Passenger Trains > Gold Line construction in Duarte CA

Work is progressing on the LA Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension in Duarte. Earlier we posted photos of this grade crossing when the remnant of the Santa Fe main line and the crossing track for Butler Siding were still there. Now the crossing is closed and electrical conduits are in place.

In the the Nostalgia section I will post a memory of Santa Fe in the 1960s, when the Mail Train used to run through here at 2:45 AM.

1) Looking southeast at the Highland Ave. grade crossing. If there's one thing Duarte has plenty of, it's rocks.

2) Looking east along the right of way. Off in the distance is a bulkhead flat; apparently they're still bringing in material.

3) Back in the Pacific Electric days, nearly all electric circuits were on pole lines. Nowadays, everything but the actual trolley wire (now called Overhead Contact System) runs through conduits. Let's hope the cable crews have plenty of pulling compound. Beyond the trees in the background is the City of Hope Medical Center. They'll cure what ails you (unless it's ferroequinomania or trolleyphilia).

---

---

---

DNRY122 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> 3) Back in the Pacific Electric days, nearly all
> electric circuits were on pole lines. Nowadays,
> everything but the actual trolley wire (now called
> Overhead Contact System) runs through conduits.
> Let's hope the cable crews have plenty of pulling
> compound. Beyond the trees in the background is
> the City of Hope Medical Center. They'll cure
> what ails you (unless it's ferroequinomania or
> trolleyphilia).

i sure hope when they bury the conduit the offset the location off the side instead of diercly under the track structure ... thanks for the contruction visual documentary

With all probability, they will place concrete slurry around the conduits; this is called a "duct bank." Done all the time - I currently have a nine-story tower sitting on top of a similar duct bank. So light rail should not be an issue.

These photos explain why Highland Avenue was going to be closed for a while. I saw the notice there when I took pictures the weekend before last. It also looked like they were digging a trench in front of the Monrovia depot.