Western Railroad Discussion > Interesting Old Railroad Trackage caught my eye in Los Angeles

Caught this riding shotgun in our work truck out the window while traveling south on the 605 freeway.
Just wondering if this is old SP, UP or SF trackage, or a combination of all 3 railroads?

I've included a Google maps screen shot of same Area for possible clarification from anyone who knows?

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

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Others will certainly chime in... But this is old Southern Pacific RR trackage south of DT Junction where the SP/UP crossed/crosses the ATSF/BNSF between Pico Rivera and Whittier, CA along the San Gabriel River adjacent to the modern day 605 Freeway in the Los Angeles Basin of Southern California.

Just south and east of this Google Street view above is Los Nietos Yard, still in near daily operation by Union Pacific today to service the surrounding communities.

~ Mr. MRL
 

The Diamond noted by the teardrop is DT Jct.. SP North south crossing double track SF main to fullerton

IN your pic... The track on the left goes from Ex-PE wilmington line connection near Randolph st. , down to Anaheim. I believe it is ex PE
The track to the right is the SP connecting track  that goes to Puente Jct with the UP to the north.   The abandoned loop track was used as one of 3 routes used to get from LB and LA harbors, to West colton yard and eastward.  It became extraneous when the trench was put into service.

I spent a LOT of time taking video at DT jct in the 1980's .    It was a really busy place.   Now, not so much.  The SF line is busy, but the SP lines only see the Anaheim hauler and locals now, AFAIK.

Until the mid-70's, SP ran iron ore trains from Eagle Mountain near Indio, to LA Harbor for export to Asia.  The ore trains ran over Beaumont Hill, thru Colton, to City of Industry, then turned left (South) and used the UP main line about 6 miles to Bartolo, where they turned left on the SP's line to Los Nietos Yard.  The trains had to reverse ends at Los Nietos and then ran over the former PE line thru Walker to the PE/SP line toward LA harbor.  The balloon track in you photo was built to avoid having to reverse the ore trains.  I believe the worst of the curve there was 12 degrees, and problems were frequent.  The export ore ceased in the late 70's I believe.  Another line visible there was the PE line from 
Los Nietos to Valla and Whittier, and on to Yorba Linda, with a stub to Fullerton.

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

The SP line south from Puente down the river to here didn't exist until ... the 1950s?

Turns out the balloon is a 15-degree curve, or just under. Certainly more than 14 degrees.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/22 09:05 by timz.

And if you want to see it up close, you can access the San Gabriel River bike trail which gets you right next to the ex-SP line and goes under the Santa Fe as well.

With the Harbor Subdivision no longer available, shouldn’t the balloon track have been kept in place for use as a backup route? Is it really that expensive to maintain a diamond crossing?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/22 14:25 by Sp1110.

Sp1110 Wrote:
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> With the Harbor Subdivision no longer available,
> shouldn’t the balloon track have been kept in
> place for use as a backup route? Is it really that
> expensive to maintain a diamond crossing?

The triple track trench has been around for almost 20 years now, and no issues. 
The "Wilmington Line (ex_PE) that parallels the MTA blue line from Dominguez to Redondo Jct is still usable to get out of the harbor, and its all CTC now.  That would be where traffic would go, if there was a derailment in the trench

And theres still the ex-up San Pedro line to get out of the harbor is it was really needed...
And the old SP "Patata line" thru Firestone and Los Nietos may still be  intact as a usable thru route, but IDK. I know its only for locals anymore, so they could have abandoned part of it by now.

From what I remember just before the trench was activated....that diamond (2 curved tracks crossing, no less) was in pretty bad shape...so given the choice of fix or eliminate, they went for the latter.

Is the Wilmington Line the same thing as the Amoco Line?

Is the Patata Line the one that connects to the wye in Studebaker?

Yes and Yes, AFAIK

This crude scan shows an SP oil train on the balloon track in October 1983. 

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nice pic.  thanks

Don't recall the details, but remember my hoghead dad telling me he put some big GE's on the ground on the balloon back in the early 70's. Probably on an export ore train. 

A few more thoughts on the subject before it moves off the 'radar'.

When the export iron ore trains were running in the diesel era, (yes, they ran in steam!), roughly 1958-1983, 
and prior the 'balloon' track at Los Nietos being placed in service, (1965); SP road crews handled a shortened,
usually 80 cars, version of the normal 100 car ore trains run for Kaiser Steel. These "export" trains were
manned by SP crews from the Los Angeles-Indio freight pool who would take their train from Indio into the
yard at Los Nietos where the power--both road and rear helper, (the mid-train helpers having already been
removed, usually around Loma Linda, east of Colton), came off and the train was then turned over to a
Pacific Electric crew who added their power, usually a 3 unit consist of geeps, to what had been the rear but
henceforward was now the head end, for unloading. Meanwhile, the SP crew usually, not always, retrieved their
caboose and departed back over the Puente Cut-Off to City of Industry and, time permitting, on into Los Angeles
via Alhambra.

The PE role in this was to use the Yorba Linda (later renamed La Habra) branch, the track seen at the far 
left in RailRat's photo, to Slauson Jct--about 9 miles in the distance where they made a left-hand turn to
head compass south and ultimately deliver the train to its destination; either Long Beach or San Pedro.  

Charlie


 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/22 12:18 by cewherry.

2-10-2 Wrote:
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> And if you want to see it up close, you can access
> the San Gabriel River bike trail which gets you
> right next to the ex-SP line and goes under the
> Santa Fe as well.

That brings back memories! I lived in Norwalk from 1982-2001 and rode along the San Gabriel River many times on my bicycle. Not only did I see trains, but at a certain point north of Norwalk the river is more or less natural (vs. concrete) and had great opportunities to view waterfowl. I indulged in two hobbies at the same time. I often rode past Los Nietos yard on the bike, and Fullerton was not all that far away. Then there was the former PE line to Fullerton...
 

Mentioned this post to a neighbor who grew up in the area, he believes 'DT Junction was only on the Santa Fe. It was the place where double track ended to cross the San Gabriel River (before it was all double-tracked).' Also that 'the balloon track was added in 1965 when the Pacific Electric was intergrated in to the LA Division.' I don't have my copy of the LA Division books with me, my neighbor says this was covered in the book describing as the lines were built. He included a .png file of the diagragm from the book(s), at the moment I can't transfer the file to a jpg to post on TO.

Interesting story and seeing how it turned out.

I wonder how many homes SP had to demolish in 1965 to make room for that balloon track.

Sp1110 Wrote:
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> I wonder how many homes SP had to demolish in 1965
> to make room for that balloon track.

None