Whittier Line

Pacific Electric interurban route in California

Whittier Line

The first Pacific Electric Car to Whittier, 1904

Overview
Owner| Southern Pacific Railroad
Locale| Southern California
Termini|

* Pacific Electric Building
* Whittier, California

Service
Type| Interurban
System| Pacific Electric
Operator(s)| Pacific Electric
Ridership| 1,139,480 (peak, 1923)[1]
History
Opened| November 7, 1903
Closed| January 22, 1938 (to Whittier)
March 6, 1938 (to Walker)
Technical
Line length| 17.35 mi (27.92 km)
Track gauge| 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification| Overhead line, 600 V DC

Route map

Legend

|  |  |

|  |

Sierra Vista

|
|
|
|

|  |

|  |

|  B F G O

|  |

|  | Pacific Electric Building
|  |

|  |

| Edendale

|  |

|  |

H J R S

|  |

|  |

B F G O

|  |

|  |

| multiple

lines

|  |

|  |

|  |

|  | Amoco
|  |

|  |

Air Line

|  |

|  | Vernon Avenue

|  |

|  | Slauson Junction
|  |

|  |

| multiple

lines

|  |

|  | Dozier
|  |

|  | Huntington Park

|  |

|  | Miles
|  |

|  | Fruitland
|  |

|  | Bell
|  |

|  | Greening
|  |

|  | Baker
|  |

|  | Walker
|  |

|  |

Los Angeles River

|  |

|  | Laguna
|  |

|  | Gage
|  |

|  | Rio Hondo
|  |

|  |

Rio Hondo

|  |

|  | McCampbell
|  |

|  | Downey Road

SR 19

|  |

|  | Rivera
|  |

|  | Burke
|  |

|  |

San Gabriel River

|  |

|  | Guirado
|  |

|  |

Santa Fe RR

|  |

|  | Los Nietos
|  |

|  |

Fullerton La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda

|  |

|  | King
|  |

|  | Eli
|  |

|  | Rose Hedge
|  |

|  | State School
|  |

|  | Whittier
|  |  |  |  |  |

This diagram:

* view
* talk
* edit

The Whittier Line was a Pacific Electric interurban line which traveled between Los Angeles and Whittier via Huntington Park, Rivera, and Los Nietos.[2] A branch of the company's original Long Beach Line, operations along the line began in 1903. Due to its indirect route, passenger operations were eventually replaced by bus service on Whittier Boulevard after 1938.[3] Tracks were largely retained for use by freight trains, eventually becoming the Union Pacific La Habra Subdivision. A short segment of the route is expected to be reactivated for passenger service as part of the Southeast Gateway Line.

## History

[edit]

Construction of the route between Whittier and the Long Beach Line began in March 1902. The single track line opened to Whittier in November 1903.[4][1] The route was graded wide enough to lay a second set of tracks in the future.[5] Operations were undertaken by the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Electric Railway in 1904 and they had double tracked the line by September 1904. Southern Pacific assumed operation in 1908, and it was acquired by the new Southern Pacific in the 1911 Great Merger.

By September 1935, the number of departures was reduced to one round trip daily and service to Walker was regarded as its own local line. Whittier service was reduced to a single daily trip after September 1, 1935 and was totally discontinued on January 22, 1938.[6][1][7] Walker service ceased March 6.[1][7]

Much of the route remains in service for freight trains. The line between Slauson and Los Nietos forms the Union Pacific La Habra Subdivision.[8] The Southeast Gateway Line light rail project is expected to use a section of the line between Slauson and the former Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad right of way.

## Route

[edit]

The Whittier Line followed the Long Beach Line from Los Angeles south to Slauson Junction (south of Slauson Boulevard) where it branched off in an easterly direction to Whittier and Yorba Linda. From there, the double track Whittier Line ran easterly, in private way between dual roadways of Randolph Street, through Huntington Park, Vernon, Bell, and Maywood to reach the Los Angeles River. Crossing the river, the double track in private way followed intermittent sections of Randolph Street through Bell Gardens and Commerce, and crossed the Rio Hondo south of Slauson Avenue.

The line continued easterly, south and parallel to, Slauson Avenue. Across the Pico Rivera area and the San Gabriel River into Los Nietos, where the line crossed the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Third District main line (Los Nietos) at Norwalk Boulevard then turned northerly towards Whittier. The single track La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda Line branched easterly in private way off the Whittier Line east of Norwalk Boulevard. The line in private way followed Allport Avenue and Lynalan Avenue then turned easterly crossing Whittier Boulevard into Philadelphia Street to the PE station at Comstock Avenue.

## Stations

[edit]

Station  | Mile[2][9] | Time to LA[2][9]

|
|

Pacific Electric Building | 0.00  | —
Vernon Avenue | 3.26  | 0:10
Slauson Junction | 4.27  | 0:15
Huntington Park | 5.42  | 0:20
Bell (Maywood Ave.) | 6.73  | 0:22
Bell (Gifford Ave) | 7.20  | 0:23
Walker  | 8.65  | 0:28
Edgewater | 9.20  |
Laguna | 10.28  | 0:31
Rio Hondo  | 11.40  | 0:33
Rivera | 12.58  | 0:35
Los Nietos | 14.50  | 0:39
State School | 16.71  | 0:43
Whittier | 17.35  | 0:47

## References

[edit]

This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under the public domain as 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.

1. ^ a b c d "Whittier Line". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
2. ^ a b c Smith, O.A. (1931). Railway Time Table: Whittier Line, La Habra Line (August 26, 1931 ed.). Los Angeles: Pacific Electric. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
3. ^ Walker 1976, p. 172
4. ^ Crump 1962, p. 71
5. ^ Crump 1962, p. 103
6. ^ "P. E. Car Schedule". The Whittier News. Whittier, California. August 29, 1935. p. 6. Retrieved December 3, 2023 - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ a b Veysey 1958, pp. 27–28
8. ^ "Train-watchers guide to LA" (PDF). Trains. 2016. pp. 66–67. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
9. ^ a b "Pacific Electric Time Tables" (PDF). wx4's Dome of Foam. Pacific Electric. September 1, 1934. p. 6. Retrieved September 1, 2021.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Crump, Spencer (1962). Ride the big red cars: How trolleys helped build southern California. Crest Publications. ISBN 0-87046-047-1. OCLC 3414090. OL 4560875M. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Veysey, Laurence R. (June 1958). A History Of The Rail Passenger Service Operated By The Pacific Electric Railway Company Since 1911 And By Its Successors Since 1953 (PDF). LACMTA (Report). Los Angeles, California: Interurbans. ASIN B0007F8D84. OCLC 6565577.
* Walker, Jim (January 1, 1976). Lines of Pacific Electric: Southern & Western Districts (Special 60) (Second Printing ed.). Glendale, California: Interurban Press.

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Whittier Line

KML is not from Wikidata

* v
* t
* e

Pacific Electric

Routes|

| Northern Division|

* Alhambra–San Gabriel
* Annandale
* Arlington–Corona
* Arrowhead
* Colton
* Covina
* East Washington
* El Monte–Baldwin Park
* Highland
* Lamanda Park
* Monrovia–Glendora
* Mount Lowe
* North Lake
* Pasadena Short Line
* Pasadena via Oak Knoll
* Pomona
* Pomona–Claremont
* Redlands
* Redlands local lines
* Riverside–Arlington
* Riverside–Rialto
* San Bernardino–Riverside
* San Dimas
* Shorb
* Sierra Madre
* Sierra Vista
* South Pasadena Local
* Upland–Ontario
* Upland–San Antonio Heights
* Upland–San Bernardino

|

Western Division|

* Brush Canyon
* Coldwater Canyon
* Echo Park Avenue
* Edendale Local
* Glendale–Burbank
* Hollywood
* Lankershim–Van Nuys
* Laurel Canyon
* Owensmouth
* Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey
* San Fernando
* Santa Monica Air Line
* Sawtelle
* Soldiers' Home
* South Hollywood–Sherman
* Venice Boulevard
* Venice–Inglewood
* Venice–Playa del Rey
* Venice Short Line
* Venice via Hollywood
* Western & Franklin Ave.
* Westgate

Southern Division|

* American Avenue
* Balboa
* Bellflower
* Catalina Dock
* Fullerton
* Hawthorne–El Nido
* Hawthorne–El Segundo
* Huntington Beach–La Bolsa
* La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda
* Long Beach
* Long Beach local lines
* Long Beach–San Pedro
* Redondo Beach via Gardena
* San Pedro local lines
* San Pedro via Dominguez
* San Pedro via Gardena
* Santa Ana
* Santa Ana–Huntington Beach
* Santa Ana–Orange
* Seal Beach–Huntington Beach–Newport Beach
* Terminal Island
* Torrance
* Watts
* Whittier

History|

* Strike of 1903
* 1919 streetcar strike
* General Motors streetcar conspiracy

Infrastructure|

| Stations|

* Etiwanda
* Lynwood
* Pacific Electric Building
* Picover
* Subway Terminal Building
* Watts
* Yorba Linda

|

* Hill Street Tunnel
* Hollywood Subway
* Ivy Substation
* Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge
* Redlands Trolley Barn
* Substation No. 8
* Sub-Station No. 14
* West Santa Ana Branch

Predecessors|

* Mount Lowe Railway
* Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Company
* Pasadena and Pacific
* Los Angeles and Independence Railroad
* Los Angeles Pacific Railroad

Connecting services|

* Glendale and Montrose Railway
* Los Angeles Railway

Successors|

* LA Metro
* MTA [1951–1964]
* RTD [1964–1993]
* LACTC [1976–1993]
* OCTA
* Omnitrans
* Waterfront Red Car [2003–2015]

Legacy|

* Culver Boulevard Median Bike Path
* Red Car Trolley (Disneyland Resort)
* Waterfront Red Car (San Pedro)
* Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This United States rail–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

This article about transportation in California is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template