90-438: The Balboa Line was the southernmost route of the Pacific Electric Railway . It ran between Downtown Los Angeles and the Balboa Peninsula in Orange County by way of North Long Beach , though the route was later cut back to the Newport Dock. It was designated as route 17. Originally planned by the Pacific Electric, the line was turned over to the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Electric Railway in 1904. The company opened
180-640: A complicated stock and bond transaction, Huntington conveyed his 50% of Pacific Electric to the Southern Pacific, while he acquired SP's 45% interest in the Los Angeles Railway. In addition, Huntington conveyed the Los Angeles and Redondo Railway to the Southern Pacific. Huntington retained control of the Los Angeles Railway , the narrow gauge street car system known locally as "Yellow Cars," until
270-554: A controlling interest in this company was sold off by Huntington's estate in 1944. In what was called the "Great Merger" of September 1, 1911, the Southern Pacific created a new Pacific Electric Railway Company, with all electrical operations now under the Pacific Electric name. The constituent railroads were: Following these acquisitions, PE was the largest operator of interurban electric railway passenger service in
360-550: A franchise plan with three-cent fare plan to the Los Angeles City Council, a plan which, if accepted, would have handicapped the other railways severely. Huntington countered with a ticket book which gave the rider 500 miles (800 km) of travel for $ 6.25 (equivalent to $ 212 in 2023), which undercut the Harriman strategy. The Council vetoed the franchise idea, unable to believe adequate service could be provided for such
450-469: A line from Monrovia to Glendora . The system reached La Habra in 1908. By 1910 PE operated nearly 900 miles (1,400 km) of track. Routes had been built into or passed through areas just beginning to grow. 1905 was the Pacific Electric's most profitable year, when the road made $ 90,711 (equivalent to $ 3.08 million in 2023). Profits from the Huntington Land and Improvement Company made up for
540-481: A low fare. Then, on April 14, 1903, Harriman bought Hook's Los Angeles Traction Company, which ran lines within the downtown area and, through its California Pacific subsidiary, was constructing a line from Los Angeles to San Pedro . The final confrontation came over a bidding war for the 6th Street franchise, in which the franchise (thought to be worth maybe $ 10,000), finally went to the top bidder for $ 110,000 (equivalent to $ 3.73 million in 2023), with Harriman
630-510: A more extensive regional mass-transit system. In 1957, it was given the authority to operate transit lines. In 1958, the California state government through its Public Utility Commission took over the remaining and most popular lines from Metropolitan Coach Lines. The MTA also purchased the remaining streetcar "Yellow Car" lines of the successor of the Los Angeles Railway , then called Los Angeles Transit Lines. LARy/LATL had been purchased from
720-518: A weekly pass for $ 6.75 (equivalent to $ 148 in 2023) which was also accepted for regular trips on the line. Initial Commodore runs called at Balboa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and Long Beach before continuing nonstop to Los Angeles. By the end of its life in 1949, the car only called at Huntington Beach between Newport and Los Angeles. The Balboa Line followed the Long Beach Line as far as North Long Beach (Willow Street). From that junction
810-670: A work of the State of California . ( license statement/permission ). Text taken from 1981 Inventory of Pacific Electric Routes , California Department of Transportation . Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company , nicknamed the Red Cars , was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars , interurban cars, and buses and
900-537: Is at hand when we should commence building suburban railroads out of the city." Hellman added that he had already tasked engineer Epes Randolph to survey and lay out the company's first line which would be to Long Beach. In that same year, Huntington and Hellman incorporated a new entity, the Pacific Electric Railway of California, formed to construct new electric rail lines to connect Los Angeles with surrounding cities. Hellman and his group of investors owned
990-722: The Balboa Line branched to the southeast and the Long Beach Line ran south in the center lane of American Avenue ( Long Beach Boulevard ) to Ocean Avenue in Long Beach. The line turned west onto Ocean Avenue and followed the same route as the American Avenue–North Long Beach Line to the terminus at the Pacific Electric station at the foot of Pacific Avenue. For a number of years, the PE operated express "flyer" service along
SECTION 10
#17328555465671080-440: The Long Beach Line ), making flag stops only at Vernon, Slauson, Watts, Compton and Dominguez Junction. The Commodore was a parlor car which ran a limited schedule during the summer seasons. It was the only such service operated by Pacific Electric. Beginning in 1936, the special was intended to attract commuters with summer homes in the area. Passenger paid a 35¢ premium (equivalent to $ 8 in 2023) per trip, or could acquire
1170-596: The Los Angeles Motor Bus Company . A public referendum chose the latter in May 1923. The first service began in August 1923, and by 1925 had 53 miles of bus routes, the second-most in the nation after Chicago . PE operated frequent freight trains under electric power throughout its service area (as far as 65 miles [105 km]) to Redlands , including operating electrically powered Railway Post Office routes, one of
1260-405: The Los Angeles Railway . When his uncle Collis died, Henry lost a boardroom battle for control of the Southern Pacific to Union Pacific President E. H. Harriman . Huntington then decided to focus his energies on Southern California. In May 1901, Hellman, who had been Southern California's leading banker for almost three decades (and owned much property down there), wrote Huntington that "the time
1350-689: The Los Angeles River . After the construction of the Long Beach Freeway , the line crossed over the freeway on a two track plate girder bridge then crossed the Union Pacific San Pedro Branch (Cota crossing) at grade. A long single track deck girder bridge carried the line over the Los Angeles River towards Willow Street (North Long Beach). This was the only single track section on the line. At Willow Street (North Long Beach)
1440-742: The Pacific Coast Highway , Temple Street, Anaheim Street, Redondo Avenue, Seventh Street, and Ximeno Avenue. The dual tracks on private way then skirted the Colorado Lagoon and paralleled Appian Way (by the Marine Stadium) from Nieto Avenue to the San Gabriel River in Long Beach, and used three wooden trestle bridges in crossing Alamitos Bay and the river. East of the San Gabriel River the line entered Seal Beach in private way in
1530-536: The San Fernando Valley , La Habra , Redlands and Riverside , with branches to Colton and San Bernardino . He simultaneously created the Los Angeles Land Company. Huntington owned almost all the stock in the companies, with token amounts allotted to company directors. Although the company allowed Huntington to proceed with construction plans unencumbered by outside interference, the poor state of
1620-588: The Santa Fe Railway . In July 1908, Huntington leased all the lines of the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway to Harriman. In 1909 he sold the systems in Fresno and Santa Clara County to the Southern Pacific. Talks paused after the death of Harriman on September 9, 1909, but resumed in early 1910. On September 27, 1910, Huntington and Southern Pacific management came to a final agreement. In
1710-520: The " Wig-Wag " crossing signals. A Christmas tree lot was operated in the small stub yard at the northwest corner of Willow Street and Long Beach Boulevard – the stock arrived in and was stored in a steel sided box car until the Christmas trees were prepared for sale – the busy intersection was where dual trackage departed Long Beach Boulevard and joined the private right-of-way from Huntington Beach and Seal Beach towards Los Angeles. The crossing signal there
1800-464: The "Yellow Cars" and carried more passengers than the PE's "Red Cars" since they ran in the most densely populated portions of Los Angeles, including south to Hawthorne and along Pico Boulevard to near West Los Angeles to terminate at the huge Sears Roebuck store and distribution center (the L.A. Railway's most popular line, the " P " line). The Yellow Cars' unusual narrow gauge PCC streetcars , by now painted MTA two-tone green, continued to operate until
1890-604: The 1920s profits were good and the lines were extended to the Pasadena area, to the beaches at Santa Monica, Del Rey, Manhattan/Redondo/Hermosa Beach and Long Beach in Los Angeles County, and to Newport Beach and Huntington Beach in Orange County. Extra service beyond the normal schedules was provided on weekends, particularly in the late afternoon when passengers wanted to return simultaneously. Comedian Harold Lloyd highlighted
SECTION 20
#17328555465671980-587: The 6th and Main terminal), on 4th Street, and along Hawthorne Boulevard south of downtown Los Angeles toward the cities of Hawthorne, Gardena, and Torrance. The system had four districts: Electric trolleys first appeared in Los Angeles in 1887. In 1895 the Pasadena & Pacific Railway was created from a merger of the Pasadena and Los Angeles Railway and the Los Angeles Pacific Railway (to Santa Monica.) The Pasadena & Pacific Railway boosted Southern California tourism, living up to its motto "from
2070-449: The Hellman group sold the rest of their shares and bonds in PE and LAIU to Huntington and Harriman for $ 1.2 million (equivalent to $ 40.7 million in 2023). Huntington and Harriman were now equal partners in ownership of the Pacific Electric. The Hellman syndicate retained their 45% interest in the Los Angeles Railway , which they thought would eventually declare dividends. By 1905,
2160-609: The Huntington estate by National City Lines in 1945. The MTA started operating all lines as a single system on March 3, 1958. The Los Angeles-to-Long Beach passenger rail line served the longest, from July 4, 1902, until April 9, 1961. It was both the first and last interurban passenger line of the former Pacific Electric system. It was replaced by the Motor Coach 36f ("F" representing Freeway Flyer) route. The line, which used long stretches of open country running on private right-of-way,
2250-581: The Last of the Big Red Cars by Interurban Films captured the last week of operations of the Long Beach Line. Southern Pacific continued to operate freight trains over the line. Their successor, Union Pacific, operates the remainder of the tracks as the Wilmington Subdivision . A Southern Pacific depot of Mission Revival design was built at Broadway and Pacific Avenue in downtown Long Beach in 1907. It
2340-569: The Long Beach Line. Service began on July 4 , 1902 (with a trial car run over the line the previous day ), initially beginning at 9th and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles (the trackage on 9th Street was acquired from Huntington's Los Angeles Railway in 1904). The terminal was moved to the Pacific Electric Building in 1905, and trains were rerouted over the newly built elevated trackage west of San Pedro Street in 1917. The service
2430-621: The Long Beach route. The flyer service only made a few stops between Downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach, as compared with regular service that made all stops between Watts and Willowville, and most stops between Willowville and Long Beach. The right-of-way was also served by a pair of local lines: the Watts Line between Downtown Los Angeles and Watts, and the American Avenue–North Long Beach Line between Willowville and Long Beach. Pacific Electric also provided service along
2520-700: The Los Angeles MTA until the agency was reorganized and relaunched as the Southern California Rapid Transit District in September 1964. The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the merger of Pacific Electric into the Southern Pacific Railroad on August 12, 1965. Prior to the merger, PE's lucrative freight service had been by Southern Pacific diesel-electric locomotives on the heavy-duty PE rail-bed and rails and tripping
2610-426: The Los Angeles River was in streets shared with automobiles and trucks. Virtually all street crossings were at-grade, and increasing automobile traffic led to decreasing Red Car speeds on much of its trackage. At its nadir, the busy Santa Monica Boulevard line, which connected Los Angeles to Hollywood and on to Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, had an average speed of 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) Traffic congestion
2700-482: The Los Angeles and Pacific Railway. Moses Sherman, Harry Chandler , Hobart Johnstone Whitley , and others bought the entire southern San Fernando Valley in 1910. The electric railway and a $ 500,000 boulevard called Sherman Way connected the three townsites they were selling. These included Van Nuys , Marion (now Reseda ), and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park ). Parts of Sherman Way are now called Chandler Boulevard and Van Nuys Boulevard . The railway company "connected all
2790-527: The Motor Transit Company, which operated intercity bus service within Southern California. In the pre-automobile era, electric interurban rail was the most economical way to connect outlying suburban and exurban parcels to central cities. Although the railway owned extensive private roadbeds, usually between urban areas, much PE trackage in urban areas such as downtown Los Angeles west of
Balboa Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
2880-556: The Newport and Santa Ana lines were completed. In 1906, the Newport line was extended to Balboa, and in late 1906, lines to Sierra Madre and Oak Knoll in Pasadena were finished. The two firms controlled 449 miles (723 km) of track, with the Pacific Electric at 197 miles (317 km) and the LAIU, 252 miles (406 km). Huntington purchased the Los Angeles and Redondo Railway in July 1905, along with
2970-596: The Northern District interurban lines to Pasadena, Monrovia/Glendora, and Baldwin Park versus the alternative of converting to buses, and found in favor of the latter. Remaining PE passenger service was sold off in 1953 to Metropolitan Coach Lines, which was given two years of rent-free usage of rail facilities. Jesse Haugh, of Metropolitan Coach Lines, was a former executive of Pacific City Lines which together with National City Lines acquired local streetcar systems across
3060-457: The Northern District's Pasadena's Oak Knoll line, and the Sierra Madre line. The Western District's last line to Venice and Santa Monica also ended. The Pasadena and Monrovia/Glendora lines ended in 1951. The various public agencies—city, county, and state—agreed with PE that further abandoning service was necessary and PE happily complied. PE management had earlier compared costs of refurbishing
3150-642: The PE. Large-scale land acquisition for new freeway construction began in earnest in 1951. The original four freeways of the area, the Hollywood , Arroyo Seco (formerly Pasadena) , Harbor , and San Bernardino , were in use or being completed. Partial completion of the San Bernardino Freeway to Aliso Street near downtown Los Angeles led to traffic chaos when inbound automobiles left the freeway and entered city streets. The Southern District's passenger service to Santa Ana and Baldwin Park ended in 1950 as did
3240-570: The President of the Nevada Bank, San Francisco's largest, became one of the largest bond holders for these lines and he and the younger Huntington developed a close business relationship. The success of their San Francisco trolley adventure and Hellman's experience in financing some early Los Angeles trolley lines led them to invest in the purchase of some existing downtown Los Angeles lines which they began to standardize and organize into one network called
3330-630: The Redondo Land Company, which owned 90% of the land in the beach community. This announcement precipitated a land boom in the area which resulted in a quick return of Huntington's entire investment in the area and in the railway. On March 19, 1906, an agreement was reached to sell control of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad lines, owned by Moses Sherman and Eli P. Clark , for a reported $ 6 million to Harriman (equivalent to $ 203 million in 2023); this turned over all
3420-563: The bond market meant that he had to turn to stockholders to finance expansion. In 1904 he acquired and finished the Los Angeles and Glendale Railway. In June, LAIU assumed control of the Riverside and Arlington Railway and the Santa Ana and Orange Motor Railway, and soon after, PE and LAIU finished their extension to Huntington Beach and began building a line to Covina . Huntington continued to expand and not declare profits. On December 7, 1904,
3510-539: The center lanes of the streets. The line then turned east on Olympic Boulevard (East 9th Street) street running to Hooper Street, then turned south and entered the private right of way west of Long Beach Avenue . Two additional tracks joined in the private way from Pacific Electric's 8th Street Yard. This was the start of the four track system to Watts. The line was within a private right of way from Olympic Boulevard to Willow Street in Long Beach. The four track system went to Watts Junction (103rd street). The remainder of
3600-516: The center margin of each freeway but the plan was never implemented. There was one exception that was within the Hollywood Freeway through Cahuenga Pass. The San Fernando Valley line from Hollywood took to the center of the Freeway over the pass and exited at Lankershim Boulevard. When that service was terminated, the freeway was expanded onto the former PE roadbed. The Whittier & Fullerton line
3690-726: The center of Electric Avenue, and up to 1942, crossed Anaheim Bay on a trestle to Surfside and Sunset Beach. In 1942, construction of the U.S. Naval Ammunition and Net Depot caused the line to be rerouted north from Electric Avenue on 17th Street to the Ocean Side of Pacific Coast Highway around Anaheim Bay to Sunset Beach. The tracks followed a private right of way south of Pacific Coast Highway to Phillips Street and then turned onto another private right of way dividing Pacific Avenue in Surfside and Sunset Beach. The line then ran along Pacific Avenue through Surfside and Sunset Beach. Leaving Sunset Beach
Balboa Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
3780-463: The controlling majority of stock (double that of Huntington's) and the newspapers of the time referred to it as the Huntington-Hellman syndicate. Using surrogates, the syndicate began purchasing property and rights-of-way. The company's first main project, the line to Long Beach , opened July 4, 1902. Huntington experienced periods of opposition from organized labor with the construction of
3870-628: The corridor in Belmont Heights . The Jenni Rivera Memorial Park also occupies a segment of the right of way in Long Beach. The former path through Seal Beach was converted to a greenway; the Seal Beach Historical Society operated the Red Car Museum out of a former Pacific Electric tower car located on the pathway from 1981 until 2021. The route ran "flyer" service between Downtown Los Angeles and Willowville (a route also served by
3960-836: The country with the intention of shutting them down and converting them to bus operation in what became known as the Great American Streetcar Scandal . Several lines operating to the north and the west which used the Belmont Tunnel from the Subway Terminal Building downtown ceased operation – the Hollywood Boulevard and Beverly Hills lines were shut down in 1954 and service to the San Fernando Valley, Burbank and Glendale using newly acquired PCC streetcars lasted only to 1955. The Bellflower line to
4050-786: The dots on the map and was a leading player itself in developing all the real estate that lay in between the dots". Huntington's involvement with urban rail was intimately tied to his real estate development operations. Real estate development was so lucrative for Huntington and SP that they could use the Red Car as a loss leader . However, by 1920, when most of the company's holdings had been developed, their major income source began to deplete. Many rural passenger lines were unprofitable, with losses offset by revenue generated from passenger lines in populated corridors and from freight operations. The least-used Red Car lines were converted to cheaper bus routes as early as 1925. In 1936, Pacific Electric acquired
4140-470: The end of rail service in 1963. Large profits from land development were generated along the routes of the new lines. Huntington Beach was incorporated in 1909 and developed by the Huntington Beach Company, a real-estate development firm owned by Henry Huntington, which still owns both land in the city and most of the mineral rights. There are other local streetcar suburbs . Angelino Heights
4230-403: The enterprise. Revenue from passenger traffic rarely generated a profit, unlike freight. The real money for the investors was in supplying electric power to new communities and in developing and selling real estate. To get the railways and electricity to their towns, local groups offered the Huntington interest opportunities in local land. Soon Huntington and his partners had significant holdings in
4320-473: The few U.S. interurbans to do so. This provided important revenue. The PE was responsible for an innovation in grade crossing safety: the automatic electromechanical grade crossing signal, nicknamed the wigwag . This device was quickly adopted by other railroads. A few wigwags continue in operation as of 2006 . During this period, the Los Angeles Railway provided local streetcar service in central Los Angeles and to nearby communities. These trolleys were known as
4410-551: The final few miles from private right-of-way to reach the 6th and Main PE terminal and were bogged down within this jammed traffic. Schedules could not be met, plus former patrons were now driving. The San Bernardino line, Pomona branch, Temple City branch via Alhambra's Main Street, San Bernardino's Mountain View local to 34th Street, Santa Monica Boulevard via Beverly Hills, and all remaining Pasadena local services were all cut in 1941. Permission
4500-575: The four track system ended. Here the Santa Ana Line branched to the east and the Redondo Beach via Gardena Line , Torrance Line , and Hawthorne–El Segundo Line branched to the west. The Long Beach Line (on dual tracks) turned southeasterly from Watts Junction and ran towards Compton between the twin roadways of Willowbrook Avenue. Crossing Rosecrans Boulevard, the line turned to the south. Reaching Greenleaf Boulevard, Willowbrook Boulevard ended and
4590-585: The interurban line interfered with the United States Navy submarine listening post at Seal Beach . Service was fully discontinued at the end of September under further direction by the Navy. Rush Hour service began again in June 1944, but was discontinued after three months. A fifth restoration with a more comprehensive schedule started in June 1945, but service was again discontinued after three months. June 1946 brought
SECTION 50
#17328555465674680-418: The land companies developing Naples , Bay City (Seal Beach) , Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Redondo Beach. Harriman, who controlled the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad , was concerned with the competition that these new electric lines gave his steam railroad traffic, and had been prodding Huntington for joint ownership of the lines but Huntington refused to negotiate. In early 1903, Harriman proposed
4770-434: The last incarnation of the line. By mid-1948, Pacific Electric had purchased the requisite Southern Pacific Railroad lines to allow them to move freight to Newport and Huntington without the trip through Long Beach and Sunset Beach . Commodore service lasted seasonally until September 1949, its final run. The last passenger train on the line ran to Newport from Los Angeles on June 30, 1950. Though ridership early on
4860-475: The last of the former Pacific Electric lines to do so. Trains were replaced by the 36 "Long Beach Freeway Flyer" bus, which followed the new Long Beach Freeway north of the Long Beach Boulevard interchange. Local replacement service north of this point was provided by the 33 "Los Angeles–Compton–Wilmington", which had replaced San Pedro via Dominguez Line trains in 1958. A documentary Ride
4950-457: The line branched southwesterly on dual tracks across American Avenue (Long Beach Boulevard) to enter a private right of way which cut diagonally across the city street grid of Long Beach and also forms part of the boundary of Long Beach and the City of Signal Hill . The line crossed Atlantic Ave. at grade and passed under Orange Ave. Continuing southeasterly the line crossed at grade: Cherry Avenue,
5040-468: The line entered a private right of way dividing Seashore Drive. At 32nd Street the tracks curved into Newport Boulevard. At McFadden Place the line entered a private right of way dividing Balboa Boulevard, and continued on Balboa Boulevard to the terminus of the line at Main Street in Balboa. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under the public domain as
5130-583: The line followed a private way between Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean to the Pacific Electric station on the south side of Ocean Avenue at Main Street in Huntington Beach. The line was double track to Huntington Beach and single track from there to Balboa. From Huntington Beach the line continued on a private way on the Ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway to approximately 59th Street in Newport Beach, where
5220-424: The line proceeded to the south crossing over Compton Creek on a two-track steel Pratt truss bridge. The line then turned southeasterly towards Signal Hill. At Dominguez Junction the San Pedro via Dominguez Line branched to the south on the west side of Alameda Street. The Long Beach Line crossed Alameda Street and the Southern Pacific San Pedro Branch at grade, and followed the west bank of Compton Creek towards
5310-468: The line to Huntington Beach on July 4 , 1904, reaching Newport Wharf the following year. The Los Angeles Inter-Urban was acquired by Pacific Electric in 1908. The Newport Beach to Balboa segment was reduced to a single daily round trip in June 1940 and was fully abandoned on November 18 of that year. This started a series of service abandonments and restorations — all Newport trains were discontinued on that date. In July 1942, passenger service
5400-419: The line was double tracked to Ocean Avenue in Long Beach. The four track line went south from Olympic Boulevard crossing Washington Boulevard where Long Beach Avenue becomes twin roadways on both side of the rail line. At Amoco Junction (25th Street), the Santa Monica Air Line branched off to the west and a connection to the Butte Street Freight Yard (Southern Pacific J Yard) went to the east. Continuing to
5490-429: The lines in downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica and down the coast to Redondo Beach to the Southern Pacific. In January 1907, the Hellman syndicate, after seeing that Huntington ran the Los Angeles Railway similarly to PE, continually expanding and not declaring dividends, sold their 45% stake in the Los Angeles Railway to Harriman and the Southern Pacific. The Covina line was completed in 1907, as well as
SECTION 60
#17328555465675580-446: The mountains to the sea." The Pacific Electric Railway was created in 1901 by railroad executive Henry E. Huntington and banker Isaias W. Hellman . As a Vice President of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), operated by his uncle, Collis P. Huntington , Huntington had a background in electric trolley lines in San Francisco where he oversaw SP's effort to consolidate many smaller street railroads into one organized network. Hellman,
5670-406: The new railways. Tensions between union leaders and like-minded Los Angeles businessmen were high from the early 1900s up through the 1920s. Strikes and boycotts troubled the Pacific Electric throughout those years until they reached the height of violence in the 1919 Streetcar Strike of Los Angeles . The efforts of organized labor simmered with the onset of World War I . Railroads were one part of
5760-513: The opening of the Blue Line , a modern light rail service using portions of the former right-of-way. When the Regional Connector subway tunnel was completed in 2023, the Blue Line, renamed as the A Line in 2019, was extended northeast to Azusa , becoming the world's longest light rail route. The line originated at the 6th and Main street station in Los Angeles and exited to the east via an elevated structure over downtown streets to reach San Pedro street at grade. The dual track line went south in
5850-409: The poor earnings of the interurban system, with profits of $ 151,000 in 1905 rising to $ 402,000 in 1907 (equivalent to $ 5.12 million and $ 13.1 million in 2023). However, in 1909, earnings were only $ 75,000. Huntington had begun long negotiations with Harriman about consolidating the Los Angeles electric railways beginning in 1907. There had always been a difference between the two men as to
5940-422: The popularity and utility of the system in an extended sequence in his 1924 film Girl Shy , where, after finding one Red Car too crowded, he commandeered another and drove at high speed through the streets of Culver City and Los Angeles. In response to a proposal to establish the first bus company in Los Angeles by William Gibbs McAdoo , Pacific Electric and the Los Angeles Railway proposed their own system,
6030-424: The purpose of the railway, with Huntington seeing the PE as a means to facilitate his real estate efforts, and Harriman seeing it as part of the Southern Pacific's overall transportation system in Southern California . Harriman left Huntington alone until 1910, when the former refused to allow the latter to run a line to San Diego that would have interfered with a competitive arrangement Harriman had worked out with
6120-492: The region attracting millions of workers. There were several years when the company's income statement showed a profit when gasoline and rubber were rationed and much of the populace depended on mass transit. At peak operation toward the end of the war, the PE dispatched over 10,000 trains daily and was a major employer in Southern California. However, the equipment in use was old and suffered from deferred maintenance. The nation's last interurban Railroad post office (RPO) service
6210-546: The remaining 20%. Huntington could expand the PE as he saw fit, but he was not to compete with existing SP lines. A byproduct of this sale was that Harriman sold the banking unit of his Wells Fargo Company to Hellman who merged it with his Nevada Bank operations and established the Pacific Coast's largest, most powerful bank. On June 6, 1903, Huntington created the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway, capitalized at $ 10 million (equivalent to $ 339 million in 2023), with plans to extend lines to Santa Ana , Newport Beach ,
6300-452: The route to connect to long-distance passenger trains at Southern Pacific 's Central Station . Cars ran from the downtown station to Long Beach and continued to San Pedro. It operated from 1924 to 1939 when Union Station opened and consolidated intercity trains at a different location. Conceiving of the line earlier in the summer, Henry E. Huntington incorporated the Pacific Electric Railway in November 1901 and immediately began work on
6390-416: The secret winner. In May 1903, Huntington made an overnight trip to San Francisco and worked out an arrangement with Harriman. The Pacific Electric would get the Los Angeles Traction Lines, SP's San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit Railway line, the 6th Street franchise, and some downtown trackage. In return, Harriman got 40.3% of PE stock, an amount equal to Huntington's, with Hellman, Borel and De Guigne owning
6480-482: The service. The Blue Line (later renamed to the A Line) opened in 1990 as the first of a new rail system in Los Angeles. Service in 1902 commenced with 200 class cars. These were originally built for narrow gauge operation, but were refit for running on standard gauge. The motors on these cars proved to be underpowered, and were quickly replaced with 250 class the following year. The 250 class cars were fitted with couplers in 1907, allowing multiple operation . By 1924
6570-481: The south closed in 1958 as the Golden State/Santa Ana (Interstate 5) neared completion. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority was established in 1951 to study the possibility of establishing a publicly owned monorail line running north from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles and then west to Panorama City in the San Fernando Valley. In 1954, the agency's powers were expanded to allow it to propose
6660-518: The south, the line crossed the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Harbor District tracks at Slauson Boulevard at grade. The Whittier Line branched to the east at Slauson Junction just south of Slauson Boulevard. A four track steel plate girder bridge carried the track over Firestone Boulevard where the Braham Freight Yard paralleled the line to 91st street. At Watts Junction (103rd Street)
6750-454: The world, with 2,160 daily trains over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of track. It operated to many destinations in Southern California, particularly to the south and east. The Southern Pacific now began to emphasize freight operations. From 1911, when revenue from freight was $ 519,226 ($ 17 million adjusted for inflation), freight revenue climbed to $ 1,203,956 in 1915 (equivalent to $ 36.3 million in 2023), 13% of total revenue. During
6840-554: Was a major interurban railway operated by the Pacific Electric Railway between Los Angeles and Long Beach, California via Florence , Watts , and Compton . Service began in 1902 and lasted until 1961, the last line of the system to be replaced by buses . In addition to the Long Beach service, the line served as a trunk for a number of other interurban lines stretching to Whittier , Yorba Linda , Fullerton , Santa Ana , Balboa , San Pedro , and Redondo Beach . It
6930-403: Was briefly restarted with runs of the club car Commodore , lasting just under two months. Service was fully restored on May 2, 1943 as a way to move workers for the war effort and Pacific Electric lacked motor coaches to do so; trains ran between Huntington and Long Beach, where passengers transferred to Long Beach Line cars. By July, morning and evening runs were discontinued, as noise from
7020-640: Was built around the Temple Street horsecar, which was later upgraded to electric streetcar as part of the Yellow Car system. Highland Park was developed along the Figueroa Street trolley lines and railroads linking downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. Huntington owned nearly all the stock in the Pacific Electric Land Company. West Hollywood was established by Moses Sherman and his partners of
7110-512: Was cut in 1938, Redondo Beach, Newport Beach, Sawtelle via San Vicente, and Riverside in 1940. When the San Bernardino Freeway opened in 1941 but was not yet connected to the Hollywood Freeway, while the "Four Way" overpass was being constructed, westbound car traffic from the SB freeway poured onto downtown streets near the present Union Station. PE's multiple car trains coming and going from Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia/Glendora used those same streets
7200-556: Was designated line 6. Skip-stop limited trains were eliminated between February and November 1944. Postwar ridership initially kept strong, but service cuts began as early as 1946. The Long Beach Line was transferred to Metropolitan Coach Lines in 1953. The service was further was commuted to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority on March 3, 1958; on April 17 it was renumbered to line 36. Passenger service ended on April 9, 1961,
7290-422: Was four tracks wide north of the junction at Watts, with local service on the outer tracks and long-distance trains bypassing the local stations on the inner tracks. After the end of Pacific Electric service, Southern Pacific continued to operate freight trains on the tracks, and its successor Union Pacific still does between Amoco and Dominguez Junction. Passenger service to the corridor returned in 1990 with
7380-593: Was later utilized when the Southern California RTD was designing and building the Metro Blue Line light rail line. The Blue Line, the first modern mass transit line in Los Angeles since the discontinuation of the Red Car service, was first opened in 1990. The few remaining trolley-coach routes and narrow gauge streetcar routes of the former Los Angeles Railway "Yellow Cars" were removed in early 1963. The public transportation system continued to be operated by
7470-488: Was moved to a nearby Long Beach city maintenance yard alongside the Los Angeles River in 1936, and then moved again in 2015. It was destroyed by a fire in 2016. An early goal of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission was to reestablish rail service over the former PE right of way. Modern light rail was chosen as the preferred mode, and the line was largely rebuilt to accommodate
7560-459: Was of such great concern by the late 1930s that the influential Automobile Club of Southern California engineered an elaborate plan to create an elevated freeway-type Motorway System, a key aspect of which was the dismantling of the streetcar lines, replacing them with buses that could run on both local streets and on the new express roads. When the freeway system was planned in the 1930s the city planners planned to include interurban tracks in
7650-412: Was operated by PE on its San Bernardino Line. This was inaugurated comparatively late, on September 2, 1947. It left LA's new Union Station interurban yard on the west side of the terminal, turned north onto Alameda Street at 12:45 pm and reached San Bernardino at 4:40 pm, taking three hours for the trip while making postal stops en route as required. It did not operate on Sundays or holidays. This last RPO
7740-402: Was pulled off May 6, 1950. Aware that most new arrivals planned to stay in the region after the war, local municipal governments, Los Angeles County and the state agreed that a massive infrastructure improvement program was necessary. At that time politicians agreed to construct a web of freeways across the region. This was seen as a better solution than a new mass transit system or an upgrade of
7830-674: Was received in September 1942 to abandon the shuttle line to General Hospital which company officials said had been operating at a loss for several months. The Glendale line survived to the early 1950s due to the convenience of a subway into downtown Los Angeles and used the company's only modern equipment, a group of streamlined PCC cars. In 1940, Pacific Electric sold its Glendale , Burbank , and Pasadena operations to Pacific City Lines . San Bernardino operations were sold to San Bernardino Valley Transit. PE carried increased passenger loads during World War II, when Los Angeles County's population nearly doubled as war industries concentrated in
7920-556: Was the first installation of the final design of the Magnetic Watchman wigwag crossing signal and crossbucks. Oil tank cars were still shuttled to Signal Hill even as the surface street tracks were torn up from the center of Long Beach Boulevard long after the copper overhead catenary supply wires had been removed. Southern Pacific (now part of Union Pacific ) continues to operate freight service utilizing former PE right-of-way. Long Beach Line The Long Beach Line
8010-536: Was the largest electric railway system in the world in the 1920s. Organized around the city centers of Los Angeles and San Bernardino , it connected cities in Los Angeles County , Orange County , San Bernardino County and Riverside County . The system shared dual gauge track with the 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) narrow gauge Los Angeles Railway , "Yellow Car," or "LARy" system on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles (directly in front of
8100-587: Was very high, it had slowly dwindled to 55,390 in 1948. Freight service along the route continued after passenger operations ended. The bridge between Seal Beach and Long Beach was removed in 1958. Demand had dwindled by 1960, and the route was formally abandoned in 1962. Trackage in Newport Beach was removed in 1977. Since closure of the rail line, the beach route between Long Beach and Balboa has become heavily trafficked, and plans to revive rail service along this corridor have been proposed sporadically. The Long Beach Green Belt path occupies 11 acres (4.5 ha) of
#566433