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Sawtelle Line

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Sawtelle
Overview
OwnerSouthern Pacific Railroad
LocaleLos Angeles
Termini
Stations17
Service
TypeInterurban
SystemPacific Electric
Operator(s)Pacific Electric
Ridership2,286,461 (1938)[1]
History
Opened1901
ClosedNovember 18, 1940 (1940-11-18)
Technical
Line length10.19 mi (16.40 km)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Old gaugenarrow gauge
ElectrificationOverhead line600 V DC
Route map

Hill Street Station
Subway Terminal
 J   R   S 
 N 
 W 
 P   9 
 J   9 
 W 
 A 
Vermont Avenue
 V 
Berendo Street siding
Western Avenue
3rd Avenue siding
Vineyard
 P 
Rosemary
Genesee
Big Barn
Sherman Junction
Alpers
Beverly Hills
Country Club
Buenos Ayres
High Bridge
Wolfskill
Santa Monica
and Sepulveda
Sawtelle
30th Street
Cambridge
Durham
Santa Monica
Ocean Park
Venice
until
1927
1916
only
Playa del Rey

The Sawtelle Line was an interurban railway route primarily operated by the Pacific Electric Railway that ran between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California. The line was established by the Pasadena and Pacific Railway between 1896 and 1901, with passenger service running until 1940.

History

[edit]

The line was constructed in segments by the Pasadena and Pacific Railway: Beverly Hills to Santa Monica and Santa Monica to Ocean Park in 1896, 4th and Hill Streets, to Beverly Hills in 1897,[2] and finally Ocean Park to Venice in 1901. In 1908 the entire line was converted to standard gauge, with service beginning on May 1.[3] The line came under control of the Pacific Electric in 1911 under the terms of the Great Merger.

When Pacific Electric took over operations, the service went as far as Venice. Cars ran as far as Playa del Rey between May and August 1916. The line was briefly through routed with the Venice Short Line for three months starting in November 1926, creating a loop service. By February 1927, most trips terminated at Santa Monica, with some cars serving the Ocean Park car house.[4] Annual ridership peaked at 2,644,512 trips in 1929.[1]

Service was virtually discontinued after July 7, 1940, as Pacific Electric only ran a single daily car between Vineyard and Beverly Hills to maintain the franchise. Full abandonment occurred on November 18, 1940.[4]

Rails along the line had been removed by 1981.

Route

[edit]
A streetcar running along Santa Monica Boulevard in Sawtelle prior to Pacific Electric taking over the line, c. 1901

The Sawtelle Line followed the Venice Short Line as far as Vineyard Junction. At Vineyard Junction, the Sawtelle Line branched northwesterly. Inside the Vineyard grounds, dual tracks ramped upon fill to join a massive grade separation structure that carried the tracks over Pico Boulevard and down on to an unimproved private way in the center of the twin roadways of San Vicente Boulevard.

Continuing northwesterly, in the center of San Vicente Boulevard the dual tracks crossed the major intersections of La Brea, Hauser, and Olympic Boulevards, Fairfax Avenue, as well as Wilshire and La Cienega Boulevards. Then they continued one block west of La Cienega to Sherman Junction (at Le Doix Road), where the Sherman cut-off branched north (in the middle of San Vicente Boulevard) to Sherman (West Hollywood). From Sherman Junction, the Sawtelle Line turned west into private way, in the center of the twin roadways of Burton Way. Running west, the dual tracks crossed Robertson Boulevard, Doheny Drive, and some of the downtown Beverly Hills Streets to reach the Beverly Hills Station (located adjacent to Santa Monica Boulevard near Beverly Drive).

At the Beverly Hills Station, the Sawtelle Line joined the Hollywood–Venice Line, and both lines were identical from that location to their common terminus at Woodward Avenue in Venice.

This line was one of four lines between Downtown and Santa Monica that did not run through Hollywood. This was the shortest route to Santa Monica.

List of major stops

[edit]
The first Beverly Hills station, c. 1915–1920
The former Ocean Park car barn
Station Mile[4][5] Major connections Date opened Date closed City
Hill Street Station 0 Echo Park Avenue, Glendale–Burbank, Hollywood, Owensmouth, Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey, San Fernando, Sherman, Venice Short Line, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue, Westgate 1905 1955 Los Angeles
Vermont Avenue 2.99 Venice Short Line, Westgate
Los Angeles Railway V
Western Avenue 3.99
Vineyard Junction 5.56 Venice Short Line, Westgate
Los Angeles Railway P
1950
Carthay Center 7.73
Beverly Hills 10.18 Coldwater Canyon, Hollywood, Venice via Hollywood, Westgate 1896 1954 Beverly Hills
Sawtelle 13.36 Venice via Hollywood, Westgate
West Los Angeles (Purdue Avenue) 13.45 Westgate
Brentwood Country Club 15.68
Santa Monica 17.12 Venice via Hollywood, Westgate Santa Monica
Ocean Park (Pier Avenue) 18.49 Venice via Hollywood, Westgate
Venice (Windward Avenue) 19.33 Venice via Hollywood, Venice Short Line, Westgate 1927
Playa Del Rey 21.91 1916 1916

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 "Santa Monica via Sawtelle Line". Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  2. ^ Schwieterman, Joseph P. (2004). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment, Western United States. Kirksville, Missouri: Truman State University Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-1-931112-13-0.
  3. ^ "Falls and breaks arm". Los Angeles Times. May 2, 1908. p. 20. Retrieved July 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  4. ^ a b c 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. 82, 118. ASIN B0007F8D84. OCLC 6565577.
  5. ^ "Pacific Electric Time Tables" (PDF). wx4's Dome of Foam. Pacific Electric. September 1, 1934. p. 18. Retrieved September 1, 2021.