Belmont Tunnel / Toluca Substation and Yard
The Hollywood Subway is a former double-track tram tunnel in Los Angeles, California. Also known as the Belmont Tunnel route ran from the corner of Beverly Boulevard and Glendale Boulevard to the Subway Terminal Building on today's Pershing Square. The tunnel was dated 30 November 1925 to 19 June 1955 in operation and was traversed by the trains of the Pacific Electric Railway.
Background
In the years after the First World War was the previously profitable passenger for its mostly private operators due to falling passenger numbers and rising costs for increasingly losing business, and the need to compensate tariff increases have not been approved by the regulatory authorities. In addition, especially the trams were increasingly in the inner cities in the traffic jam stuck. In Los Angeles especially the streetcar company Pacific Electric Railway ( PE) at the time was affected.
In 1922 the California Railroad Commission Regulation No 9928 finally gave out, after which the tram operator Pacific Electric Railway ( PE) was required to relocate a portion of its route towards Hollywood underground. As compensation, the Company received permission, the fares of Hollywood in the downtown Los Angeles from six to ten cents increase. The PE hoped beyond turn significant savings by reducing staff, insurance, vehicles and required less maintenance over the railway tracks on the streets.
The Tunnel
The tunnel should begin at the South Olive Street and run parallel to West 4th Street to the northwest from there. Behind the South Figueroa Street, he should swing in cooperation with the 4th Street to the north- northwest and then proceed through the intersection with the West 3rd Street in addition to the amount Emerald Steet and West 2nd Street. There the route in the incision should continue until the crossing Beverly Boulevard and Glendale Boulevard. On the western edge of this incision was to power the new sub-station Tucola No. 51 provided opposite should occur a sechsgleisige sidings with the Toluca Yard. Behind the tracks should open into the existing tram route along the Glendale Boulevard towards Hollywood. The total cost for the 4,325 feet ( 1,318 m) long tunnel should amount to 1.25 million U.S. dollars.
Southeast of South Olive Street to the Subway Terminal Building should connect to the tunnel. In its lowest basement fünfgleisiger a head station was provided, which should be tapped via concrete ramps of the lobby on the ground floor. There, in turn, should result in a junction of different tram lines and to a bus station. The building should be about 600 offices with one of the largest buildings of its time from Los Angeles to be ..
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on 3 May 1924. Firstly, the incision was at the northern end of dredged and then pushed the tunnel from there into core construction. In addition, worked by a further excavation between Figueroa Street and Flower Street in both directions in the same way. At times, a total of about 650 men were employed on the site. The puncture was made on April 16, 1925, construction work on the Subway Terminal Building began around a month later, on 13 May 1925. Underground Station was on November 30, 1925 may be launched before the completion of the office building about.
The tunnel had no intermediate stops and was expanded throughout twofold. The cross-section described a continuous concreted vaults, 28 feet ( 8.53 m ) wide in the middle and 21'3 " ( 6.48 m) high. Eingeschotterte Inside, standard gauge tracks were laid threshold. The current was supplied by overhead lines, all 15 feet ( 4.57 m ) from the tunnel ceiling with so-called "steady braces ." (literally, rigid brackets) was mounted resiliently suspended and thereby secured against lateral deflection All 50 feet (15.24 m) an escape niche was provided, all 1500 feet ( 457.2 m) an emergency telephone. the 1927 retrofitted command system consisted of 21 block signals with automatic mechanical emergency brake. Depending hour and direction were able to operate up to 144 trains. for operation with command were 210 according upgraded tram bidirectional car available.
Through the tunnel wrong during the 1930s and 1940s a total of 850 daily trains the PE to Glendale, Burbank, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Van Nuys. The number of passengers reached during the Second World War, with 65,000 per day peaked.
Decommissioning and conversion
After the Second World War, the tram lines always meant higher losses for the PE. At the same time gained the upper hand as the automobile mass transportation. Thus, the routes were gradually decommissioned and replaced by buses. On June 19, 1955 finally drove the last train through the tunnel. After the tracks were dismantled. From then on, the plants became temporary storage space for food, microfilm and repossessed cars. In December 1967 a piece of the tunnel between Figueroa Street and Flower Street was broken and filled to provide for the construction of the Bonaventure Hotel Place.
The grounds of the Toluca Yard, including former sub-station and tunnel portal was after the removal of the tracks broke first. Eventually, the tunnel of homeless and graffiti artists was sequestrated, after 2000 finally bricked. Finally, in 2002 the premises of a local real estate company was purchased. They built there an apartment complex with 276 apartments.
In the 1980s the tunnel entrance appeared in a number of films on, among others, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit as the entrance to Toontown in the series V - The Final Battle as the entrance to the headquarters of the Resistance and in the music video " Under the Bridge " Red Hot Chili Peppers, in colors - Colors of violence and in the sci-fi movie Predator 2