Redondo Junction, California is the site of an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

maintenance facility. It is located south of

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, ...

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

, southwest of

Boyle Heights Boyle may refer to: Places United States * Boyle, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Boyle, Mississippi, a town *Boyle County, Kentucky *Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, a neighborhood Elsewhere * Boyle (crater), a lunar crater * 11967 Boyle, ...

near Washington Boulevard and 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 ...

. Redondo Junction services Amtrak's long distance trains: ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

'', ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...

'', ''

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 thr ...

'' and ''

Texas Eagle The ''Texas Eagle'' is a long-distance passenger train operated daily by Amtrak on a route between Chicago, Illinois, and San Antonio, Texas, with major stops in St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin. Three days per week, t ...

'', and the

regional train Regional rail is a public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connecting smaller cities a ...

the ''

Pacific Surfliner The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is Amtrak's third-busiest service (exceeded in ridership only ...

''.

Wikimapia Redondo Junction roundhouse aerial

History

Excerpt from SOIL MAP Mesmer 1903 Los Angeles County California 01

California Central Railway - Santa Fe 1888 map

The

California Central Railway The California Central Railway was incorporated on April 23, 1887, with headquarters in San Bernardino, California. George O. Manchester was the President of the corporation. At its peak it operated of rail line with 14 steam locomotives, 14 ...

built and ran a 13-mile line from

Port Ballona Port Ballona is an archaic place name for an area near the center of Santa Monica Bay in coastal Los Angeles County, where Playa Del Rey and Del Rey Lagoon are located today. Port Ballona was a planned harbor and town site from circa 1859 to 1 ...

(what is now

Playa del Rey, Los Angeles Playa del Rey (Spanish language, Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside neighborhood on the westside of Los Angeles in the Santa Monica Bay region of Los Angeles County, California. It has a ZIP Code of 90293 and area codes 310 and 424, ...

) to Redondo Junction. The line opened in September 1887. Redondo Junction became a major train maintenance facility. The California Central Railway ran a line from Redondo Junction to

La Grande Station La Grande Station was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (Santa Fe) main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, California from 1893 until the opening of Union Station in 1939. The station was located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Avenue on t ...

. The Redondo Beach Railway also connected to Redondo Junction. The Redondo Beach Railway was incorporated in April 1888, Henry E. Huntington controlled and owned much of the Redondo Beach Railway. The Redondo Beach Railway line started operations on September 1, 1888. The California Central Railway operated on, but did not own the Railway. This line ran from

Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent beach cities along the southern portion of Santa Mo ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

. In 1890, the

Hotel Redondo Hotel Redondo was a hotel in Redondo Beach, California, that opened in 1890 and was demolished in 1925. The hotel, which had 225 rooms in three stories, was built in a High Victorian style. Construction cost approximately $500,000. At the ti ...

opened. The rail line helped make Redondo "the place" for tourists. The first train ran on April 16, 1888, from Inglewood to downtown Los Angeles on California Central Railway tracks through Redondo Junction. The California Central Railway completed a line started by the San Bernardino and San Diego Railway. The line ran from Redondo Junction to

Orange 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 ...

and continued to

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (also known colloquially as San Juan or SJC) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 Census. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano was founded ...

and then to

Oceanside Oceanside may refer to: Places United States *Oceanside, California ** Oceanside Transit Center *Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempst ...

and

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The

still runs on this line from San Diego to Santa Ana. On November 7, 1889, California Central Railway was consolidated into the

Southern California Railway Southern California Railway was formed on November 7, 1889. It was formed by consolidation of California Southern Railroad Company, the California Central Railway Company, and the Redondo Beach Railway Company. A second consolidation and reformi ...

Company. On June 30, 1888, it started operations as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of 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 ...

. In 1914 Santa Fe built a 25-track roundhouse there to service trains. The

railway turntable A railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device for turning railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, to face a different direction. It is especially used in areas where economic considerations or a lack of sufficient space have served to weig ...

was a through plate girder design. The Redondo Junction train wreck came on January 22, 1956. It was a deadly wreck involving the Santa Fe RDCs. It was the first major disaster in the Los Angeles area covered on live television, and the worst train wreck in the city's history. The train comprised two RDCs (

Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC), also known as the Budd car or Buddliner, is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars ...

s) which ran two return trips daily on the '' San Diegan'' (train numbers 80-83) between the more conventional

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...

s. The RDCs overturned on a sharp curve near the tower, killing 30 and injuring 117. Redondo Junction was sold to Amtrak in January 1977. In May 1999, Amtrak built new facilities just north of the 1914 roundhouse. The 1914 roundhouse was demolished in August 2000 to make space for a future servicing area. The railway turntable is still on the site.

Redondo Junction project

In 2002 the Redondo Junction project was completed. The project separates passenger rail from freight rail by elevating Amtrak and Metrolink railroad lines over the

Alameda Corridor The Alameda Corridor is a freight rail "expressway" owned by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority that connects the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with the transcontinental mainlines of the BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Rail ...

in Los Angeles at Redondo Junction.

References

Sources

* ICCbr>Report No.3675
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904131724/http://budd-rdc.org/articles/atsf-dc191.html , date=2014-09-04

Rail yards in California South Los Angeles Transportation in Los Angeles Amtrak facilities Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Rail junctions in the United States

History

Redondo Junction project

See also

References

Sources