The Subway Terminal Building was erected in 1925 in the 400 block of South Hill Street, in response to congestion in the growing metropolis of Los Angeles.

Here, for thirty bustling years, passengers descended into a cavernous station, where they boarded Hollywood- and Silver Lake-bound Pacific Electric red cars for a subterranean voyage across downtown, emerging at the Belmont Tunnel just opposite what is now the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

Just to the south of the Subway Terminal, an unpretentious concrete overhang sheltered trolleys, while cars and trucks parked above. This structure is soon to be demolished, as work begins this week on MacFarlane Partners’ overdue low-rise Park Fifth residential development, set to span the block between Hill and Olive Streets.

We stopped by to say a last farewell to this faithful servant of our changing city, which until recently incongruously sheltered one of the few remaining yellow LARy streetcars, departed now for points unknown. With all the metal sorting underway, it was a little noisy for a moment of silence, but we did our best.