Riverside–Arlington Line
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The Riverside–Arlington Line is a former
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 railway 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 in the
Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...
. The route provided suburban service between
San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...
and
Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...
with a later extension 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 ...
. It operated between 1893 and 1943.


History

The line was built by the Riverside & Arlington Railway Company in 1893, running between Riverside and Arlington. The route was electrified in 1899; the first car ran on April 5 with the opening gala on April 11. The Riverside & Arlington was sold to the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Electric Railway in 1904 before the route was folded into the
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 ...
system in 1911. On October 20, 1914, the route through Riverside was simplified to only run down Main Street. The extension to Corona opened February 17, 1915. On July 7, 1924, the Riverside–Arlington Line and Arlington–Corona Line services were split, explained as a measure to allow
Birney A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastruc ...
cars on the Corona section as a power saving measure. The following week, the Arlington terminal was moved further south on the line to a new Arlington station. Between April and June 1928 the service was through-routed was with the
San Bernardino–Riverside Line The San Bernardino–Riverside is a former Pacific Electric (PE) interurban railway line in the Inland Empire. Unlike most of the company's services, trains did not travel to Downtown Los Angeles and instead provided a suburban service between S ...
as part of a scheme developed by the California Railroad Commission; this was reverted after proving unsuccessful. The Arlington–Corona Line was abandoned on August 11, 1931. Service was re-routed in Riverside to terminate at Market and Seventh by November 2 that year, a move which was reverted in 1940. In 1936, service was transferred one block west to the Market Street Local Line and the Main Street rails were removed. By 1940, the line was the only Pacific Electric service to not operating in
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
, running isolated from the rest of the system. The line was discontinued after January 9, 1943. Ending the service during wartime required special clearance from the Office or Defense Transportation; the single track line limited capacity and closing the line freed up cars to be used elsewhere on the system. All tracks had been removed by 1981 and most of the route had been paved over or converted to boulevard
median strip A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, controlled-access highway, freeways, and moto ...
s.


Route

From 14th Street the
single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
line ran south in the center of Magnolia Avenue, crossed the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, 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 Stat ...
Second Subdivision (now the Los Angeles Subdivision) tracks, went past Central Avenue to Magnolia Junction at Arlington Avenue. At Arlington Avenue the line turned southwesterly and the track entered a private
right of way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...
between the dual roadways of Magnolia Avenue. The line ran southwesterly past Casa Blanca, then past the
Sherman Indian High School Sherman Indian High School (SIHS) is an off-reservation boarding high school for Native Americans. Originally opened in 1892 as the Perris Indian School, in Perris, California, the school was relocated to Riverside, California, in 1903, under th ...
to Arlington. The line continued through Arlington to La Sierra, then 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 (now the
BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...
San Bernardino Subdivision) tracks at grade (at May) at present Corona City limits. The line in private way on Magnolia Avenue continued to Porphyry ( Home Gardens) which was an interchange junction with the ATSF. The line turned westerly and ran to the Corona Civic Center where Magnolia Avenue ended. The line then left the private way and turned southwesterly on to 3rd Street in Corona and ran down the center of 3rd Street to the terminus at Merrill Avenue.


Unbuilt connection to Stern

Henry E. Huntington, owner of the Pacific Electric, intended to connect the Corona Line to 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 ...
via the La Habra–Fullerton–Yorba Linda Line at Stern and through 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 ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riverside-Arlington Line Pacific Electric routes Light rail in California Railway lines opened in 1893 1893 establishments in California Railway lines closed in 1943 1943 disestablishments in California Closed railway lines in the United States Transportation in Riverside County, California Transportation in San Bernardino County, California