The Alhambra–San Gabriel Line was a

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

line which traveled between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and Temple City.

History

The line was built by the Los Angeles & Pasadena Electric Railway starting in October 1901; it was the first standard gauge interurban railway in Southern California. It opened on June 21, 1902 running between Los Angeles General Hospital and the San Gabriel Mission, soon extended to the Masonic Home. The service became a part of the Pacific Electric system by 1911, terminating at the Pacific Electric Building. Tracks were extended to Temple City on July 29, 1924. Cars began bypassing the Mission in 1928. The last trips occurred on November 30, 1941. After passenger service ended, tracks were retained for freight until removed in 1951.

Route

Between the 6th & Main Terminal and Sierra Vista Junction, the line followed the Northern District main line. At Sierra Vista Junction (where Huntington Drive and Main Street meet near the western border of Alhambra), the line diverged due east along the median of Main Street, continuing down Main through Alhambra (with a freight spur running south on Palm Avenue to the Southern Pacific's Alhambra depot on Mission Road), into San Gabriel (where Main Street becomes Las Tunas Drive) and finally into Temple City, where the line had an off-street terminal at the northeast corner of Las Tunas Drive and Kauffman Avenue. Additionally, there was a branch that turned south on Mission Drive in San Gabriel, passed along the southern edge of

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," Septemb ...

, then turned north on Junipero Serra Drive before rejoining the main line at Junipero Serra and Las Tunas drives.

List of major stations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alhambra-San Gabriel Line Pacific Electric routes Alhambra, California San Gabriel, California Railway services introduced in 1902 1902 establishments in California Railway services discontinued in 1941 Railway lines closed in 1951 1951 disestablishments in California Closed railway lines in the United States