Hawthorne–El Segundo Line facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hawthorne–El Segundo
El Segundo, 1914
Overview
Owner	Southern Pacific Railroad
Locale	Los Angeles, and the South Bay
Termini	Downtown Los Angeles El Segundo, California
Stations	22
Service
Type	Interurban
System	Pacific Electric
Operator(s)	Pacific Electric
Rolling stock	PE 1000 Class (last used)
Ridership	304,996 (1926)
History
Opened	August 10, 1914 (1914-08-10)
Closed	October 31, 1930 (1930-10-31)
Technical
Line length	18.87 miles (30.37 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	600 V DC Overhead lines

The Hawthorne–El Segundo Line was an interurban railway route of the Pacific Electric Railway. It was built to transport oil from the Standard Oil Refinery in El Segundo and also saw passenger service.

History

El Segundo began as a company town for Standard Oil. When they announced the location of the refinery in 1911, Pacific Electric quickly began planning of a spur line of the Redondo Beach via Gardena Line east of Delta Junction. Construction began in 1913 and the first cars arrived in Downtown El Segundo on August 10, 1914. Direct service from El Segundo to Los Angeles was offered from 1920 to 1924, but the route mainly operated as a shuttle with transfers at Hawthorne.

Due to low passenger usage revenue service ended after Halloween 1930, but freight service on the line continued to be a major revenue source for Pacific Electric. Tracks in downtown El Segundo had been removed by 1981, but steam and diesel locomotives continued to serve the length of the line from Watts to the Standard Oil Refinery (later Chevron). The line is now owned by Union Pacific.

Route

The Hawthorne–El Segundo Line operated passenger and freight service between Los Angeles, Watts and El Segundo. It also served to connect the San Pedro via Gardena Line and the Redondo Beach via Gardena Line to Watts and Los Angeles as well as transfer points to the Los Angeles Railway lines to west and central Los Angeles.

The line was within private right of way for the entire route. The segment between watts Junction and South Los Angeles (Broadway at 117th Street) was double track. The remainder of the line to El Segundo was single track.

The line started at watts Junction on the 4-track line then went west with two tracks to South Los Angeles (Broadway at 117th Street) where the Redondo Beach via Gardena Line and the San Pedro via Gardena Line branched off to the south between Broadway and Figueroa with two tracks.

The single track Hawthorne–El Segundo Line went west between 116th Street and 117th Street past Figueroa Street where a transfer to the Los Angeles Railway Figueroa Line could be made to the north to Los Angeles. Then on west to Delta (Vermont Avenue) where the Delta–Strawberry Park Segment went south on Vermont to Gardena, Torrance and Redondo and a transfer could be made to the Los Angeles Railway Vermont Line to the north to Los Angeles.

The line continued westerly passing under Western Avenue (Westbridge) then southwesterly to Crenshaw Boulevard (Cypave Station) where the line turned to the west again. The line continued to the west, north of and parallel to El Segundo Boulevard where it crossed Hawthorne Boulevard.

At Hawthorne Boulevard (Hawthorne) the Hawthorne–El Nido segment and the El Segundo–El Nido–Redondo Line went to the south and a transfer to the Los Angeles Railway line could be made to travel north to Inglewood and west Los Angeles.

The line turned to the southwest and crossed El Segundo Boulevard at La Cienega Boulevard continuing to Wise (Douglas Avenue at Utah Avenue) where the track crossed the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Harbor Subdivision track at grade. Here also was Wise Transfer where a car exchange between the Pacific Electric and the ATSF could be made.

A lead, the "Standard Oil Spur", extended westerly from Wise through the Standard Oil Refinery to the Standard Oil Wharf and the Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey Line south of Hyperion.

The line turned northwesterly at Wise and passed through the oil fields and turned westerly at Calvert (Pine Avenue and Center Street) and continued to the end of the line at the El Segundo Station (Eucalyptus Drive and Main Street).

List of major stations