore.

The excavating ~uras pusueri for~rarn aitu

all possible spee~; 45 trucks asJd ~ ste;;R,shovels worked 15 hours daily. As the west

Ibourulsry of the site knit deep into bunkerHill, the tracks there ~eould be four floors

b~ausath Clive St., while at the east enri of

the sw~bterranean train seen they ~rouid beBrut ~Lhirty feat beio~ ii~11 St. It was, of

course, necessary to close Olive St. forseveral months to permit excavating, in-stallation of retaining walls aiin the var-ious subsurface facilities required: thetrainmen~s rooms, the passenger trafficheanquarters, etc. Most of the Olive St.subsurface structure was unfinishen; tem-porary offices were partitionen off froma dark, huge, shapeless room with roughconcrete walls; noubtless this would havereceiver finishing touches had the VeniceSubway been built to connect. Directlyopposite the Hill St. property on Olive St.stood an old public school; Pr, bought thisproperty and it, too, was excavated to pro-vide the throat of the tunnel; approximate-ly 68 feet west of Olive St.

On August 23, 1925, all excavation workwas complete and the reinforced concretefoundations were started. erection of thesteel framework followed, to be finisheron October 2Q, 1925 with the traditional

unfurling of Old Glory on the topmost gir-der---symbol of success wherever steelmentoil.

Sven while heavy steel girners were be-ing hoisted into place far sbove, PE crewsmere pressing forwarn in the great trainshed far below the surface of the ground.By September, 1925, the vast room han taken

shape. The cOnerete curbs, similar to theones on the 6th & Main elevated structure,were in place and the five stub tracks hadbeen laid between them. Tracks were laidon ballast cushions; and the work of con-

19

• The throat of the subway; left of interloclting tower are tracks 1 ann 2;tracks 3, 4 and 5 are to right. (R. B. Petersen Photo)

structing the concrete loaning and unload-ing platforms was nearing completion. Allof the rough ~xork involved in the concreteramps leading to and from the mezzaninefloor to the train platforms had bee:l com-pleted. All rough work in connection withthe Olive St. undergrade crossing was fin-ished and Olive St. was reopened to publicuse; the tower to house the interlockingplant at the throat was almost completed,it being a part of the Olive St. structure.

Esy the end of 9ctober, all work in thetrainshed was finished,~as was the blocksiPnal system. The interlocker was about90q complete, and large forces were busyputting the final touches on the terminal;placing tile, terra cotta and marble. Thebrick curtain wall was completed for thefirst story, and facing graciite was placedon the Hill St. front to a height of 1zfloors. The date of completion was nearann the Transportation Department was busymapping out timetables.; a fitting celebrat-ion was being planned for the great event,-+a-hich, as PE Vice-Presinent D. 'd. Pontiusproudly announces, wools take place on Nov-ember 30th with a civic banquet at theEiltmore Hotel preceding the formal open-;ng.

iuovember 30, 1925, was truly a great dayin Los Angeles history. Your editor wasamong the thousands who crammed into theSubway Terminal that day and perhaps hisfirst-hand recollections would be of inter-est. First of all, there was the long walk?rom Hill St. to the waiting room: 130feet down a marble-floored arcade flsnkedon both sides by shops. Then the main wait-ing room itself---surely as impressive asornate head offices of banks and reminiscentof same. Then there were the long, windingramps to the lower mezzanine where morewaiting room space was provided; and fiscallythe gradually descending straight ramps to'track level. Winding down the ramps withthe crowd, it was slow going---but swellingmartial music from below stirred the sensesand further heightened the excitement feltby everyone. Then the first glimpse of thegreat cavern itself---a cavern brightenedat intervals by photographers flashguns---a cavern wherein the PE 23and on a bunting-bedecked flat car outdid itself---a cavern~+herein were placed on display a pricelesscollection of PE equipment from early days~o the present. There was a resurrected old

horsecar, then a little wooden city car ofthe 1Vineties; a high wooden interurban car,one of the Golden Gates, represented the1902 intercity concept, and modern equipmentwas represented by a new 1100 type interur-ban, a 1600 Class locomotive, ann three-cartrains of 600s which offered free riries to

the west portal to all comers. I rememberwell that first ride through the blacknessof trie Hollywood Subway; the little lightsin therefuge pockets guiried us on into thedepths---our headlight seemed remarkably

futile; the exciting curve of the lightsas we reached the midpoint, and then thecompletely disappointing sight, far ahead,of the west portal which we had not wishedto beholn so soon. The train pulled up toBeverly & Glendale Blvds. ann then changedends, giving us a brief glimpse of Tolucayard and substation. Then back into thedepths and into the Terminal, this timegetting a much better view of the inter-locking tower. Then triere followed aboutan hour of exploration, ranging from thecars on display to the depths of the OliveSt. undergrade structure, surely as eery asanything imaginable.

The basement trainshed of the Subway Ter-minal could accommodate thirty cars on itsfive tracks. Six inclined ramps were pro-vided between the track level and the mezz-anine concourse and waiting room; loadingand unloading platforms ann ramps were pro-vided to eliminate confusion and speed upturnaround time.

The breaking of a bottle of gingerale(prohibition then, remember?).against car7Q1 and the departure of that car and itstwo trailers Formally opened the HollywoodSubway on November 30, 1925,. The next daythe subway went into regular service withGlendale-Burbank trains using it. Sunday,February 7, 1926, saw Hollywoon and San Fer-nando Valley cars rerouted into the subwayvia a new track connection on Park Ave. be-tween Glendale Blvd. aid Sunset Blvd. PE~sexpenditure of more than $¢,000,000 was inthe laps of the gods.

OPNRATIU1r: The height of the subway spassenger handling occurred in

World War II, so lets take a quick look atthe way this facility met the severe test:

In early 1944, a total of 88[, trains,made uy of 1194 cars, entered and left the

• Train platforms were re~chen ann left viagentle ramps; here is Track 5's ezit ramp.

Subway Terminal ann surface tracks. At thetime five rail lines used it; from the sub-way proper ran the Glendale-Burbank Line,the Santa Monica blvd.-.test Hollywoon Line,the Vari iduys Lirie, ann most of the Holly-woori blvd. Line; the Venice Short Line ranout of the surface terminal. From the busneck over the surface tracks operated theRedondo Beach Line, the Santa Monica viaBeverly Hills Line, and the Beverly-Snnset-Castellamare Line. Altogether, these linescarried 65,000 passengers daily into andout of the Subway Terminal. Moreover, alarge proportion of the assignments oftrainmen and operators for VJestern Districtpassenger lines, as well as all assignmentsfor box motor and railway post office oper-ations out of the Union Passenger Terminalwere made from the Subway Terminal Foreman~soffice. Other ~vVestern District assignmentswere made at 6Vest Hollywood and Ocean Park.Truly, the Subway Terminal was the focalpoint of all activities on the entire west.

Top man at 4he Subway Terminal was theTrainmaster for the 'Aestern District; 1943saw him supervise the handling of 52~ ofPE's passengers---61,032,000 of the systemtotal of 116,550000. The chain of commannwent down from him through Supervisors,Terminal Foremen and Stationmasters. Some700 trainmen and operators were supervisedfrom the Subway. At the heart of the wholeoperation were the three Subway Tower oper-ators; on average days some 754 trains andperhaps 100 empty cars s~rritching in and outfrom Toluca Yard had to be guided from thetwo tunnel tracks to the proper one of fiveterminal tracks. So sense was traffic thatit was estimated that a single error on thepart of a towerman would so upset schedulesthat 30 to 60 minutes would be required torectify the mistake.

Subway Terminal was a station of magni-ficent distances; from sidewalk to train-side was 596 feet of steady walking; in thereverse direction it was 506 feet. Aftercomplaints that this was excessive, PE re-leased a comparative table of distances insome of the nations large terminals: GrandCentral, New York City, 790 feet in, sameout; Pennsylvania Station, New York City,630 feet in either direction; Chicago UnionStation, 720 feet either way.

To provide even greater safety in subwayoperation, PE installed automatic trainstops throughout the tunnel in 1927. Thesewere manufactured by the Union Switch & Sig-nal Company and had been in successful useon New York subways and Boston elevatedssince 1904. The installation, involving aheavy capital expenditure, was made with theapproval of the State Railroad Commissionwhich thoroughly investigated the device.This automatic train stop consisted of anair line valve cock mounted on the leadingtruck on each side of car; at seme blocksignals was an arm which raised when signaldisplayed a red aspect; when raised, thisarm engaged the valve cock on arty truckwhich passed it, opening the car+s air lineand applying the brakes. The equipment wasapplied to each of the 210 cars then usingthe subway, and to thirteen of the 21 blocksignals. About the only disadvantage to

zothis scheme was the bother of applying the

valve cocks to additional cars when for any

reason they were required to operate in the

tunnel (as for example, the 100s on New

Year s Day j, although Western District cars

on foreign lines were occasionally embarr-

assed by having their air thrown in emergen-

cy by a trackside rock o£ the right sine.

Throughout the subway s years of use, there

was never a wreck of ar{y consequence, ample

proof of the efficacy of the automatic

train stops.

Periodically the city chortled at news-

paper accounts of attempts of inebriated

automobile drivers to negotiate the mile of

tunnel. As the entrance to the subway was

in direct line with Glendale Blvd. they

could perhaps be pardoned, considering their

hazy state of mind. Some autoists even made

it into the Subway Terminal, doubtless c're-

ating a certain amount of consternation in

that sacred-to-rail country. Such intrepid

voyagers were carted off LJ sober up and a

PE crane and flat car picked up their car

and returned it to good asphalt footing. In

due time it became the turn of the sobered

autoist to register consternation; this

usually took place when he received a bill

from Pc. for services rendered plus repairs

for any damage caused.

Biggest cars to use the subway were the

950s, while the almost-as-large SOOs saw

considerable service up to 194• 5000s and

600s (5050s) bore the brunt of the service,

while the 550s opened the tunnel and ran in

it until 1937. 100s saw use on iVew Year s

Day once or twice, ann business car 1299

was equipped with a lowered version of PE~s

pneumatic trolley base to permit it to nego-

tiate the subway on inspection trips. All

cars entering the bore had to have double

trolleys as restricted clearances in the

trainshen made it impossible to swing poles.

Certain special rules were in effect at

the Subway Terminal: Illuminated numbers

1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on west side of tower at

throat of tunnel indicated on which track

the inbound train was to proceed; upon re-

ceiving track indication from tower, motor-

men signalled conductors by electric bell

communicating signal, indicating by number

of rings the track to be taken so that con-

ductors could open either right or left cen-

ter doors to proper exit landing. After the

last passenger left car, conductors opener

opposite side doors so outbound passengers

could enter. 'rJ'henever an emerg°ncy arose,

the tower stopped all trains by one long

sound of tower horn; two short sounds of

horn was signal to resume normal operation.

As an indication to towerman for placing o£

arriving trains, Glendale trains misplayed

^Subway Terminal" on head signs, Valley

trains displayed ~~Los Angeles," Hollytivood

Blvd. cars displayed °Hollywood Blvd.,' and

Santa Monica Blvd. cars displayed "Santa

Monica Blvd.~~ Deadhead equipment inbound

displayed head sign indicating line on which

it was to go into service. 1Yhen trains were

ready to leave the Terminal, conductors not-

ified the tower by the use of push buttons

located on posts alongside tracks.

AuF~aDOividr',iYT: One by one the rail lines us-

ing the Subway Terminal were

com~erted to motor coach operation. PE it-

self cut doom the Valley and Santa Monica

Blvd.-'vest Hollywood Lines. Metropolitan

Coach Lines, purchaser of PE passenger ser-

vice on October 1, 1953, was successful in

souttlis~g the Hollywood Blvn. and Glendale-

Burbank Lines. The Venice Short Line, sole

user -of the surface tracks, gave up the

ghost in 195. Tne last regular car left

the cavernous, brooding subterranean train-

shed early Sunday morning, June 19, 1955.

With its rear markers went the hopes of

Angelenos for a true rapid transit system;

with it also went PE~s £our millions, now

represented by a hole 3n the ground which

apparently could be used for nothing.

Such apparently was the feeling of the

Subway Terminal Corporation which in ~ebru-

ary of 1956 sued PE for X2,500,000; the

Subueay Terminal Corporation alleged that by

routing its passengers away from the build-

ing, PE had in effect decreased the value

of the structure. Discontinuance of use of

the ground floor and of facilities below

First train to carry passengers into the subway was headed by car 566; this Glendale

booster group made November 30, 1925, a day to be remembered. (SFN)

ground, the complaint said, violated a i9z4agreement under which the 12 story buildingwas built. Ultimately the federal govern-

ment became the tenant of the former waitingroom and main store complex---first, for theSocial Security Administration, and noR .°orthe Veterans Administration.

After abandonment, thirteen $050s wereremoved from the Subway by truck to Terminal

Island for scrapping; the thirty PCCs re-mained stored in the Subway until September

1959, +hen they were trucked to the harborand shipped to Buenos Aires---to the GeneralUrquiza Railway which had purchased them for

further transit use.

For several years the unused tunnel stoodvacant, save for desultory use of its Bever-ly Blvd. end for storage of impounded autosand some microfilm storage in the downtowntrain shed---which was also stocked with scertain amount of foods, first aid materialand other requisites for use as a disastershelter.

The first physical destruction of a partof the abandoned subway occurred in Decem-

ber, 1967, when that portion from FlowerSt, to dust west of Figueroa St. was filledin due, it xas claimed, to the fact that itwas 'unsafe." The City of Los Angeles, towhich the subway had been deeded by SouthernPacific, asserted that the unu$ed subway was

incompatible with the Bunker Hill redenelop-ment project because the tunnel lacked rein-forcing steel, hence notY~ing could be built

above it. As a matter of fact, the Harbor

Freeway, a defense sysiem highway, was con-

structed directly over the tunnel in 1447,

after U.S. Army and state engineers had de-

termined that the subway was so strong thatno bridge structues or caissons would berequired.

The photo at right, taken while the re-

moval and filling in of this segment of the

tunnel was underway, shows clearly that a

great deal o° steel reinforcing material

had in effect been incorporated into thewalls of the subway.

The remainder of the tunnel, filled inthe mid3le by the Bunker Hill plugging Isintact, although unased. It remains as amost fitting monument to Los Angeles' un-healthy obsession with the automoblle.

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