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Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre 1908 with PE line Depot and the Hotel Shirley in background
Overview
Owner Southern Pacific Railroad
Locale Southern California
Termini
Stations24
Service
Type Interurban
System Pacific Electric
Operator(s) Pacific Electric
Rolling stockPE 1100 Class (last used)
Daily ridership1713 (last counted)
History
OpenedJanuary 1, 1906
ClosedDecember 28, 1950
Technical
Line length16.52 mi (26.59 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification600 V DC Overhead lines
Route map

Mount Wilson Trail
Sierra Madre
Kinneloa Wash
Villa
Eaton Wash
El Rincon
Vinedo
Lamanda Park Junction
Halliday
San Marino
Las Rosas
El Molino
San Pasqual Wash
Pasqualito
Fletcher Avenue
Oneonta Park
La Cresta
Sierra Vista
Newton
Titus
Happy Valley
Soto Street Viaduct
El Sereno
Lincoln Park
Charlotte Street
Marengo Street
Valley Junction
State Street
Echandia
Macy Carhouse
Brooklyn Avenue   B 
  P 
Southern Division
6th/Main Terminal
  F 

The Sierra Madre Line was a Pacific Electric interurban route which ran 16.52 miles (26.59 km) from the Pacific Electric Building in Los Angeles to Sierra Madre.

History

Central Avenue, Sierra Madre in 1904. A mule team is grading the avenue for the installation of the 1905 Pacific Electric street car, in the background is the Old North Church with the original barn roof bell tower.

The line opened to Pasadena on March 1, 1904. Cars were run through on the Lamanda Park Line to Pasadena. [1] The extension to Sierra Madre opened on New Year's Day 1906. [2] [3] [4] On December 3, 1916 the routing through Downtown Los Angeles changed. [5]

Shuttle service for evening trips between Sierra Madre and San Marino began by March 1, 1928 with passengers changing to Monrovia–Glendora Line trains to complete the trip. [6] [5] Starting March 1939 the rear car of some Glendora trains were disconnected to continue to Sierra Madre. This arrangement became the line's only direct Los Angeles service starting February 21, 1943, as all midday service became shuttles and only rush hour cars from Monrovia trains served the line. [5]

Weekend and midday service was discontinued on June 11, 1948 and all trips became shuttles. A single morning outbound trip from Los Angeles was added after November 25, 1949. On October 8, 1950 service was virtually abandoned with a single daily round trip running between Sierra Madre and San Marino; this ended on December 28, 1950. [5] [7] Pacific Electric continued to operate the route with motor coaches after abandonment. [8]

Route

The Sierra Madre Line branched north from the Monrovia–Glendora Line in San Marino and its two tracks ran between the dual roadways passing Lamanda Park Junction (Colorado Street and Sierra Madre Boulevard) where it met the local East Colorado Street Line. From this point, the line continued on single track in a northerly direction along a private right of way in the center of Sierra Madre Boulevard to Michillinda Avenue. There the tracks entered into the pavement of city streets and proceeded on Central Avenue (Sierra Madre Boulevard) to Baldwin Avenue in Sierra Madre where the station was located. It then continued north one and one-half blocks via Baldwin Avenue and turned easterly onto another private right of way (between Montecito Avenue and Highland Avenue) to the end of the line of Mountain Trail Avenue, where a small storage yard was located.

List of major stations

Station Mile [9] Major connections Date opened Date closed City
Sierra Madre 16.52 1902 1950 Sierra Madre
El Rincon 14.10
Lamanda Park Junction 12.96 Lamanda Park 1902 1950 Pasadena
San Marino 11.13 Monrovia–Glendora 1902 1950 San Marino
El Molino 9.85 Monrovia–Glendora, Pasadena via Oak Knoll 1902 1950
Oneonta Park 8.30 Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Shorb 1901 1951 South Pasadena
Sierra Vista 7.39 Alhambra–San Gabriel, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Shorb 1901 1951 Alhambra
Covina Junction 3.11 Alhambra–San Gabriel, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, Upland–San Bernardino 1901 1951 Los Angeles
Echandia Junction Alhambra–San Gabriel, Annandale, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, South Pasadena Local, Upland–San Bernardino 1895 1951
Aliso and San Pedro 1.04
Pacific Electric Building 0 Alhambra–San Gabriel, Annandale, Balboa, Fullerton, Hawthorne–El Segundo, La Habra–Yorba Linda, Long Beach, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, San Pedro via Dominguez, San Pedro via Gardena, Santa Ana, Santa Monica Air Line, Soldiers' Home, South Pasadena Local, Whittier
Los Angeles Railway B, H, J, R, 7, and 8
1905 1961

References

 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. ^ "New electric road opens". Los Angeles Evening Express. March 1, 1904. p. 8. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  2. ^ "Sierra Madre Line Open". Long Beach Tribune. January 2, 1906. p. 1. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  3. ^ "Pacific Electric Sierra Madre Line". Electric Railway Historic Association of Southern California. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  4. ^ Crump, Spencer (1977). Ride the big red cars: How trolleys helped build southern California. Trans-Anglo Books. p. 87. ISBN  0-87046-047-1. OCLC  3414090. OL  5859107M.
  5. ^ a b c d 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. p. 83. ASIN  B0007F8D84. OCLC  6565577.
  6. ^ Hilton, George W.; Due, John F. (2000) [1960]. The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 410. ISBN  0-8047-4014-3.
  7. ^ "Sierra Madre Rail Service Ends Officially". Daily News-Post. December 28, 1950. p. 7. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  8. ^ "PE Gives Up Rail Stations in Two Cities". Los Angeles Times. January 3, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved February 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  9. ^ "Pacific Electric Time Tables" (PDF). wx4's Dome of Foam. Pacific Electric. September 1, 1934. p. 18. Retrieved September 1, 2021.