Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Los Angeles Transit Lines records
- Dates:
- 1908-1963, bulk 1945-1958
- Creators:
- Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher
- Abstract:
- Los Angeles Transit Lines (LATL), established when the five Fitzgerald brothers purchased controlling interest of Los Angeles Railway from the Huntington estate, was a Los Angeles-based transportation agency in operation from 1945 to 1958. The records in this collection consist of and concern the interactions of LATL and the Amalgamated Transit Union, property bought and sold by LATL, operator instruction manuals, budget reports, meeting minutes, photographs, city planning reports and surveys, and route maps.
- Extent:
- 10 Linear Feet
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Los Angeles Transit Lines records, 71-DPGTL. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Research Library and Archive.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection consists of a variety of material created mostly between 1945 and 1958 including deeds to land, labor union agreements, correspondence, personnel records, plats, photographs, maps, meeting minutes, instructions for general operations, ticket receipts, publications, and newspaper clippings documenting the operations of Los Angeles Transit Lines.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Los Angeles Transit Lines was a transportation company that operated in Los Angeles from 1945 to 1958. It was created when the controlling interest in the Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars or LARy) was purchased from the Huntington estate by the National City Lines (NCL) in 1945, a company that was purchasing transit systems all across the United States. NCL was run by the five Fitzgerald brothers, and they renamed LARy Los Angeles Transit Lines (LATL). At the end of World War II, LATL sought to substitute buses on most of the street car lines, of which there were 20. NCL, along with its investors that included General Motors, Firestone Tire, and Standard Oil of California (now Chevron Corporation) were later convicted of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products to local transit companies controlled by NCL and other companies. This came to be known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy.
LATL had a high ridership and its lines covered a large amount of area, compared to other notable Los Angeles transit systems such as the Pacific Electric "Red Car" system. By 1950 some LATL bus lines reached as far as Beverly Hills. However, most of LATL's services were in the area that would today be called "central Los Angeles".
LATL was acquired by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA) in 1958.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Allyson Bace with assistance from Angel Diaz; October-December 2016.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged in 10 series from largest in extent to smallest. Series titles are as follows:
1. Labor Unions, 1945-1957 2. Land and Property, 1908-1957 3. General Operations, 1945-1963 4. Financial Records, 1946-1958 5. Retirement and Benefits, 1948-1963 6. Photographs, 1913-1963 7. Planning, 1940-1957 8. Publications, 1945-1955 9. History of Company, 1951 10. Maps, 1945-1958
- Accruals:
-
This repository continues to add materials to this collection on a regular basis.
- Physical location:
- LACMTA Research Library and Archive
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2016-12-29 14:57:33 -0800 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. Advance notice is required for access. Contact LACMTA Research Library and Archive to make an appointment.
- Terms of access:
-
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the LACMTA Research Library and Archive. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the LACMTA Research Library and Archive as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the LACMTA Research Library and Archive collections.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Los Angeles Transit Lines records, 71-DPGTL. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Research Library and Archive.
- Location of this collection:
-
One Gateway Plaza, Mail Stop: 99-15-1Los Angeles, CA 90012, US
- Contact:
- 213.922.4859