The Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line was a

heritage streetcar Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...

line for public transit along the waterfront in San Pedro, at the Port of Los Angeles in

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

. The line operated between July 2003 and September 2015, when service was discontinued due to major construction projects that resulted in the demolition of a portion of the route.

Route

The route ran south over a former

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 ...

right-of-way from the World Cruise Centre cruise ship terminal under the

Vincent Thomas Bridge The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a suspension bridge, crossing Los Angeles Harbor in Los Angeles, California, linking San Pedro with Terminal Island. It is the only suspension bridge in the Greater Los Angeles area. The bridge is part of State R ...

to the intersection of 22nd Street and Miner Street, with intermediate stops at Downtown San Pedro, the Maritime Museum, and the

Ports O' Call Village Ports O’ Call Village, located along the Port of Los Angeles main channel in San Pedro, was a seaside plaza that featured souvenir and gift shops, along with restaurants, sweetshops, fish markets and quick-bite eateries. This New England-style ...

. The service operated three days a week (Friday to Sunday) with occasional service on other weekdays depending on passenger ship landings.

History

The Pacific Electric Railway Red Car system operated for over 60 years (the final line closed in 1961), with more than of tramway routes throughout

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

and the surrounding cities and counties. The heritage streetcar line opened for service in July 19, 2003 with a construction cost of $10 million ($ in adjusted for inflation). The Waterfront Red Cars were supplemented by two shuttle bus lines. The Blue line serves downtown San Pedro and Ports O' Call village, whereas the Green line serves the harbor and marina.

Shutdown

Future extensions to

Cabrillo Beach Cabrillo Beach is a historic public beach located in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. It is named after Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer who was the first to sail up the California coast. Cabrillo has two separate beach areas. ...

, Harbour Park, the new cruise ship terminal at Berth 46, Pacific Avenue, and Warehouse 1 were initially under consideration. In April 2010, a new feasibility report was released, with the first priority to switch much of the existing line to

street-running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as ru ...

tramway track Tramway track is used on tramways or light rail operations. Grooved rails (or girder rails) are often used to provide a protective flangeway in the trackwork in city streets. Like standard rail tracks, tram tracks consist of two parallel s ...

on Sampson Way. In 2015 it was announced the Waterfront Red Car Line would be closed for 18 months, with service ceasing in late September 2015, to make way for the realignment of Sampson Way leading into Ports O’ Call Village. Because the street realignment cuts through the southern part of the line, it would require a new track and modified, street-level cars running parallel to the new Sampson Way, estimated to cost $40 million. Port officials eventually concluded that such reconstruction would be cost prohibitive. Waterfront Red Car Line service ended on September 27, 2015. Development plans for San Pedro's Ports O' Call previously announced in March 2016 included the resumption of Waterfront Red Car service; no date for the restoration of the Red Cars was included in the announcement. By 2021, tracks south of 6th Street had been removed and the Harbor Department had no plans to reinstate service.

Rolling stock

The Waterfront Red Cars comprised three tram cars in the style of the originals. Two of the three Red Cars — the replica cars, numbers 500 and 501 — were built from scratch by employees of the port of Los Angeles; the interiors were cooled using the same clerestory-style windows as the original 500-class Red Cars (“The Fives”). The third car, No. #1058, was a vintage Pacific Electric 950-class car, having been assembled from two wrecked 950-class cars by Richard J. Fellows. It was restored for parades, movies, and the like, and then cleverly converted to be steered with the original throttle as a tiller and braked by the original brake handle; the original dead man pedal operated the gasoline engine throttle, which powered the rubber tires. The Port of Los Angeles bought the car and converted it back for rail operation as a charter service. The replica cars were planned to be reused again when the line reopened, but they would have been modified to run on light rail tracks.

References

External links

Port of Los Angeles.org: Official Waterfront Red Car Line website
– via the

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