Western Railroad Discussion > Cheviot Hills/Rancho Park Cut on Meto Rail Expo Line LA CA

Some twenty years ago we had friends who lived a house away from the abandoned railroad cut through Cheviot Hills and Rancho Park in West LA. Our kids were the same age and we visited them often. Everytime we went there I would wander over to the abandoned railroad cut and imagine the PE Steeple Cabs or SP Cruds that had run through there (the latter as recently as ten years prior to that). At the time, little did I know that one day that cut would have a train through it every seven minutes or so. LA Metro Rail's Expo Line (soon to be renamed th E Line) runs in the ROW of the original Los Angeles & Independence Railroad (later Southern Pacific, later Los Angeles Pacific, later Pacific Electric, later Southern Pacific again). Here are some images taken from the footbridge that runs to my old friends' house (they moved away many years ago though).


 

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Am I correct in assuming that the "E" line is well patronized? I rode it about a week after it was completed to Santa Monica and was impressed with the number of riders! I spoke with some Metro people and they said they believed it would be as busy as the "A" line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/19 10:33 by TomPlatten.

TomPlatten Wrote:
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> Am I correct in assuming that the "E" line is well
> patronized? I rode it about a week after it was
> completed to Santa Monica and was impressed with
> the number of riders! I spoke with some Metro
> people and they said they believed it would be as
> bisy as the "A" line.

Personal experience is that it is very busy. The three-car trains are actually an issue, however with grade crossings and platform construction there isn't anything that can ever be done about that without completely re-doing the line again.

Somebody was thinking when the line was "railbanked" rather than obliterated. Maybe someday they will reuse the line to Santa Ana!

dtoeppen Wrote:
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> I could go for some pictures of PE in the cut. How
> about posting some?

Who are you asking for these? I wasn't born yet when PE stopped serving this line with passenger cars, and was six when SP finally ate PE.

dtoeppen Wrote:
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> Whomever.

There's some on line. Google Pacific Electric, Santa Monica Airline (or Air Line). 

The fact that you can see trains there is because many of the Cheviot Hills politicians and residents lost a long, nasty fight to keep them from coming.