Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | San Bernardino, California |
Locale | Southern California |
Dates of operation | April 23, 1887–November 7, 1889 |
Successor | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Length | 250 miles (400 km) |
The California Central Railway was incorporated on April 23, 1887, with headquarters in San Bernardino, California. George O. Manchester was the President of the corporation.
At its peak it operated 250 miles (400 km) of rail line with 14 steam locomotives, 14 passenger cars and 83 freight cars. It operated rail lines from May 20, 1887, to November 7, 1889. On December 31, 1888, the California Central Railway was valued at $12,914,000.00.
On November 7, 1889, California Central Railway was consolidated with the California Southern Railroad and the Redondo Beach Railway into the Southern California Railway Company. [1] On June 30, 1888, it began operations as a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
The California Central Railway mainlines were from San Bernardino to Los Angeles at La Grande Station, Oceanside to Los Angeles; and High Grove to Orange. It also ran a 19-mile line in Riverside County between Perris to San Jacinto, from May 1887 to May 1, 1888. California Central Railway also built and ran a 13-mile line from Port Ballona (present day Playa del Rey, Los Angeles) on Santa Monica Bay, to Redondo Junction (just southwest of present-day Boyle Heights) at the Los Angeles River near Washington Boulevard, which opened in September 1887. Redondo Junction became a major maintenance facility for trains. [2] [3] [4]
Redondo Beach Railway was incorporated in April 1888. Redondo Beach Railway first bond sales was on June 1, 1888. Henry E. Huntington controlled and owned much of the Redondo Beach Railway. Line started operation September 1, 1888. California Central Railway operated, but did not own, the 11 miles of the Redondo Beach Railway. This line ran from Redondo Beach to Inglewood Depot. In 1890, the Hotel Redondo opened, the rail line help make Redondo "The Place" for tourists. Also stopped at Burwell and Port Ballona. First train was on April 16, 1888. From Inglewood the line continued to downtown Los Angeles on California Central Railway tracks through the Redondo Junction. Redondo Beach Railway company was consolidated into the Southern California Railway on November 7, 1889. When the street car line of the Redondo and Hermosa Beach Railroad opened in 1902, ridership on the Redondo Beach Railway trains dropped. [5] [6] [7]
Riverside, Santa Ana and Los Angeles Railway was incorporated September 29, 1885. California Central Railway expanded and completed the rail line started by the Riverside, Santa Ana and Los Angeles Railway Company, from Santa Ana to Los Angeles on August 12, 1888, 34 miles. Also completed was the line from High Grove to Orange on September 15, 1887, 41 miles. (started in 1886) [8] [9]
San Bernardino and San Diego Railway was incorporated on November 20, 1886, bringing service to San Diego County. The company put up for sale $4,000,000.00 in stock to start construction. A Victorian-style depot was erected in 1887 at the site of current San Diego Union Station. Directors of the company were: George. H. Bonebrake, A. W. Francisco and M. L. Wicks. California Central Railway expanded and completed the rail line started by the San Bernardino and San Diego Railway. The 35 mile rail line ran from Santa Ana to San Juan (present day San Clemente) on November 30, 1887. Also completed was the 15 mile line from San Juan to Fallbrook Junction on August 12, 1888, 15 miles, (started 1887). San Bernardino and San Diego Railway was originally chartered to build a line from Anaheim to San Juan Capistrano, and then to Oceanside and to San Diego. The Pacific Surfliner still runs on this line from San Diego to Santa Ana. [10] [11]
San Bernardino & Los Angeles Railway was incorporated on November 22, 1886. In 1887 the California Central Railway expanded and completed a rail line started by the San Bernardino & Los Angeles Railway Co. from San San Bernardino to Duarte on May 31, 1887, 38 miles, (started 1887). This line connected with the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad at Duarte. The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad had already secured right of way East of Duarte. Other depots on this line are Claremont and North Pomona. Some towns start at rail stops like: Rialto, North Cucamonga, and North Ontario. Later this line would run the Santa Fe Southwest Chief until 1994. [12] [13]
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was incorporated on September 5, 1883. On September 16, 1885 a grand celebration was held in Pasadena for the completion of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad from downtown Los Angeles to Lamanda Park in East Pasadena. The rail line went from downtown Los Angeles through the Arroyo Seco to Pasadena. The railroad crossed the Arroyo Seco just north of Garvanza in Highland Park. [14] California Central Railway purchased the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad on May 20, 1887, and connected it to the end of the Daurte line to complete a line from San Bernardino to Downtown Los Angeles through the San Gabriel Valley. This gave the line the Azusa, Monrovia, Pasadena and Rancho Santa Anita depots. California Central Railway completed work started East of Daurte. Later this line connected with the San Bernardino & Los Angeles Railway, which later would run the Southwest Chief. [15] [16] [17]
San Bernardino Valley Railway was incorporated on January 12, 1887. California Central Railway expanded and completed the rail line started by the San Bernardino Valley Railway Co. from San Bernardino to Mentone, California, on December 31, 1887, 13 miles. San Bernardino Valley Railway was chartered to build from the City of San Bernardino to near Lugonia (current city is now Redlands in San Bernardino County). The final construction was from San Bernardino to Mentone. [18] [19] [20]
San Diego Central Railroad was incorporated on November 8, 1886. California Central Railway expanded and completed the 21 mile rail line in San Diego County started by the San Diego Central Railroad Co., from Escondido junction, (just south of Oceanside) to Escondido. Service began in 1887. San Diego Central Railroad was chartered to build from the San Diego Bay north to Poway, Escondido, and Oceanside. However, San Diego Central Railroad only constructed a rail line between Escondido to Oceanside. [21] [22]
Los Angeles and Santa Monica Railroad was incorporated on January 6, 1886, to build a railroad line from downtown Los Angeles to a depot on the Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County. In March 1886, the Los Angeles Herald reported that the "surveyors of the Santa Monica Railroad have just crossed the S.P. track at Ballona, just where the county road crossed that track near La Ballona station. The terminus is finally fixed at South Santa Monica, near where the old Juan Bernard wharf is." [23]
California Central Railway purchased the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Railroad, but the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Railroad company had not started any work on any rail lines, California Central Railway did get needed right of way land. The 18.03 mi (29.02 km) line was opened for business on September 7, 1887, with stops (from northeast to southwest) at Ballona Junction, Nadeau Park, Baldwin, Slauson, Wildeson, Hyde Park, Inglewood, Danville, Mesmer, and Port Ballona. A train left Los Angeles at 9:15 a.m. on the one-hour journey and returned from Port Ballona at 4 p.m. [24]
San Jacinto Railway was incorporated on March 7, 1887, in Riverside County. California Central Railway purchased the San Jacinto Railway, but this company had not started any work on any rail lines, California Central Railway did get needed right of way land. Rail work was started in 1887, this branch rail line ran from Perris to San Jacinto and started operation on May 20, 1888, with the first train arriving at Winchester. [25] [26]
Jay Gould and Collis Potter Huntington worked hard to keep the Santa Fe Railway out of the LA and the San Gabriel Valley. But in May 1887, the first Santa Fe train rolled into Los Angeles. Santa Fe had an expensive agreement to use Southern Pacific Railroad tracks to run trains on from Colton to Los Angeles. This agreement was used for 1½ years. [27]
With the May 20, 1887, sale of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad to the California Central Railway, a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the two lines were connected together at Mud Springs, completing the rail line from Chicago to Los Angeles through the San Gabriel Valley. The Santa Fe line served the San Gabriel Valley until 1994, when the 1994 Northridge earthquake weakened the bridge in Arcadia. [28] [29]
The old Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad right of way (ROW) is again in use for public rapid transit by the Los Angeles Metro Rail light rail system. In the late 1990s, construction of the Gold Line started on the ROW, which opened in 2003.
In 2013, construction further east on the ROW began for Phase 2A of the Gold Line Foothill Extension through the San Gabriel Valley and Pomona Valley to Azusa. It uses 1926 Monrovia Santa Fe Depot for its Monrovia station, and the site of the Azusa Depot for its Azusa Downtown station, which opened in 2016. Phase 2B is through the Pomona Valley to the San Bernardino Valley.
The California Southern Railroad was merged into the California Central Railway Company in June 1887. The collapse of the great land boom resulted in the consolidation of the California Southern Railroad, the California Central Railway, and the Redondo Beach Railway in 1889. The new corporation was named: Southern California Railway Company. The repair shops were all moved to San Bernardino, and the rail headquarters were moved to Los Angeles. [30] [31] [32]
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 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 San Diegan was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and a “workhorse” of the railroad. Its 126-mile (203-kilometer) route ran from Los Angeles, California south to San Diego. It was assigned train Nos. 70–79.
The Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego to Orange County along California's Pacific Coast. It was so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than 100 feet (30 m) in some places.
Santa Fe Depot is a union station in San Diego, California, built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace the small Victorian-style structure erected in 1887 for the California Southern Railroad Company. The Spanish Colonial Revival style station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a San Diego Historic Landmark. Its architecture, particularly the signature twin domes, is often echoed in the design of modern buildings in downtown San Diego.
The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego, California.
Greater Los Angeles has a complex multimodal transportation infrastructure, which serves as a regional, national and international hub for passenger and freight traffic. The transportation system of Greater Los Angeles includes the United States' largest port complex, seven commuter rail lines, Amtrak service, a subway system within the city of Los Angeles, and numerous highways. Los Angeles is integrated into the Interstate Highway System by Interstate 5, Interstate 10, and Interstate 15, along with numerous auxiliary highways and state routes. Bus service is also included locally within the area by numerous local government agencies. Subways and light commuter rail lines are present within Los Angeles proper, allowing mass transportation within the city. Commuter railroads are run by Metrolink. Amtrak has numerous railroad lines that connect Los Angeles to the rest of the country.
The Pasadena Subdivision is the remnant branch line of the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) Los Angeles Second District. The line currently branches off of Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line at CP Cambridge in Claremont. The line follows a generally east–west alignment, passing through the cities of Claremont, Pomona, La Verne, San Dimas, Glendora, and Azusa before coming to a truncated end in Irwindale. For most of its length, it shares the corridor with the Los Angeles Metro Rail’s A Line. Recent construction, known as the Foothill Extension Phase 2B, has seen the tracks out of service west of San Dimas for most of 2021.
Monrovia station is an at-grade light rail station on the A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located at the intersection of Duarte Road and Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia, California, after which the station is named. This station opened on March 5, 2016, as part of Phase 2A of the Gold Line Foothill Extension Project.
Duarte/City of Hope station is an at-grade light rail station on the A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located at the intersection of Duarte Road and Highland Avenue in Duarte, California, after which the station is named, along with the City of Hope National Medical Center located across the street from the station.
Irwindale station is an at-grade light rail station on the A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located at the intersection of Irwindale Avenue and Avenida Padilla in Irwindale, California, after which the station is named. This station opened on March 5, 2016, as part of Phase 2A of the Gold Line Foothill Extension Project.
Azusa Downtown station is an at-grade light rail station on the A Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located on Alameda Avenue, a block north of Foothill Boulevard, in Downtown Azusa, after which the station is named.
Southern California Railway was formed on November 7, 1889. It was formed by consolidation of California Southern Railroad Company, the California Central Railway Company, and the Redondo Beach Railway Company.
The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was a railroad founded on September 5, 1883, by James F. Crank with the goal of bringing a rail line to Pasadena, California from downtown Los Angeles, the line opened in 1886. Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was sold and consolidated on May 20, 1887 into the California Central Railway. In 1889 this was consolidated into Southern California Railway Company. On Jan. 17, 1906 Southern California Railway was sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and called the Pasadena Subdivision. The main line closed in 1994. The railroad later reopened as the MTA Gold Line Light Rail service in July 2003.
Redondo Junction, California is the site of an Amtrak maintenance facility. It is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Los Angeles Union Station, southwest of Boyle Heights near Washington Boulevard and the Los Angeles River.
The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1896−1911) (LAP) was an electric public transit and freight railway system in Los Angeles County, California. At its peak it had 230 miles (370 km) of track extending from Downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, Santa Monica, and the South Bay towns along Santa Monica Bay.
The Long Wharf in Santa Monica, also known as Port Los Angeles or the Mile Long Pier, was an extensive pier wharf constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Santa Monica Bay from 1892 to 1894. When it opened in 1894, it was the longest wharf in the world, measuring approximately 4,700 feet (1,400 m). It served as a cargo and passenger port until 1913, and in 1919 removal of the wharf started. The wharf, the 1,000 foot (300 m) tip of the pier, was removed by 1915. The remaining 3,600 feet (1,100 m) of pier was used as a run down fishing pier until 1933, when the remainder of the pier was removed. One of the major imports to the wharf was lumber from Northern ports, to help in the construction boom in Southern California. Southern Pacific Railroad and the street cars of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad served the wharf. Los Angeles Pacific Railroad ran passenger trams to the wharf and from midnight to sunrise ran cargo cars.
Port Ballona is an archaic place name for an area near the center of Santa Monica Bay in coastal Los Angeles County, where Playa Del Rey and Del Rey Lagoon are located today. Port Ballona was a planned harbor and town site from circa 1859 to 1903. The name comes from the Rancho La Ballona Mexican land grant.
The Venice–Inglewood Line is a former railway line in Los Angeles County, California. The route was established by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1887 before eventually being absorbed into the Pacific Electric interurban railway system. Service under electrification was very sparse, providing a suburban route between Venice and Inglewood.
The 1880s Southern California real estate boom, also the boom of the eighties, sometimes just called the 1887 real estate boom, was the first big settlement push into Los Angeles County, San Diego County, San Bernardino County, Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, and environs. Prompted by the arrival of the railroads, dozens of "paper towns" were platted and marketed between 1884 and the peak of the boom in July 1887, but the collapse of the market in 1888 meant that many of the planned communities went unbuilt. Some of the 1880s developments later grew into notable communities, others quickly vanished into history, several persisted for a time as railroad sidings or specks on a map and eventually lent their names to businesses, streets, and later residential subdivisions.