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Owensmouth Line facts for kids

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Owensmouth
1920 Sherman Way in downtown Owensmouth.jpg
Sherman Way in Owensmouth, 1920, with Los Angeles Pacific Railroad lines
Overview
Owner Southern Pacific Railroad
Locale Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley
Termini Downtown Los Angeles
Owensmouth-Canoga Park, California
Stations 34
Service
Type Interurban
System Pacific Electric
Operator(s) Pacific Electric
Rolling stock PE 5050 Class (last used)
Ridership 1,038,622 (1926)
History
Opened December 16, 1911 (to Van Nuys)
December 7, 1912 (Owensmouth)
Closed June 1, 1938 (Canoga Park–Sherman Way)
December 29, 1952 (all service)
Technical
Line length 29.1 mi (46.8 km)
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification 600 V DC overhead line

The Owensmouth Line was a special train service run by Pacific Electric. It connected the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles. This train line was mostly built to help sell land in the area.

History of the Owensmouth Line

The train service to Owensmouth (which is now called Canoga Park) was a big part of a plan to develop land in Southern California. In 1910, a group of rich investors bought almost the entire southern San Fernando Valley. These investors included famous people like Harrison Gray Otis and Harry Chandler.

They planned to build new towns and needed a way for people to get there. Even though the Los Angeles Aqueduct was being built nearby, the train line was planned separately.

1922 Cahuenga Pass Hollywood
Cahuenga Pass in 1922 before the freeway was built

To help sell the land, General Moses Sherman's Los Angeles Pacific Railroad started building a train line. This line would go across the San Fernando Valley to serve three new towns: Van Nuys (1911), Marion (now Reseda), and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) (1912). Back then, train lines were seen as a must-have for new developments.

Next to the train line, a special road called Sherman Way was built. It was a wide, paved road with no speed limit, where cars could go up to 35 miles per hour! There was also a separate dirt road for farm wagons. The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad later sold this line to the Pacific Electric company. The train line opened to Van Nuys on December 16, 1911. It then extended all the way to Owensmouth on December 7, 1912.

Owensmouth got its name because it was thought to be close to the "mouth" of the Owens River Aqueduct. This was a way to make the area sound more appealing. However, it was actually 20 miles away and used well water. In 1917, it became part of Los Angeles. Because of some disagreements about land and the aqueduct, the community changed its name to Canoga Park in 1931. This new name came from the Southern Pacific "Canoga" train station. Even with the name change, the Pacific Electric line kept its original name, Owensmouth, until it stopped running.

The train line originally had its own special path through the Cahuenga Pass. This path was on the west side of the main highway. Later, when the Hollywood Freeway was built, the train line was moved to the middle section of the freeway.

Cahuenga Pass, Hollywood, Calif (70198)
A postcard showing the train's path in the middle of the Hollywood Freeway around 1940

Train services were shortened on June 1, 1938. Finally, buses replaced all train services on December 28, 1952. Interestingly, unlike other train lines that saw fewer riders after World War II, the Owensmouth Line actually had many more passengers in its last years.

The G Line Today

In the 2000s, a new public transport line was built across the Valley. It's called the Metro Orange Line, and it uses special bus lanes. Part of this new bus line uses the old Pacific Electric train path. It also uses parts of another old train route. This bus service started in 2005 and was renamed the G Line in 2020.

Route of the Owensmouth Line

The Owensmouth Line started in Downtown Los Angeles, sharing tracks with the Hollywood Line. It then continued along the South Hollywood–Sherman Line at Sunset Junction. From there, it turned north at Highland.

The line then went through the Cahuenga Pass on its own special path. It turned onto Vineland Avenue through North Hollywood and then onto Chandler Boulevard. It continued west to a curve onto Van Nuys Boulevard, going through Van Nuys. At Sherman Circle, it turned west onto Sherman Way, leading all the way to Owensmouth. On Shoup Avenue, named after the Pacific Electric president Paul Shoup, the train used the center of the road for its final stops.

Main Stations Along the Line

Station Mile Major connections Date opened Date closed City
Canoga Park 29.10 1938
Reseda 24.91
North Sherman Way 19.89 San Fernando 1952 Van Nuys
Van Nuys 19.11 San Fernando 1902 1952
Circle Drive 17.72 San Fernando
Kester (Ethel Avenue) 16.17 San Fernando
Lankershim
(later North Hollywood)
14.17 San Fernando 1902 1952 North Hollywood
Rio Vista 11.59 San Fernando
Universal City 11.10 San Fernando
Barnham Boulevard 9.99 San Fernando
Cahuenga Pass 8.65 San Fernando 1902 1952
Highland & Hollywood 7.84 Hollywood, San Fernando, Venice via Hollywood 1902 1955 Los Angeles
Highland & Santa Monica 7.09 San Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman
Colegrove San Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman 1902 1955
Virgil Avenue San Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman, Western and Franklin Avenue 1902 1955
Sunset Junction Hollywood, San Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue 1902 1955
Subway Terminal Building 0 Echo Park Avenue, Glendale–Burbank, Hollywood, San Fernando, Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey, Sawtelle, South Hollywood–Sherman, Venice Short Line, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue, Westgate 1925 1955

Ridership Numbers

This table shows how many passengers rode the Owensmouth Line over the years. It also shows how many miles the trains traveled and how much money was made.

Passengers (Fare and Transfer)
Year Passengers Car Miles Revenue
1913 368,688 276,895 $ 81,917
1914 487,907 378,151 $115,228
1916 454,942 315,820 $ 88,879
1918 499,282 381,858 $101,452
1920 815,483 394,132 $191,198
1922 795,906 494,037 $202,058
1924 912,075 585,773 $219,281
1926 1,038,622 624,206 $225,957
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