It was not just this one, but the one before it from the street into the station that is IIRC at even more of an incline given that its on that hill.

Yep, you are correct. I am just now realizing that maybe this is why there was such a culture around it. Lil Tokyo was closest to this spot and we regularly would grab things from Sakura Market for each other, talk random shit etc... one day this guy was scared/sad about a girl he really liked and we convinced him to approach her and so we played Lupe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhuYwE-gAn0) on the whole ride - much to the annoyance of the other passengers.

There was also a respect that I cant forget; almost like it was a rhythm. Never a rush to beat someone else to the train. I remember that for a time due to our schedules we would meet at the top, smoke a J and chat for as long as we could then slide down and catch the redline (now called the B Line*) and part ways.

Note: He got the girl. we all lost contact - hope he/they are dong well.

\Note: I wonder if the redline was renamed because of the level of violence or if it was because of the purple line expansion.

There aren’t many primary and secondary colors. If you plan to have a more comprehensive system you’ll run out pretty quick. Chicago comes to mind. The newest one is pink and I’m not sure what they’d do if they built a new one.

Also, could have been that most people wanted to avoid pershing square.