Huntington's LA: The History of Pacific Electric

1 100 miles of railroad track 1 200 rail cars in operation and reliable speedy public transportation to all of the major population centers in los angeles county in a city now dominated by freeways parking structures and traffic these statements sound like a dream to tourists and residents of southern california alike yet for much of the early 20th century it was reality back before the rise of the city's infamous car culture los angeles was dominated by an expansive streetcar system known as the pacific electric railway company for most residents the streetcars were the best way to get where they needed to go for work or for pleasure by the late 1950s however this once vital component of los angeles was on the decline streetcars were being rapidly replaced with buses and it seemed like the end was near how could this crucial piece of los angeles economy be wiped out so quickly and what happened to la's public transportation afterwards the pacific electric railway company was founded on november 10 1901 by real estate tycoon henry e huntington pacific electric was a consolidation of five smaller streetcar lines each of which huntington had purchased over the span of a previous year in the pursuit of profit huntington also created his own real estate and power companies huntington land improvement and the pacific light and power company with control over these two businesses huntington did not have to pay outside companies for the rights of way and power for his cars he also recognized that an expanding streetcar system would attract residents to new areas of los angeles meaning new real estate and energy markets for his companies to exploit now pacific electric owned 40 lines of roadside track to begin with most of which operated between los angeles and pasadena huntington's first act as a streetcar tycoon was to expand in that same direction out to monrovia duarte san bernardino and later pomona simultaneously he invested in immense tracts of land in the san gabriel valley alongside his proposed streetcar routes most of which he sold to prospective customers at exorbitant rates huntington followed the same formula of selling land at high prices along new streetcar routes for pacific electric's first original route a line from long beach to los angeles on private rights of way word spread quickly and believing that pacific electric would hasten an economic boom quote many property owners donated land to pacific electric along its proposed route to long beach end quote this line opened on july 4th 1902 and remained pacific electric's most profitable venture until the very end in fact the pacific electric company influenced the development of long beach to such an extent that from 1902 when the streetcar line opened to 1910 the population boomed from 2 000 to 18 000 people huntington continued in much the same way for the rest of the 1910s selling utilities and plots of land alongside new streetcar routes by 1903 the extension of the pasadena line to monrovia and whittier was complete and plans were in the works for an extension to orange county by late 1907 pacific electric had purchased tracks in riverside in santa ana and owed routes to huntington beach covina glendora newport beach hollywood santa monica playa del rey and redondo among many others giving the company 703 miles of track overall huntington quite literally had a monopoly over the city of los angeles huntington street cars powered by his pacific light and power company ruled over tracks built to property which was often already owned by one of his land companies end quote his streetcars were shaping the creation of los angeles communities for example quote all 17 cities incorporated into los angeles county during the first decade of the 20th century were located along his trolley routes end quote yet despite all of this pacific electric was not profitable huntington's real estate sales were keeping his streetcars afloat which could not be a sustainable long-term plan for pacific electric in 1910 after making millions of dollars and irrevocably shaping the southland henry huntington decided to retire one year later on september 1st 1911 the southern pacific railway bought out all of huntington's rail interests and the interest of several others in the region creating a new even larger pacific electric railway company southern pacific continued huntington's legacy of expansion using real estate development utility expansion and a new weapon freight transportation to offset the cost of building and operating new pacific electric routes in that same year pacific electric expanded into the san fernando valley speeding growth in a region mostly dominated by ranches and farmland throughout the 1910s and 20s other new streetcar influence developments included the neighborhoods of highland park and west hollywood eventually however pacific electric ran into an issue there was nowhere else left to expand as stated previously pacific electric was virtually never profitable pacific electric made a profit in only eight of the 42 years it was in business now as complementary real estate developments began to slow pacific electric faced serious questions about how to keep the streetcars running this struggle was only compounded by the rise of the automobile in the late 1920s which increased traffic at many of the ad grade crossings that the streetcars relied on service on many of the vital routes became steadily slower and less reliable as time went on because of the increase in automobile traffic for example by the mid-1920s the average speed on the line to santa monica was only 13 miles an hour the streetcars also became increasingly unpopular as pacific electric refused to properly maintain streetcar tracks or service frequency resulting in crowded bumpy and unpleasant rides for the average commuter only a few of the most unprofitable rail lines were closed during the 1920s and service continued on most of pacific electric's now 1 100 miles of track but the writing was on the wall for pacific electric in the 1930s pacific electric finally began a downward spiral from which it would never return the great depression struck all aspects of american life including streetcar transit in the depression-era economy many workers were laid off from their jobs decreasing street car revenue from commuters and for those who still had jobs disposable income was tight decreasing street car revenue from leisure this sudden drop in income only exacerbated the monetary and service concerns that began to plague pacific electric during the 1920s the turning point came in 1932 until 1931 pacific electric had generated sufficient revenues to cover the operating expenses although not enough to cover all the fixed charges paid dividends or maintenance costs after 1932 revenues failed to cover even operating expenses end quote without any money for maintenance or operating expenses pacific electric began bus substitution in the late 1930s the company saw buses as an ideal alternative to trolleys because they did not require electrification tracks or high maintenance pacific electric head quote changed over 35 percent of its system by 1939 end quote leaving only the most profitable routes as trolleys now southern pacific the owner of pacific electric was pouring more and more money into the upkeep of the streetcar routes with few real estate interests to exploit at this point southern pacific turned to the other factor that kept their business afloat freight and with world war ii on the horizon the shipping of raw material and goods became even more profitable to support the war effort between 1938 and 1945 freight revenues increased by approximately 223 percent southern pacific saw that freight revenue was more profitable than passenger service and began to prioritize long freight trains on pacific electric tracks meaning that streetcar speed and reliability only decreased even further in fact the emphasis on freight helped raise maintenance costs and further pacific electrics decline quote the freight service was conducted at considerable sacrifice to the passenger service and that little if any improvements were made on mainline routes end quote despite the increased competition with freight traffic world war ii also helped keep pacific electric afloat for a little while longer due to wartime restrictions on gasoline and motor vehicle usage people flocked to the streetcars in droves once more in fact 1944 saw pacific electric's highest ridership ever this seeming resurgence for pacific electric was however a mirage the brief increase in passengers failed to overcome the unprofitability of the system and in fact left pacific electric in an even worse state quote the overall impact of the patronage surge was however to exacerbate the physical deterioration of the network end quote when the war ended people returned to their cars and pacific electric was left as a slow cumbersome and decrepit hulk from then on there was no doubt that the glory days of pacific electric was over its decline was swift in 1951 the entire northern district of streetcars which serviced pasadena pomona orange county and riverside was replaced with buses and in 1953 the whole pacific electric system was sold to metropolitan coach lines metropolitan coach lines quote sought the substitution of buses for rail on all remaining passenger lines end quote now mcl was a general motor subsidy leading to the popular perception that it was the auto industry that ultimately killed off pacific electric and indeed mcl continued to remove trolley lines to substitute them with general motors buses the western district was serviced santa monica hollywood the san fernando valley south bay and beverly hills was gone by 1955 and most of the southern district serving long beach orange county whittier was dismantled by the time pacific electric was sold again this time to the la county metropolitan transit authority in 1958 the only line remaining was the faithful los angeles to long beach route the closure of which ended the reign of pacific electric on april 8 1961. now as pacific electric was declining officials and residents alike were looking for a way to replace it the los angeles county board of supervisors remarked quote the abandonment of existing rights of way by pacific electric might lead to irreparable loss to the citizenry of los angeles county end quote but the debate came over how and where a new system might operate many proposals for a new rail rapid transit system popped up over several decades but all ended in the same way killed by the la city council what would happen is the following downtown officials would propose quote an extensive network of grade separated exclusive right-of-way transport facilities radiating from the core to outlying population zones end quote similar to the modern chicago loop however council members from the outlying population zones consistently rejected such plans fearing quote an effort to encroach upon and colonize their hinterlands end quote and a shift of economic interest back towards downtown ironically it was pacific electric streetcars that caused this issue by encouraging the development of new business and residential centers away from downtown on the other hand the freeway system promised to connect all parts of los angeles equally and since the city council perceived that public interest was trending towards the automobile anyways rail was abandoned pacific electric streetcars have been gone from los angeles for 58 years now but their imprint on the city remains in 1990 the los angeles county mta the same public agency which bought pacific electric in its dying days opened the metro a line a modernized version of the old pacific electric route to long beach with the same rights-of-way route and termination points the b-line opened in 1993 followed the rights away from the hollywood and san fernando valley lines of pacific electric finally one of metro's newer routes the e-line was completed in 2015 and followed the rights of way for the former santa monica airline now there's a certain irony here los angeles is finally creating a modern public transportation system for our present and future by reusing knowledge from the city's distant past more subtly the pacific electric streetcars have had a lasting impact on the local structures of communities that they pass through a study conducted by arizona state university determined that buildings closer to streetcar routes have the highest population density on average in la county at about 6 000 people per square mile most of those old streetcar routes have become major thoroughfares in los angeles because the routes have the population density walkability and commercial attitudes necessary to attract past streetcar passengers and modern consumers alike while the tracks may be gone all one must do is look around to see the effects of the dethroned rail giant upon our modern city you

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Length: 14min 18sec (858 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 16 2021