Collection Guide
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Los Angeles Transit Lines records71-DPGTL
71-DPGTL
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Description
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.
Background
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.
Extent
10 Linear Feet
Restrictions
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.
Availability
Open for research. Advance notice is required for access. Contact LACMTA Research Library and Archive to make an appointment.