The ghost tunnels of the old Hill Street subway station in Los Angeles

@ElentirENG ES 5·04·2023 · 22:48 0

At the beginning of the 20th century, two urban surface rail companies operated in the city of Los Angeles.

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The oldest was the Los Angeles Railway, which began operating in 1895 and was known as the "Yellow Cars" (since that was the color of its trains), and Pacific Electric Railway Company, popularly known as "Red Cars" and which began operating in 1901. In 1922, the California Railroad Commission commissioned Pacific Electric to build an electrified underground railway line. The new line was inaugurated on November 30, 1925.

The terminal station of the new line was built under the Hill Street railway station. The terminal station had six platforms and was 9.4 meters below the surface. In addition, 11 kilometers of tunnels were dug under Alameda Street and Exposition Boulevard. The Hill Street Terminal was done in the then fashionable art déco style, with marble columns and floors and terracotta ceilings, in an Italianate style. In the 1940s, some 65,000 passengers passed through this terminal daily.

In 1953, Pacific Electric was sold to Metropolitan Coach Lines, which switched from surface trains to city buses. In 1955 the old Pacific Electric subway closed after 30 years of operation. The old Red Cars, which ran on the underground and surface lines, became a hallmark of Los Angeles' past Angels. The last subway ran on June 19, 1955 with a sign that read "To Oblivion".

After that last trip, the subway tracks were raised and the underground tunnels and stations were abandoned. The old tunnel on that line remained dark and silent but intact until 1967, when it was partially filled in under Flower Street . The upper floors of the old terminal were used for years for offices. The galleries located below were buried in oblivion.

A few days ago, the channel Urbex Offlimits published an interesting video going through these ghost tunnels and the old terminal, which still have light. It seems that a part of the premises has been used as a warehouse for years, but the rest is sadly abandoned:

You can see here some captures of the video. Here we see the old tunnel of the Pacific Electric subway line, with the muddy ground.

The tunnel is sealed in this part. There are old abandoned and painted stairs that, curiously, it seems that someone has covered up despite the abandonment of these facilities.

The old terminal. This is where passengers boarded the Red Cars.

This sign is still preserved in one of these columns. It indicated to the passengers the location of tracks 1 and 3.

An old sign indicating the exit to Hill Street. All the signs on this subway line had this same graphic style.

The old art deco style ceiling of the terminal hall. A sad reminder of what this old metro station used to be.