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Pasadena via Oak Knoll Line

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Pasadena via Oak Knoll
Overview
OwnerSouthern Pacific Railroad
Line number1
LocaleSouthern California
Termini
Stations19
Service
TypeInterurban
SystemPacific Electric
Operator(s)Pacific Electric
Rolling stockPE 1100 Class (last used)
Daily ridership7,693 (last counting)
History
Opened1906
ClosedDecember 28, 1950 (1950-12-28)
Technical
Line length13.8 mi (22.2 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification600 V DC Overhead lines
Route map

Pasadena
Colorado and Lake
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 Pasadena via Oak Knoll Line was an interurban route of the Pacific Electric Railway. It operated from 1906 until 1950, between Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Pasadena, California. Cars ran as far as Altadena during rush hours.

History

The Wentworth Hotel, later the Huntington Hotel

The route was originally built in 1906[1] to reach the Wentworth Hotel (later Huntington Hotel) in Oak Knoll from El Molino and was thusly known as the Wentworth Line, a designation it retained for some time.[2] It tied into the Monrovia–Glendora Line. The routing through Pasadena was changed in 1913 to Lake Avenue, Colorado Street, Raymond Avenue, and through the car house on Fair Oaks Avenue.[3] A further rerouting in downtown Los Angeles occurred on December 3, 1916. The outbound terminus was changed for all trips to Altadena between October 1928 and May 1929. The routing was reverted after that, but rear cars of a few rush hour trains continued until January 18, 1941.[3]

Congestion at the Pacific Electric Building during World War II forced Oak Knoll Line trains to utilize a loop route around Downtown instead of running directly to the terminal building starting in July 1943. Trains would continue to run to the Main Street Terminal every New Years Day to serve passengers traveling to the Tournament of Roses Parade. The loop line was discontinued on October 5, 1947.[3]

Service was largely discontinued after October 8, 1950 with a single round trip operating between Pasadena and El Molino to maintain the franchise. This ended after December 28.[3][4] It was the second to last Pacific Electric line to be decommissioned in Pasadena, and was the last line to run along Colorado Boulevard.[2]

By 1981, the tracks along the entirety of the route had been removed.

Route

The line followed the Monrovia–Glendora Line to the end of the quadruple-track system at El Molino Junction. From that point (at Huntington Drive), two tracks in a private right of way ran northerly on Oak Knoll Avenue to the Huntington Hotel. At this point, the line proceeded north in the pavement of city streets, running on Oak Knoll Avenue and South Lake Avenue as far as Colorado Street. It then turned west and ran on Colorado Street through the Pasadena business district to Fair Oaks Avenue. Here, the line turned north and ran on Fair Oaks Avenue several blocks to the terminus of the route at the North Fair Oaks Carhouse.

List of major stations

Station Mile[5] Major connections Date opened Date closed City
Pasadena 13.88 East California, East Orange Grove, East Washington, Lamanda Park, Lincoln, Mount Lowe, North Fair Oaks, North Lake, Pasadena Short Line, West California, West Colorado and Orange Grove 1902 1950 Pasadena
El Molino 10.11 Monrovia–Glendora, Sierra Madre 1902 1950 San Marino
Oneonta Park[6] 8.56 Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Shorb, Sierra Madre 1901 1951 South Pasadena
Sierra Vista 7.65 Alhambra–San Gabriel, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Shorb, Sierra Madre 1901 1951 Alhambra
Covina Junction Alhambra–San Gabriel, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, Sierra Madre, Upland–San Bernardino 1901 1951 Los Angeles
Echandia Junction Alhambra–San Gabriel, Annandale, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena Local, Upland–San Bernardino 1895 1951
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, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, San Pedro via Dominguez, San Pedro via Gardena, Santa Ana, Santa Monica Air Line, Sierra Madre, 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. ^ Hilton, George W.; Due, John F. (2000) [1960]. The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 409. ISBN 0-8047-4014-3.
  2. ^ a b "Pasadena Oak Knoll Line". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  3. ^ 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. pp. 47, 48. ASIN B0007F8D84. OCLC 6565577.
  4. ^ "Sierra Madre Rail Service Ends Officially". Daily News-Post. December 28, 1950. p. 7. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  5. ^ "Pacific Electric Time Tables" (PDF). wx4's Dome of Foam. Pacific Electric. September 1, 1934. p. 13. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  6. ^ "Pasadena History: Oneonta Park station". San Gabriel Valley Tribune. February 7, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2021.