the Past and Future of Rail in Los Angeles

For the third and final day of this California expedition, I traded the barren deserts and lush mountains of the previous two days for the urban landscape of the Los Angeles metro area. Today would be a day of contrasts, exploring the past, present, and future of rail transit around Los Angeles.

The first goal was to retrace several significant remnants of the famous Pacific Electric interurban system. Operating between 1901 and the 1960s, the Pacific Electric grew to be the world’s largest and most comprehensive urban rail system, with over 600 miles of track spanning the entire LA region, from the beaches of Santa Monica to the borders of the San Bernardino National Forest and beyond. Sadly, a combination of mismanagement, increasing highway competition, and aging equipment led to the last surviving passenger lines being closed for good in 1961, with the final freight operations ceasing in 1965. It should be noted that while I had some rudimentary knowledge of the locations visited, this map created by the Militant Angeleno was used heavily in planning the expedition.

My first stop was the former Etiwanda station on the San Bernardino Line. Located just east of Rancho Cucamonga, the Etiwanda station, and indeed, the majority of the San Bernardino Line, last saw service in 1947. Despite this, it has survived as a landmark on the Pacific Electric Trail, which now occupies the right of way. Arriving at the station, I was surprised to see just how much remained. While the main track was torn up decades ago, the structure remained intact, and to my surprise, a freight siding leading to the rear of the building was still in situ. After Etiwanda, I headed west towards LA for my second and final stop on the San Bernardino Line; the Cucamonga Creek Bridge. This graceful cast-concrete viaduct now carries the trail over the creek, and remains a striking structure.

My next stop took me south to the Santa Ana Line, where several miles of original PE trackage survives in place, cut only at road crossings. I stopped at the Bellflower station, which has been beautifully restored, while the adjacent track remains in a more abandoned state. This section of the system survived for much longer than most of the network, with the final freight customer in Bellflower ceasing service (at this point operated by Southern Pacific) in the 1990s - hence the track still being in place. In the future, this section of the Santa Ana Line is slated to return to its original purpose as a rapid passenger rail corridor as part of the West Santa Ana Branch of the LA Metro system.

After Leaving Bellflower, I cut west across the southern Los Angeles suburbs to Torrance. My first stop here wasn’t along a Pacific Electric corridor, or in fact any line at all, but at a park. The Charles H. Wilson Park is home to the Southern California Live Steamers; a miniature railroad operation that provides rides to the public. Of specific interest, however, was their authentic PE “Blimp” Car, sitting on a small segment of standard gauge track, awaiting restoration as funds allow. After grabbing a few shots of the car, I headed a few minutes up the road to one of the most iconic surviving pieces of PE infrastructure; known as the El Prado Bridge. The cast concrete structure crosses Torrance Boulevard and the former Pacific Electric San Pedro Branch (now a dormant Union Pacific spur), and once carried the PE’s Columbia Steel Spur overhead. On the way, I noted the former Southern Pacific/Pacific Electric Torrance Depot, which is now a restaurant, appropriately named “Depot”.

My final Pacific Electric stop took me into downtown Los Angeles. In its heyday, the PE operated two terminals in the city; one elevated, serving the lines I had visited and more, and one underground, serving lines north and west to Hollywood, Glendale, and Burbank. This was LA’s first subway, and while it remains relatively intact underground (aside from a portion that was destroyed to make way for the foundation of an office tower), it is, understandably, not accessible to the public. What is accessible is the portal to the subway, which remained open for many years after closure, but now sits sealed on the property of an apartment complex. I grabbed the shots I could manage from the street, while also documenting the surviving PE substation that also sits on the apartment complex’s property.

After completing my PE mission, I turned my attention to LA Union Station. I had been tracking the arrival of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, which had somewhat advantageously been delayed. Timing worked out perfectly, as I was able to grab some shots of its arrival with P42 #160 wearing the Phase III “Pepsi Can” 50th Anniversary heritage scheme on the point.

For the afternoon, I again turned my attention to transit. This time, the future of LA’s transit. My visit to the region happened to coincide with the opening weekend for the long-awaited LA Metro “Regional Connector”, which consists of three new underground stations in downtown Los Angeles, linking the former Gold Line, which was previously isolated from the rest of the metro system, with the former Blue and Expo lines. Linked together, the Blue Line and the north end of the Gold Line have become the A Line, while the Expo Line and the south end of the Gold Line have become the E Line.

While the A Line stops at Union Station, I instead began my journey on the B/D lines (formerly the Red and Purple lines) traveling to Metro Center, where I transferred to the A/E lines for the ride through the new section. The Regional Connector had been open for barely 24 hours at that point and still had that new concrete smell. There were plenty of transit fans around, in addition to a healthy number of regular riders. After spending the morning exploring what once was, it was uplifting to experience LA’s continuing rail transit renascence first-hand. I rode the E Line as far as Mariachi Plaza in East LA before walking back across the First Street Viaduct to board the A Line back to Union Station.

Once off the Metro, I ended the day by railfanning along BNSF’s San Bernardino Subdivision. Starting at Los Nietos, I worked my way to Fullerton, stopping at Santa Fe Springs and Buena Park. A healthy mix of BNSF, Amtrak, and Metrolink action was the perfect way to close out an excellent three-day expedition.