Pasadena Subdivision

Pasadena Subdivision
119.3 Los Angeles Metro Rail A Line 119.2 118.7 MillerCoors Brewery (closed) UP Azusa Industrial Lead 118.2 Irwindale I-210 116.9 Azusa Downtown APU/Citrus College 114.4 Glendora I-210 SR 57 110.2 San Dimas San Gabriel Subdivision 107.9 La Verne 106.7 Pomona–North 105.6 CP Cambridge San Gabriel Subdivision

The Pasadena Subdivision is the remnant branch line of the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) Los Angeles Second District. The line currently branches off of the Metrolink San Bernardino line at CP Cambridge in Claremont. The line follows a generally east–west alignment, passed 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 Metro L Line. Recent construction, known as the Foothill Gold Line Extension Phase 2B, as seen the tracks out of service west of San Dimas for most of 2021.

History

The line was originally built by the Los Angeles & San Gabriel Valley Railroad (LA&SGV) in 1885. LA&SGV was sold and consolidated on May 20, 1887 into the California Central Railway. In 1889 this was consolidated into Southern California Railway Company. On January 17, 1906, the Southern California Railway was sold to AT&SF.

Coupled with the San Bernardino and Los Angeles Railroad it now was assigned as the Second District of the ATSF Los Angeles Division. At one point this line hosted up to 26 passenger trains each day, including the famed Super Chief and El Capitan. Priority ATSF freight trains also used the line, usually westbounds, as well as local freight along the corridor.

The line hosted the Desert Wind until 1986, and continued to serve the San Gabriel Valley and host the Southwest Chief until 1994, when the 1994 Northridge earthquake damaged the bridge over the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210 in Arcadia. The closure of the route forced Amtrak to terminate service into Pasadena, and reroute the Southwest Chief through Orange County instead. In the late 1990s construction of the Gold Line began on various sections of the former subdivision along the 210 freeway, with service commencing on July 26, 2003.

In 2013 reconstruction along the former roadbed from Sierra Madre Villa to Azusa began with the Gold Line Foothill Extension, and was completed in late 2015. The line currently terminates at APU/Citrus College Station, one mile (1.6 km) past the site of the former Azusa Station; service started on March 5, 2016. The final planned phase of the light rail line's buildout will complete the reinstatement of passenger service along the corridor, though dedicated freight tracks will remain.

See also

• L Line (Los Angeles Metro)
• Gold Line Foothill Extension
• Metrolink (California)
• San Bernardino Line
• Desert Wind
• Southwest Chief

References

• Lund, Ann Scheid. Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-1893619012.
• Hoyt, Franklyn (August 1951). "The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad". Pacific Historical Review (20): 227–239.
• California History, VOLUME LXVII NO. 1-4 1988, CONTENTS, California Historical Society SAN FRANCISCO • LOS ANGELES • SAN MARINO, NUMBER 1— MARCH 1988

External links

• railgiants.org, Santa Fe Station, Arcadia CA, circa 1887
• Abandon Rail Line, The Second District of the AT&SF
• monroviacc.com, Monrovia at 125: “Trees, Trains, Troubles, and Triumphs.” By Steve Baker
• Digital Library Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad Depot at Alison Street and Anderson Street, Los Angeles, 1884
• Photo, Stock in Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad
• History of Pomona Valley, California, with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the Valley Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present, HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY ,LOS ANGELES, CAL. 1920
• LA Mag., CityDig: Monrovia's 1887 Real Estate Bubble 2/12/2014 by Glen Creason