V (Los Angeles Railway)

The Vermont–Vernon line was the last new route built by the Los Angeles Railway. Although Henry Huntington had been reluctant to build any cross-town (circumferential) lines, exponential growth along the Wilshire Corridor made it necessary. At the time, Los Angeles had no buses. From Vermont and Beverly, the route ran south on Vermont Avenue to Vernon Avenue, thence east on Vernon to Pacific Boulevard, then east again on Leonis Boulevard to Downey Road in Vernon.{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Jim |title=Los Angeles Railway Yellow Cars |date=2007 |publisher=Arcadia Pub |isbn=9781531629410 |page=84}} A branch line also ran from Vernon Avenue south on Santa Fe Avenue to Slauson Avenue. In 1921, the route was designated as line V.{{cite web |title=May 1: This Date in Los Angeles Transportation History |url=https://metroprimaryresources.info/this-date-in-los-angeles-transportation-history/may/may-1/ |website=Metro Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive |publisher=Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority |access-date=16 February 2022 |quote=1921: Large letter signs indicating the routes of different lines are placed on top of Los Angeles Railway streetcars.}}{{cite newsletter |title=Cars To Have Letter Signs |url=http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/employeenews/Two_Bells_1921_May02.pdf |access-date=16 February 2022 |newspaper=Two Bells |publisher=Los Angeles Railway |date=May 2, 1921 |page=1 |volume=1 |number=48}}

The line was extended both north and south in 1923.{{cite web| url=http://erha.org/lary_v.htm| website=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California| title=‘V’|access-date=19 September 2020}} In 1925, plans had been drawn up to extend the Vermont line over {{convert|2|mi}} further north to Los Feliz Boulevard.{{cn|date=January 2021}} Instead, the route was extended less than a mile north to Monroe Street and west on Monroe to Heliotrope, on what was then the campus of UCLA (what is now the campus of Los Angeles City College).{{cite map |url=https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/50176/route-map-los-angeles-railway-electric-car-and-bus-routes-los-angeles-railway-corp |title=Route Map Los Angeles Railway Electric Car and Bus Routes |date=1938 |author=H.P. Noordwal |publisher=Los Angeles Railway |website=Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc.}} {{cite map |url=https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/xlarge/50176.jpg |title=Alternate link |website=via Google}} In 1955, during the Los Angeles Transit Lines era, the Leonis and Santa Fe branches were eliminated; instead the V line ended at a loop called Pacific Crossing, in the center of Vernon.

The V was one of six routes that survived closure and passed into control of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority. It was the only cross-town route in the LAMTA era. Streetcar service over the former Los Angeles Railway lines ended after March 31, 1963,{{cite web |title=March 31: This Date in Los Angeles Transportation History |url=https://metroprimaryresources.info/this-date-in-los-angeles-transportation-history/march/march-31/ |website=Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive |publisher=Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority |access-date=16 February 2021}} with the final scheduled trip made on the V line.{{cite news |title=Streetcars Go for Last Ride |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 31, 1963 |page=N5 |author= |url=https://documents.latimes.com/1948-1963-los-angeles-streetcar-coverage/ }}{{cite news |last1=Creason |first1=Glen |title=CityDig: This 1938 Map Captures the Charm of L.A.’s Under-Appreciated Yellow Cars |url=https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/citydig-this-1938-map-captures-the-charm-of-l-a-s-under-appreciated-yellow-cars/ |access-date=23 January 2021 |agency=Los Angeles Magazine |date=29 April 2015}}

{{more|Vermont Transit Corridor}}

Vermont Avenue continued its growth, seeded by the robust public transportation provided by the streetcar. The Red Line rapid transit corridor was built underneath the road north of Wilshire by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the early 1990s, reestablishing a new rail service over a portion of the route (albeit underground).

By 2020, the bus lines operating on Vermont had grown to ridership of 45,000 weekday boardings, making it the second busiest corridor in the network.{{cite news |last1=Tinoco |first1=Matt |title=A subway on Vermont? Metro is considering it |url=https://la.curbed.com/2018/5/7/17317100/los-angeles-subway-vermont-rail |access-date=19 August 2020 |agency=Curbed LA |date=7 May 2018}}{{cite report |title=Next stop: a new kind of bus ride on Vermont. |url=https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media.thesource.metro.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/02103219/VermontMay2018Presentation.pdf |website=Amazon Naws |publisher=Metro |access-date=19 August 2020}} As a result, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority intends to rehabilitate the road for to allow for rapid transit. The corridor extends further south than the old V streetcar and may initially operate as bus rapid transit with more limited service than its progenitor.

After 1955, PCC streetcars replaced the old rolling stock on the line.{{cite web |title=No.1080 Los Angeles Transit Lines |url=https://www.streetcar.org/streetcars/1080-1080-los-angeles-transit-lines/ |publisher=Market Street Railway |access-date=23 January 2021}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.pacificelectric.org/category/los-angeles-railway/v-line/ V Line Archives] — Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society
• {{cite web| url=http://erha.org/lary.htm| website=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California| title=Los Angeles Railway}}

{{Los Angeles Railway}}

Category:Los Angeles Railway routes

Category:Railway services introduced in 1920

Category:Railway lines closed in 1963

Category:1920 establishments in California

Category:1963 disestablishments in California

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