The Cable Car Took Us There 11.13.09

Opening day in Boyle Heights for another rail line in another century. November 2, 1889.

This weekend, rail returns to Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles in the form of Metro’s Gold Line Eastside Extension. (or officially, The Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension or Linea de Oro, or just MGLEE.) 120 years before that the Los Angeles Cable Railway came to Boyle Heights.

In 1889 there were four forms of power for mass transit: horse, steam, that newfangled electricity, and cable. Cable railways were cutting-edge technology of their day, relatively quiet, aesthetically pleasing, smoke-free, and they had the ability to climb the steep hills of downtown Los Angeles with ease. But like all technology, they became obsolete. Troubled by cables that failed due to corrosion from flooding, and the expansion of electrical-powered trolley system, cable cars in Los Angeles ceased to exist by 1903. Yet, our hilly California neighbor, San Franisco managed to do what places like Paris, Bogotá, London, Melbourne, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, and LA couldn’t. They saved their cable cars by referendum in 1947, and today the three cable car lines are the most popular mass-transit tourist attraction in the world.

Sunday, on the Ides of November, (11.15.09) the Gold Line Eastside Extension will open to the public, making a 53 minute trip from East Pasadena’s Sierra Madre Villa Station, to East Los Angeles’ Atlantic Station. 19.4 miles, 21 stations, and infinite opportunities for really good eating. Metro will have special events at a few of the new stations from 9-5, and the Gold Line will be FREE to everyone at every station for the entire day of service (3:30AM-1:30AM). And if there is any indication from the Gold Line’s original two-day grand opening on July 23, 2oo3, expect huge crowds, and standing room only. As for myself and my monthly pass, I’ll probably wait until after Sunday, to take the Gold Line to the Little Tokyo / Arts District Station and the Beer-Frites-Sausage Mecca that is Wurstküche.