The Pasadena via Oak Knoll Line was a United States

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

route of the

Pacific Electric Railway 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 ...

. It operated from 1906 until 1950, between

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

and

Downtown Pasadena Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or simply Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter-day revitalization after a period of decay. Old Pasadena began as th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Cars ran as far as

Altadena Altadena () is an unincorporated area, and census-designated place in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of Los Angeles County, California. Directly north of Pasadena, it is located approximately from Downtown Los Angeles. Its po ...

during rush hours.

History

The route was originally built in 1906 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. It tied into the

Monrovia–Glendora Line The Monrovia–Glendora Line was a route on the Pacific Electric Railway serving the San Gabriel Valley. It operated from 1902 to 1951, supporting nearby real estate development. History The route was established in 1902. Passenger service at ...

. The routing through Pasadena was changed in 1913 to Lake Avenue, Colorado Street, Raymond Avenue, and through the car house on Fair Oaks Avenue. 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. Congestion at the

Pacific Electric Building The historic Pacific Electric Building (also known as the Huntington Building, after the railway’s founder, Henry E. Huntington, Henry Huntington, or simply 6th & Main), opened in 1905 in the Historic Core, Los Angeles, core of Los Angeles as ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. The loop line was discontinued on October 5, 1947. 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. It was the second to last Pacific Electric line to be decommissioned in Pasadena, and was the last line to run along

Colorado Boulevard Colorado Boulevard (or Colorado Street in Glendale, California, Glendale and parts of Arcadia, California, Arcadia) is a major east–west street in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Griffith Park in Los Angeles east ...

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

Route

The line followed the

to the end of the quadruple-track system at El Molino Junction. From that point (at Huntington Drive between Oak Knoll Avenue and Chelsea Road), two tracks turned north on private right of way, crossing Monterey Road and Old Mill Road before turning west toward the Huntington Hotel. At this point, the line proceeded north in the pavement of city streets, running on Oak Knoll Avenue (with a short section of private right of way between Canon Drive and Arden Road that passed to the north of Oak Knoll Circle's meandering curves) 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

References

External links

Last run to Pasadena (photograph)
Pacific Electric routes History of Pasadena, California History of Los Angeles County, California Light rail in California Railway lines opened in 1906 1906 establishments in California Railway services discontinued in 1950 1950 disestablishments in California Closed railway lines in the United States {{California-transport-stub