The Alhambra–San Gabriel Line was a Pacific Electric

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 a ...

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 world' ...

and

Temple City Temple City, officially the City of Temple City, is a city in Los Angeles County, California located northeast of downtown Los Angeles and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Temple City is part of a cluster of cities, along with Pasadena ...

History

The line was built by the Los Angeles & Pasadena Electric Railway starting in October 1901; it was the first

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

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 The historic Pacific Electric Building (also known as the Huntington Building, after the railway’s founder, Henry Huntington, or simply “6th & Main”), opened in 1905 in the core of Los Angeles as the main train station for the Pacific Elec ...

. 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 The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

'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," September ...

, 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