Gold Line Extension To East LA

The long awaited Gold Line Extension to East LA, finally opened November 15th. I was not able to get there the first weekend, but I did manage to make a quick run on the Saturday of Thanksgiving Weekend.
My monthly pass works for almost everything, so it cost me nothing...a good thing.

It starts at Union Station, where I spent so many years watching it getting built. The train came in from the Pasadena section of the Gold line and pulled into the station on Track 1. I boarded the train and we immediately were up and over the San Bernardino Freeway and then making a hard turn in between buildings. There was Little Tokyo Station, right off the bat. Not a quarter mile from Union. It's the same thing with Chinatown, on the Pasadena Gold Line. They are both right there, but it gives the residents the chance to get somewhere far away and it gives the riders the chance to safely get to both of these sections of the downtown area.

Since I was in a hurry, I did not get off at any stop.


As soon as we left the Little Tokyo/Downtown area of Los Angeles, we crossed the LA River and almost immediately went into a tunnel that crossed under the area called Boyle Heights. This area is where the original Jewish settlement of Los Angeles was founded. In later years it moved over to the Fairfax District, but I remember airing a movie called Meet me at Brooklyn and Soto about that long ago settlement. One of the stops that are within the tunnel is the Soto Street Station, which is about a block or two south of what used to be Brooklyn (Now Cesar Chavez Ave). The other station is Mariachi Plaza.


After our two underground stops, we came out on 1st Street in East LA. It is basically as you would expect. Lots of car repair shops, lots of car customizing shops and car washes and shops. The train made a turn and next thing I knew, we were traveling down 3rd Street.
We passed a few churches and came within a block or so of the infamous Garfield High School where Jaime Escalante taught many students to Stand and Deliver.

The prettiest station of the 8 was the one for East LA Civic Center. It has a California Poppy motif, that I really liked. See the top photo for one of the poppies.
Shortly after we went through Civic Center, we got to the final station of our journey, Atlantic Avenue.

As with all things public transportation, it doesn't go far enough...but at least it is a start.