page_title: Belmont Tunnel/Toluca Substation and Yard
section_title: 1960s – present
hierarchical_section_title: Belmont Tunnel/Toluca Substation and Yard / History / 1960s – present
caption_attribution_description: Belmont Station Apartments being built over Belmont Tunnel.
context_page_description: The Belmont Tunnel / Toluca Substation and Yard is a designated historic monument located within the city limits of Los Angeles, remnants of the former Pacific Electric Railway's line that ran between the Subway Terminal Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the residential district of Westlake. The monument occupies a property roughly one mile west of downtown.
context_section_description: Few changes have been made to the subway, substation and yard since closure, as the site of the former railway has long escaped the attention of city officials. In the 1960s, the city briefly attempted to make use of the subway for the storage of impounded automobiles, and later as a makeshift disaster shelter.  The only physical alteration to the site came about in 1967, when a portion between Flower and Figueroa Streets in downtown was filled in to accommodate the foundation of the Bonaventure Hotel.
  Over the next 35 years, the site was left largely neglected and its historical significance was overshadowed by its gritty, run-down appearance. The abandoned subway, substation and yard, left intact and open to public view, attracted many graffiti artists. The site also appealed to the homeless, who took refuge in the shelter provided by the subway and substation. There were also several underground "rave" parties in the 1990s, often with the power being supplied from one of the neighboring residential dwellings.  To locals and passers-by, the site - simply referred to as "The Tunnel" - has long blended into the landscape and is regarded as little more than another vacant lot.
caption: Belmont Station Apartments being built over the yard
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