San Pedro via Gardena (also known as San Pedro via Torrance) was an

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 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 ...

. This was the railway's original route to San Pedro. The line was essential in the establishment of light industry in Torrance. The route closely paralleled the present-day

Harbor Transitway The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Downtown L ...

History

California Pacific, a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Traction Company, began interurban service to San Pedro over a narrow-gauge line in 1903. By 1908, Los Angeles Inter-Urban's San Pedro Line linked downtown Los Angeles to San Pedro, starting at Main and 3rd and running on 3rd, Hill, 16th, Burlington, Hoover, 24th, Vermont, then on a largely private right of way to San Pedro. Pacific Electric assumed control of the railroad in 1911; the tracks north of Delta Juncion were turned over to the

Los Angeles Railway The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent loc ...

and became part of the F line. The route was converted to

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 ...

(with some cutoffs made), and began operations on March 19, 1912. Cars also reached Torrance that year. Trips initially ran between Delta and San Pedro. The Carson Cutoff had largely fallen into disuse for passenger service by 1917. Through service to Los Angeles via the

Watts Line The Watts Line was a local line of the Pacific Electric Railway that operated between the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the Watts Station at 103rd Street in Watts. It was the primary local service for the Southern District, ...

was established by 1921 (though could have occurred as early as 1918). This supplanted the need for the Torrance via Athens service, which was discontinued. Commencement of the

San Pedro via Dominguez Line San Pedro via Dominguez was a interurban transport route, part of the Pacific Electric system in Greater Los Angeles. Its termini were the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown Los Angeles and San Pedro in the south. History Engineering studi ...

had steadily eroded ridership on the line. Through service north of Hermosillo was discontinued February 26, 1939 and service to San Pedro was heavily curtailed. The line south of Torrance was reduced to a single round trip to Harbor City in 1939, and passenger service was fully discontinued the following January. The remainder of the line has become the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

Torrance Branch.

Route

The line originated at the 6th and Main Street Station in Los Angeles and followed the

Long Beach Line The Long Beach Line was a major interurban railway operated by the Pacific Electric Railway between Los Angeles and Long Beach, California via Florence, Watts, and Compton. Service began in 1902 and lasted until 1961, the last line of the syste ...

to Watts Junction, then the

Redondo Beach via Gardena Line Redondo via Gardena was a line of the Pacific Electric Railway. One of two routes to Redondo Beach, this one was faster than the Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey Line as a result of its routing along the quadruple-tracked Watts main line. Hist ...

To South Los Angeles, and then the Hawthorne–El Segundo Line to Delta (Vermont Avenue at 117th Street). The line was entirely single track in private right of way from South Los Angeles to San Pedro. The line turned south at Delta into the private right of way between the dual roadways of

Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length betwe ...

and ran to Strawberry Park (at Compton Boulevard). From Strawberry Park the line followed the

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

Redondo Beach via Gardena Line south on Vermont Avenue, then turned west adjacent to 116th Street to Hermosillo (at Normandie Avenue). From Hermosillo the San Pedro via Gardena Line turned south, crossed Normandie Avenue and entered private way on the west side of Normandie Avenue. The line ran south to Dolanco Junction (Del Amo Boulevard) where the Torrance loop line branched to the southwest. The line continued south to Ocean Avenue (228th Street) where the Torrance loop line rejoined the main line. The line continued south, crossed Sepulveda Boulevard, Pacific Coast Highway, and then turned to the southeast as it crossed the intersection of Gaffy Street and Anaheim Street where Normandie Avenue ended. After crossing Anaheim Street, the line turned southerly and ran on the east edge of Gaffey Street, then crossed Wilmington Road and joined the

(West Basin Line) to run to San Pedro.

List of major stations

References

Pacific Electric routes History of Los Angeles History of Los Angeles County, California Railway lines opened in 1903 1903 establishments in California Railway lines closed in 1940 1940 disestablishments in California Closed railway lines in the United States {{California-transport-stub