Pacific Electric Railway facts for kids
The Pacific Electric Railway Company was a huge train system in Los Angeles, California. It was a private company that helped people travel around the city and to nearby towns.
A man named Henry E. Huntington started this system. He built and bought many streetcar lines. He wanted people to be able to reach the land he owned, which helped him sell it.
Most of these trains carried people, but some also moved goods. Pacific Electric even owned a fun mountain ride called the Mount Lowe Railway.
In the 1920s, the Pacific Electric was the biggest system of its kind in the world. It had hundreds of miles of track! Even though Huntington didn't make money from running the trains, he earned a lot by selling the land the trains could reach.
After Henry Huntington passed away and all his land was sold, the train system began to have problems. There wasn't enough money to fix the tracks and trains. The city of Los Angeles thought it would be cheaper to use buses instead.
So, the very last Pacific Electric train ran in 1961. All the tracks were removed. Many old trains were either taken apart or sold to other countries.
About 30 years later, Los Angeles traffic became very bad. Buses were getting stuck in traffic jams. The city then remembered the old train system. They decided to start building new train lines because trains don't slow down in traffic.
Today, some parts of the old Pacific Electric rail network are used again. They are now part of the new Los Angeles Metro system. People are riding trains in Los Angeles once more!
Where the Trains Went: The Network
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The Pacific Electric trains connected Los Angeles to many cities and towns. Here are some of the places they went:
- Pasadena
- Glendora
- Pomona
- Ontario
- San Bernardino
- Riverside
- Whittier
- Fullerton
- Santa Ana
- Huntington Beach
- Newport Beach
- Long Beach
- San Pedro
- Redondo Beach
- Inglewood
- Venice
- Santa Monica
- Canoga Park
- San Fernando
- Hollywood
- Burbank
- Glendale
Images for kids
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An Old Mission Trolley streetcar from Pacific Electric stops at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in 1905.
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Three tickets from Pacific Electric. The top two are for trips between downtown LA and Santa Monica. The bottom one is a transfer ticket from Hollywood to the San Fernando Valley.
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The Pacific Electric & Salt Lake Railroad station in Long Beach, 1905.
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The Pacific Electric Building was the main station, located at Sixth and Main Streets. This view shows the elevated tracks and platforms built in 1916.
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Pacific Electric #1299 Business Car.
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Pacific Electric cars piled up, waiting to be destroyed at Terminal Island in 1956.
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A Blue Line train heading south from Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station in October 1995. This line uses part of the old Long Beach Line route.
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The Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail in Fontana, a modern trail built on an old railway path.
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Car #1734 served as the Pacific Electric Museum from 1981 to 2021 in Seal Beach, California.
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Pacific Electric 1624 "Juice Jack"
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See also
In Spanish: Pacific Electric para niños
