Where Suspended Railroads and Elevated Highways Meet: Los Angeles Traffic, 1939

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

Here we go: I unearthed a beautiful if not a very good solution to the traffic congestion problems in 1939 Los Angeles. It is a rare, self-published work of what seems to have received almost no attention, suggesting a combination of suspended railways and elevated roads to free up more space on the streets of L.A. It is the work of Alphonso Davino (1888-1965?) who wrote A Brief analysis of the Traffic Congestion Problem and its Economical Solution¹ and presented it to city planners in 1939.  Mr. Davino had an entire system of transportation, though he seems to have luck in getting the ideas across a wider population in only occasional and obscure publications. 

I can not find very much at all for Mr. Davino, though he is a patent holder for at least three associated designs/ideas dating from 1926 to 1950. [Semirigid Suspended Railway Structures, 1607875, (1923); Aerial Railway Apparatus patent 2234487 (1943); Suspended Rapid Transit System 2781001A (1950), (suspended vehicles with self-propelled vehicles).] I also found a reference to a suspended transportation system of some sort offered by him through his business “Aerial Apparatus” of Los Angeles (in the Mining Journal, vol 110, 6 November 1920, p 910).

Notes:

DAVINO, Alphonso (1888-1965?). A Brief analysis of the Traffic Congestion Problem and its Economical Solution. Self-published, Los Angeles, 1939. 11”x 8.5”, 8 leaves, four folding plates (two graphic displays, one map, one display of the suspended thoroughfares, the last two printed on heavy blueprint stock. Rare. No copies located in WorldCat.  Provenance: Library of Congress (with their surplus stamp on title page).

Details of the large folding blueprint:

The folding plates:

1. “Graphic Time Schedule”. 17.5”x 24”. Shows difference in travel time car vs bus compared to NYC “rapid transit” for moving over the same distance, and then compared to the proposed Davino system.

2. Graphic Table Outlining Coats of Davino's Train System...” 11”x 15”.

3. Blueprint. Suggestive Tentative Plan of the Davino Suspended Rapid Transit nd Elevated Highway System. Lovely!

4. Blueprint. “Sketch Map of Los Angeles and Vicinity” showing the connections and possible routes of the Davino system. 11”x 15”.

Detail of map: