Redlands Central Railway Company Car Barn
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The Redlands Central Railway Company car barn is a historic
car barn A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...
located at 746 East Citrus Avenue in Redlands,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States. The building was used to house
electric railway A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...
cars, first for the Redlands Central Railway and later for 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 is the only extant Pacific Electric car barn, and one of only two trolley barns remaining in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
.


History

The Redlands Central Railway was formed in 1907 by Henry and John H. Fisher, and its car barn was built the same year; it served a line along Citrus and Brookside Avenues in Redlands. The company merged with the San Bernardino Valley Traction Company (SBVT) in 1908, and its car barn became a secondary barn for the consolidated system. In 1911, the SBVT merged into the Pacific Electric (PE) Railway, Southern California's sprawling electric
streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
network. The car barn was used intermittently by the Pacific Electric for the next two decades; Pacific Electric's
Redlands Line The Redlands Line is a former Pacific Electric interurban railway line in the Inland Empire. The route provided suburban service between San Bernardino, California, San Bernardino and Redlands, California, Redlands. History Constructed by the ...
mainly used the larger SBVT barn. In 1926, the barn was officially no longer being used. It went out of service when the Citrus and Brookside Avenue line was converted to bus service. PE and its successors leased the barn to various businesses until its sale in 1987. The city of Redlands purchased the barn to save it from demolition, but could not afford renovations. The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on January 3, 1991. In 1994, the barn was sold by the city. It now houses an
automobile repair shop An automobile repair shop (also known regionally as a garage or a workshop) is an establishment where automobiles are repaired by auto mechanics and technicians. Types Automotive garages and repair shops can be divided into following categor ...
; the shop purchased the barn in 1999.


See also

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Streetcars in Redlands Streetcars in Redlands transported people across the city and region from 1889 until 1936. The city's network of street railways peaked around 1908 before the patchwork of separate companies was consolidated under the Pacific Electric. Mule cars ...


References

Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in California Mission Revival architecture in California National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California Buildings and structures in Redlands, California Pacific Electric infrastructure Railway buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures completed in 1907 Public transportation in San Bernardino County, California Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in California History of Redlands, California Transportation buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California {{California-struct-stub