1.
Light rail
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Light rail, light rail transit or fast tram is urban public transport using rolling stock similar to a tramway, but operating at a higher capacity, and often on an exclusive right-of-way. A few light rail networks tend to have closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail. Other light rail networks are tram-like in nature and partially operate on streets, Light rail systems are found throughout the world, on all inhabited continents. They have been popular in recent years due to their lower capital costs. The term light rail was coined in 1972 by the U. S, Urban Mass Transportation Administration to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany the term Stadtbahn was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt the direct translation, however, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of intended for light loads and fast movement, the infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The Transportation Research Board defined light rail in 1977 as a mode of urban transportation utilizing predominantly reserved, electrically propelled rail vehicles operate singly or in trains. LRT provides a range of passenger capabilities and performance characteristics at moderate costs. Light rail is a generic international English phrase for these types of rail systems, the use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English. The word trolley is used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States. A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams except Blackpool after World War II, when these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both the old and new systems. Conventional rail technologies including high-speed, freight, commuter/regional, and metro/subway/elevated urban transit systems are considered heavy rail, people movers and personal rapid transit are even lighter, at least in terms of capacity. Monorail is a technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. Due to varying definitions, it is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail, a system described as light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called light rail are in very similar to rapid transit, in recent years. Some light rail systems, such as Sprinter, bear little similarity to urban rail, in the United States, light rail has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. There is a significant difference in cost between these different classes of light rail transit, tram-like systems are often less expensive than metro-like systems by a factor of two or more
2.
Los Angeles Railway
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The Los Angeles Railway was a system of streetcars that operated in central Los Angeles, California, and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods between 1901 and 1963. Except for two short,2 ft 6 in narrow gauge funicular railways named Angels Flight and Court Flight, the company carried many more passengers than the Pacific Electric Railways Red Cars which served a larger area of Los Angeles. The two companies shared some dual gauge 3 ft 6 in /4 ft 8 1⁄2 in standard gauge track along Hawthorne Boulevard, on Main Street, the system was purchased by railroad and real estate tycoon Henry E. Huntington in 1898 and started operation in 1901. The system was sold in 1945 by Huntingtons estate to National City Lines, National City Lines purchased Key System, which operated streetcars systems in Northern California, the following year. The company was renamed as Los Angeles Transit Lines, many lines were converted to buses in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The last remaining lines were taken over by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority along with the remains of the Pacific Electric Railway in 1958, the agency removed the remaining five streetcar lines and two trolley bus lines, replacing electric service with diesel buses on March 31,1963. A restoration of the service is anticipated to underscore the overall renaissance occurring in the downtown area of Los Angeles. 2 Line – Rampart area of Echo Park to Montecito Heights, by way of Belmont Avenue, Loma Drive, 3rd Street, Flower Street, 5th Street, Broadway, Pasadena Avenue, Avenue 26, and Griffin Avenue. 3 Line – Skid Row to Hollywood, by way of 5th Street, 6th Street, private ROW, 3rd Street,7 Line – South Los Angeles to Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, by way of Broadway, Main Street, and Spring Street. 8 Line – Leimert Park to Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, by way of 54th Street, Broadway, Main Street, and Spring Street. 9 Line – Leimert Park to the Wholesale District, by way of 48th Street, Hoover Street, Grand Avenue, Pico Boulevard, Broadway, and 2nd Street. 10 Line – Leimert Park to Lincoln Heights, by way of Vernon Avenue, Dalton Avenue, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Grand, Pico Boulevard, Broadway, and Lincoln Park Avenue. A Line – Mid City to Echo Park, by way of Adams Boulevard, Kensington Street, Venice Boulevard, Broadway, Temple Street, Edgeware Road, and Douglas Street. B Line – Nevin to City Terrace, by way of Ascot Avenue, Hooper Avenue, 12th Street, Main Street, Brooklyn Avenue, Evergreen Avenue, Wabash Avenue, and City Terrace Drive. D Line – Westlake to Skid Row, by way of Bonnie Brae Street, 3rd Street, Alvarado Street, 6th Street, and 5th Street. F Line – Athens to Boyle Heights, by way of Vermont Avenue, Hoover Street, Santa Barbara Avenue, Grand Avenue, Jefferson Boulevard, Main Street, 3rd Street, 4th Place, 4th Street, and Fresno Street. G Line – Nevin to South Park, by way of McKinley Avenue, Jefferson Boulevard, Griffith Avenue, Washington Boulevard, and Main Street. H Line – South Los Angeles to East Hollywood, by way of San Pedro Street, 7th Street, Broadway, 6th Street, Rampart Boulevard, Beverly Boulevard, Heliotrope Drive, and Melrose Avenue
3.
East Los Angeles, California
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East Los Angeles, or East L. A. is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. It is 96. 7% Latino - the highest percentage of the 272 neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, the unincorporated area known as City Terrace occupies the northern part of the East L. A. CDP. East Los Angeles is the least ethnically diverse community in Los Angeles County as noted by the Los Angeles Times Mapping L. A. survey, the 2010 United States Census reported that East Los Angeles had a population of 126,496. Population density was 16,973.5 people per square mile. The racial makeup of East Los Angeles was 53,934 White,817 African American,1,549 Native American,1,144 Asian,63 Pacific Islander,54,846 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 122,784 persons. The Census reported that 126,176 people lived in households,174 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 2,516 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 199 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,781 households were made up of individuals and 1,781 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 4.09. There were 25,839 families, the family size was 4.33. The median age was 29.1 years, for every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. There were 32,201 housing units at a density of 4,320.8 per square mile, of which 10,986 were owner-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1. 2%, the vacancy rate was 3. 2%. 47,123 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 79,053 people lived in housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, East Los Angeles had a household income of $37,982. As of the of 2000, there were 124,283 people,29,844 households, the population density was 16,697.4 people per square mile. There were 31,096 housing units at a density of 4,177.8 per square mile. 96. 8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino,12. 5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.15 and the family size was 4.42
4.
Pico Boulevard
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Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from the Pacific Ocean at Appian Way in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA. It is named after Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, Pico runs parallel south of Olympic Boulevard and is one of the southernmost major streets leading into Downtown Los Angeles, running north of Venice Boulevard and south of Olympic Boulevard. Numerically, it takes the place of 13th Street, major landmarks include Santa Monica College, Santa Monica High School, the Westside Pavilion mall, Fox Studios, the Hillcrest Country Club, the Staples Center, and the Los Angeles Convention Center. Pico Boulevard starts in the city of Santa Monica and enters the city of Los Angeles near the intersection with Centinela Avenue, the neighborhoods of Los Angeles through which Pico Boulevard travels are among the most culturally diverse in the city. Santa Monica State Beach, California State Park operated by the City of Santa Monica and it is two miles long, has a picnic area, shops and pier. Visitor activities include volleyball, basketball and a bicycling and running path along the beach, Casa del Mar hotel, luxury hotel at base of Pico Boulevard, Club Casa del Mar originally opened in 1926 as a beach club. The building, built in a Renaissance Revival architectural style, became a hotel, after the war, the building underwent different incarnations, becoming, among other things, a drug rehabilitation center and a Pritikin Longevity Center. In 1998, The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation acquired the building, RAND Corporation Headquarters, opened in November 2004, the RAND Corporation new headquarters facility was awarded the U. S. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium,1855 Main Street,3,000 seat auditorium opened in 1958 and designed in the style by Welton Becket. McCabes Guitar Shop, Located at 3101 Pico Blvd, since 1969, McCabes has also been one of the most noted forums for folk concerts. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Formerly headquartered at 3402 Pico Blvd, the Academy is famous internationally for the Grammy Awards. Pico and Sepulveda, a song by Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra, the 1947 song was frequently featured on Dr. Dementos radio show. It is about streets in Los Angeles and was composed by Eddie Maxwell, the Apple Pan, Located at 10801 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, The Apple Pan restaurant opened in 1947 and is famous for its hickory hamburgers. In the first season of Six Feet Under, Nate Fisher asks his sister Claire if she wants to go to the Apple Pan to eat together. Rancho Park Golf Course, Located along Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, in 2000 Rancho was the only golf course in the United States to have hosted the PGA, LPGA and the Senior PGA. The golf course first opened in 1921 and was built on land that was part of Rancho Rincon de los Bueyes in what was in 1921 the town of Sawtelle,12 miles west of Los Angeles. Fox Studios, 20th Century Fox or simply Fox, is one of the six major American film studios, in 1926 Fox acquired 300 acres in the open country west of Beverly Hills and built Movietone City, the best-equipped studio of its time
5.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
6.
Narrow-gauge railway
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A narrow-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge narrower than the 1,435 mm of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow-gauge railways are between 600 mm and 1,067 mm, narrow-gauge railways also have specialized use in mines and other environments where a very small structure gauge makes a very small loading gauge necessary. Narrow-gauge railways also have general applications. Many narrow-gauge street tramways are used, particularly in Europe, where 1,000 mm metre gauge tramways are common, the earliest recorded railway is shown in the De re metallica of 1556, which shows a mine in Bohemia with a railway of about 2 ft gauge. During the 16th century, railways were mainly restricted to hand-pushed narrow-gauge lines in mines throughout Europe, during the 17th century, mine railways were extended to provide transportation above ground. These lines were industrial, connecting mines with nearby transportation points and these railways were usually built to the same narrow gauge as the mine railways from which they developed. The worlds first steam locomotive on rails, built in 1802 by Richard Trevithick for the Coalbrookdale Company, during the 1820s and 1830s, a number of industrial narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom used steam locomotives. In 1842, the first narrow-gauge steam locomotive outside the UK was built for the 1,100 mm gauge Antwerp-Ghent Railway in Belgium, historically, many narrow-gauge railways were built as part of specific industrial enterprises and were primarily industrial railways rather than general carriers. Some common uses for these industrial narrow-gauge railways were mining, logging, construction, tunnelling, quarrying, extensive narrow-gauge networks were constructed in many parts of the world for these purposes. For example, mountain logging operations in the 19th century often used narrow-gauge railways to transport logs from mill sites to market, significant sugarcane railways still operate in Cuba, Fiji, Java, the Philippines, and Queensland. Narrow-gauge railway equipment remains in use for the construction of tunnels. Extensive narrow-gauge railway systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in World War I and they were a short-lived military application, and after the end of the war, the surplus equipment from these created a small boom in narrow gauge railway building in Europe. Narrow-gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. It is also used in populated areas where the potential demand is too low for broader gauge railways to be economically viable. This is the case in some of Australia and most of Southern Africa, the use of such railways has almost vanished due to the capabilities of modern trucks. In many countries, narrow gauge railways were built as feeder or branch lines to feed traffic to more important standard gauge lines, the choice was often not between a narrow-gauge railway and a standard gauge one, but between a narrow-gauge railway and none at all. Some bulk commodities, such as coal, ore, and gravel, can be transshipped, but this still incurs time penalties
7.
Railway electrification system
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A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure, selection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply, maintenance, and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic. Different systems are used for urban and intercity areas, some electric locomotives can switch to different supply voltages to allow flexibility in operation, Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network, some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own lines, switches and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track usually takes one of two forms. The first is a line or catenary wire suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Locomotives or multiple units pick up power from the wire with pantographs on their roofs that press a conductive strip against it with a spring or air pressure. Examples are described later in this article, the second is a third rail mounted at track level and contacted by a sliding pickup shoe. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the rails as the return conductor. In comparison to the alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions. Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and they have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service, the limited clearances available under catenaries may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Possible lethal electric current due to risk of contact with high-voltage contact wires, overhead wires are safer than third rails, but they are often considered unsightly. These are independent of the system used, so that. The permissible range of voltages allowed for the voltages is as stated in standards BS EN50163. These take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation, railways must operate at variable speeds. Until the mid 1980s this was only practical with the brush-type DC motor, since such conversion was not well developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, most early electrified railways used DC and many still do, particularly rapid transit and trams
8.
Overhead line
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An overhead line or overhead wire is used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses, or trains. Overhead line is designed on the principle of one or more overhead wires situated over rail tracks, the feeder stations are usually fed from a high-voltage electrical grid. Electric trains that collect their current from overhead lines use a device such as a pantograph and it presses against the underside of the lowest overhead wire, the contact wire. Current collectors are electrically conductive and allow current to flow through to the train or tram, non-electric locomotives may pass along these tracks without affecting the overhead line, although there may be difficulties with overhead clearance. Alternative electrical power transmission schemes for trains include third rail, ground-level power supply, batteries and this article does not cover regenerative braking, where the traction motors act as generators to retard movement and return power to the overhead. To achieve good high-speed current collection, it is necessary to keep the wire geometry within defined limits. This is usually achieved by supporting the wire from a second wire known as the messenger wire or catenary. This wire approximates the path of a wire strung between two points, a catenary curve, thus the use of catenary to describe this wire or sometimes the whole system. This wire is attached to the wire at regular intervals by vertical wires known as droppers or drop wires. It is supported regularly at structures, by a pulley, link, the whole system is then subjected to a mechanical tension. As the contact wire makes contact with the pantograph, the insert on top of the pantograph is worn down. The straight wire between supports will cause the wire to cross over the whole surface of the pantograph as the train travels around the curve, causing uniform wear. On straight track, the wire is zigzagged slightly to the left. The movement of the wire across the head of the pantograph is called the sweep. The zigzagging of the line is not required for trolley poles. Depot areas tend to have only a wire and are known as simple equipment or trolley wire. When overhead line systems were first conceived, good current collection was only at low speeds. Compound equipment - uses a second wire, known as the auxiliary
9.
Interstate 110 and State Route 110 (California)
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Route 110, consisting of State Route 110 and Interstate 110, locally referred to as the one ten, is a state highway in the Los Angeles area of the U. S. state of California, built to freeway standards. The entire Route 110 connects San Pedro and the Port of Los Angeles with Downtown Los Angeles, i-110 is one of two 3-digit interstate designations to appear on opposite coasts, with I-280 in California and New Jersey being the other. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, in addition, the Harbor Transitway, a grade-separated bus and high-occupancy vehicle corridor in the median of the 110, runs between State Route 91 and the south side of Downtown Los Angeles. The Harbor Freeway, along with the Long Beach Freeway, are the means for freight from the port of Los Angeles to rail yards. Its interchange with the Santa Monica Freeway is notoriously busy and congested, SR110 continues north on the Arroyo Seco Parkway to Pasadena. The Harbor Freeway is noted for its elaborate high-occupancy toll lane feature, with the HOT lanes elevated above the rest of traffic in many areas, myers, Inc. as HOV lanes and converted to HOT lanes in 2012. In the 1924 Major Street Traffic Plan for Los Angeles, a widening of Figueroa Street to San Pedro as a road to the Port of Los Angeles was proposed. Progress was slow, and in 1933 the state legislature added the entire length to the highway system as Route 165. The entire length of Route 165 became Sign Route 11 in 1934, the state completed the Arroyo Seco Parkway which had been added to the state highway system in 1935 as Route 205, in early 1941, providing a faster route between SR11 at Avenue 26 and Pasadena. US66 was moved to the new route, while SR11 remained on Figueroa Street and Linda Vista Avenue, construction of a freeway to San Pedro was much slower, despite having been in the earliest plans for an integrated system. The Harbor Freeway gradually pushed south, opening to Olympic Boulevard on March 23,1954, on March 27,1956, the highway was extended to 42nd Street, and on April 24,1957 it reached temporary ramps at 88th Place. There it connected with a section that had been open since June 19,1956, along with the Vincent Thomas Bridge to Terminal Island, the final piece in San Pedro opened on July 9,1970, completing the Harbor Freeway to its present length. In December 1978, the Harbor Freeway was approved as an Interstate Highway by the FHWA, in 1981, the SR11 designation was renumbered as Interstate 110 on the Harbor Freeway, and State Route 110 on the Pasadena Freeway. He performed his modifications in broad daylight, disguised as a Caltrans worker, in that district, Caltrans has three sign crews, each thinking one of the other two crews did the installation. After nine months, at Ankroms request, the Los Angeles Downtown News broke the story. Prior to Ankroms work, the only signage directing motorists to the 5 North off-ramp came at a quarter-mile before the exit, the signs were inspected by Caltrans to ensure they would not fall off onto the road below. Ankrom was never charged, despite statements from officials that his actions were illegal, ankrom referred to his sign project as Guerilla Public Service. These new signs include Ankroms original improvements, instead, the recent push has been to restore and preserve the Pasadena Freeway as a historic landmark
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