La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda Line was a

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned Public transport, mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electr ...

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 ...

line which traveled between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and Yorba Linda. Passenger services ran between 1911 and 1938. Initial plans were for the route to continue further east to form a second main line between Los Angeles and San Bernardino, though these would go unfulfilled. After passenger service ended, much of the route was retained for freight service, eventually becoming the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

La Habra Subdivision.

History

Construction on the line began under the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Electric Railway between 1906 and 1908 with Pacific Electric assuming control and completing the line between 1909 and 1911. The route was not originally intended to start passenger service until a connection to

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus or disease responsible for the COVID-19 ...

was complete. Despite that, the line opened as a branch of the

Whittier Line The Whittier Line was a Pacific Electric 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 "interurba ...

by 1911 with service reaching Stern on November 12. Service beyond Yorba Linda was abandoned after August 1, 1930. The route ceased service after January 22, 1938, due to low ridership. The rails through Yorba Linda were removed in 1951, though much of the route remains in service for freight trains. The line between Slauson and Los Nietos forms the

La Habra Subdivision, and the segment east of there is an

industrial spur A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

which continues as far as Brea. The

Southeast Gateway Line The Southeast Gateway Line (formerly the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor) is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric's historic West Santa Ana Branch, connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the city of Artesia, alo ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

project is expected to use a section of the line between Slauson and the former

Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad The Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad was a rail company in California, Nevada, and Utah in the United States, that completed and operated a railway line between its namesake cities (Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California), via Las ...

right of way.

Route

The La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda Line 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 s ...

from Los Angeles south to Slauson Junction (south of Slauson Boulevard) where it branched off in an easterly direction to Whittier and Yorba Linda. From there, the double track line ran easterly, in private way between dual roadways of Randolph Street, through Huntington Park, Vernon, Bell, and Maywood to reach the

Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...

. Crossing the river, the double track in private way followed intermittent sections of Randolph Street through Bell Gardens and Commerce, and crossed the Rio Hondo south of Slauson Avenue. The line continued easterly, south and parallel to, Slauson Avenue. Across the Pico Rivera area and the San Gabriel River into Los Nietos, where the line crossed the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

Third District main line (Los Nietos) at Norwalk Boulevard. The single track La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda Line branched easterly in private way off the

at Los Nietos, crossed Norwalk Boulevard and went through Whittier at the south edge of the city limits. After crossing Mills Avenue the track ran adjacent to and north of Lambert Road until crossing 1st Street. Here the line turned easterly through La Habra to Laon Junction (3rd Avenue at College Street), where the single track

Fullerton Line The Fullerton Line was an interurban route of the Pacific Electric Railway. It ran between Downtown Los Angeles and Fullerton, California. It opened in 1917 and hosted passenger service until 1938; the line was retained for freight for some time ...

branched to the south. After crossing Harbor Boulevard the line turned southeasterly still in private way crossed Puente Avenue in Brea, then turned easterly to run through Brea north of the

Imperial Highway The Imperial Highway is a west-east thoroughfare in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial in the U.S. state of California. The main portion of the existing route begins at Vista Del Mar in Los Angeles near t ...

. The line then turned southeasterly (where the

Orange Freeway Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

now crosses over the track) and crossed the Imperial Highway west of Valencia Avenue and ran through Yorba Linda just south of and parallel to Imperial Highway to the terminus at Yorba Linda Boulevard. Prior to 1930, the line continued further southeast to an area known as Stern, located near the present interchange of Imperial Highway and Kellogg Drive.

Unbuilt connection to Corona

Henry E. Huntington, owner of the Pacific Electric, intended to connect the Whittier Line to the Arlington–Corona Line via Stern and the

Santa Ana Canyon Santa Ana Canyon (), or the Santa Ana Narrows, is the water gap where the Santa Ana River passes between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Chino Hills, near the intersection of Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, California. It rece ...

. After the Great Merger of 1911, surveys were carried out to establish two routes through the canyon — one on each side of the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...

List of major stations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Habra-Fullerton-Yorba Linda Line Pacific Electric routes 1911 establishments in California Railway lines opened in 1911 1938 disestablishments in California Railway lines closed in 1938 Closed railway lines in the United States