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San Fernando Line

Route map:
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San Fernando
First car over Cahuenga Pass, December 16, 1911
Overview
OwnerSouthern Pacific Railroad
LocaleSouthern California
Termini
Stations36
Service
TypeInterurban
SystemPacific Electric
Operator(s)Pacific Electric
Rolling stockPE 5050 Class Hollywood Cars (last used)
History
OpenedMarch 22, 1913
ClosedJune 1, 1938 (to San Fernando)
December 28, 1952 (to Van Nuys)
Technical
Line length27.5 mi (44.3 km)
Number of tracks1–2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
ElectrificationOverhead line600 V DC
Route map

27.47
San Fernando
San Fernando Mission
Wheeler
Hickson
23.81
Plummer
Misslanco
22.81
Mission Acres
Pacoima Wash
Midway Park
Wyondotte
Whitsert
Rosita
Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Amherst
19.89
North Sherman Way
terminus
after 1938
19.11
Van Nuys
17.72
Circle Drive
Castro
Cortez
16.17
Kester Junction
Tujunga Wash
Garnsey
Sadler
Eucalyptus
14.17
North Hollywood
Hoffman
11.59
Rio Vista (Los Nogales)
11.10
Universal City
Oak Crest
9.99
Barham Boulevard
Hollywood Park
Dusky Glen
8.65
Cahuenga Pass
7.84
Highland & Hollywood
7.09
Highland & Santa Monica
Colegrove
Virgil Avenue
 L 
Sunset Junction
0
Subway Terminal

The San Fernando Line was a part of the Pacific Electric Railway system in Los Angeles County, California. It was designed to increase the reach of public transportation from the Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood into the San Fernando Valley, to support land speculation and development expanding Los Angeles.

History

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Southern San Fernando Valley line

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Beginning in 1911, a 20-mile (32 km) interurban electric railway was built from Lankershim (present day North Hollywood), the terminus of an existing line from over the Cahuenga Pass from Hollywood, westward through the entire southern San Fernando Valley property of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company syndicate, to promote and support small farm and residential property sales. The syndicate was led by Harry Chandler, with partners General Moses Sherman, Isaac Van Nuys, Hobart Johnstone Whitley, and James Boon Lankershim. The project was initiated in anticipation of the Los Angeles aqueduct opening in 1913, which would bring water for residential and irrigated agricultural development in the syndicate's San Fernando Valley holdings (and citywide). The syndicate is the Los Angeles land speculation group dramatized in the movie Chinatown.

The partner General Moses Sherman directed the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad electric railway line's construction. It ran from Lankershim to the three new towns the syndicate's partner Hobart Johnstone Whitley had planned for the valley, Van Nuys, Marion (present day Reseda), and Owensmouth (present day Canoga Park and West Hills). Tracks ran in the middle of Sherman Way, a broad, landscaped, and paved avenue to the Owensmouth terminus.

Northern San Fernando Valley spur

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In addition, the San Fernando Mission Land Company of Charles Maclay and George K. Porter, which owned much of the northern San Fernando Valley (north of Roscoe Boulevard), began construction of an electric railway spur line north from Van Nuys, to connect their undeveloped land and the City of San Fernando with the Pacific Electric system. Pacific Electric would eventually take over and finish construction of this line.[1] Service began on March 22, 1913 as a shuttle between San Fernando and Van Nuys,[2] but through service to Los Angeles probably began by that July.[3] From San Fernando, the southbound route followed Brand Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Parthenia Place, and then Van Nuys Boulevard from present day Panorama City to Van Nuys. Remnants of the right of way include center medians on Brand Boulevard, and roundabouts at the Parthenia Place and Sherman Circle/Van Nuys Boulevard turns.

Later development

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Cars were rerouted from the surface to the Hollywood Subway beginning on February 7, 1926.[3]

Postcard depicting the private right of way in the Hollywood Freeway median strip (right of center frame), c. 1940

The route originally navigated the Cahuenga Pass in its own right of way on the west side of the state highway. When the Hollywood Freeway was built, the line was relocated to the freeway's median strip.[4] Services were truncated to North Sherman Way on June 1, 1938,[5][6] and finally replaced by buses on December 28, 1952.[7]

A survey conducted by Caltrans in 1981 reported that almost all of the line had either been removed or paved over for street use.[4]

Redevelopment

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Part of the planned East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project is expected to reactivate much of the Van Nuys Boulevard corridor for use as a light rail line. Trains will run between the Van Nuys G Line station at the former Southern Pacific right of way and continue north on Van Nuys past the curve where the San Fernando continued operation on Parthenia Street.

Stations

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Station Mile[8] Major connections Date opened Date closed City
San Fernando 27.47 1913 1938 San Fernando
Plummer 23.81 1938
Mission Acres 22.81 1938
North Sherman Way 19.89 Owensmouth 1911 1952 Van Nuys
Van Nuys 19.11 Owensmouth 1911 1952
Circle Drive 17.72 Owensmouth
Kester (Ethel Avenue) 16.17 Owensmouth
Lankershim
(later North Hollywood)
14.17 Owensmouth 1902 1952 North Hollywood
Rio Vista 11.59 Owensmouth
Universal City 11.10 Owensmouth
Barnham Boulevard 9.99 Owensmouth
Cahuenga Pass 8.65 Owensmouth 1902 1952
Highland & Hollywood 7.84 Hollywood, Owensmouth, Venice via Hollywood 1902 1955 Los Angeles
Highland & Santa Monica 7.09 Owensmouth, South Hollywood–Sherman
Colegrove Owensmouth, South Hollywood–Sherman 1902 1955
Virgil Avenue Owensmouth, South Hollywood–Sherman, Western and Franklin Avenue 1902 1955
Sunset Junction Hollywood, Owensmouth, South Hollywood–Sherman, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue 1902 1955
Subway Terminal Building 0 Echo Park Avenue, Glendale–Burbank, Hollywood, Owensmouth, Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey, Sawtelle, South Hollywood–Sherman, Venice Short Line, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue, Westgate 1925 1955

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New line will be rushed". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. April 5, 1912. p. 1. Retrieved December 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  2. ^ "Steel ribbons across valley". The Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1913. p. 17. Retrieved November 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  3. ^ a b Veysey 1958, p. 43
  4. ^ a b "1981 Inventory of Pacific Electric Routes" (PDF). Caltrans. February 1982. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  5. ^ "Modernized Transportation Service in Valley About June 1". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. April 25, 1938. p. 1. Retrieved November 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  6. ^ "Improved Cars Now in Service". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. June 2, 1938. p. 1. Retrieved November 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  7. ^ "San Fernando Valley Line". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Pacific Electric Time Tables" (PDF). wx4's Dome of Foam. Pacific Electric. September 1, 1934. p. 28. Retrieved September 1, 2021.

Bibliography

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