Passenger Trains > LA Metro Gold Line Foothill Ext. updates

Photo 1: We had some questions about how close the overhead line support poles were to the track in Monrovia; the camera angle of the photos I posted a week or two ago made it look like a tight squeeze for cars on the outbound track. Today I got out my trusty tape measure and checked just west of California Ave. The "tale of the tape" (to borrow a line from the sports pages) was that between the center line of the track and the steel pole, it's about 72", or six feet, so even a heavyweight Pullman car would clear--it would just have a problem with the station platforms. Note that the messenger cable that supports the trolley wire is in place.

Photo 2: Looking east from California Ave.: The shop complex is taking shape; it's expected to be completed by next spring.

Photo 3: Nearly all of the overhead-support poles have been installed; the only gaps are between First Ave. in Arcadia and Mayflower Ave. in Monrovia.

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Photo 1: The Duarte traction power substation is nearly ready for energizing. This was the first sub to be installed, and there has been some concern about whether all ten sub units would be ready when it comes time to "Heat 'em up." The subs are supplied by Metro, and the same vendor also has been building the subs for the Expo Line between Culver City and Santa Monica.

Photo 2: But now all the subs are in place; here's the last one, at Soldano Ave. in Azusa.

Photo 3: Out at the end of the line. The track ends just west of Barranca Ave. and we are right on the dividing line between Azusa and Glendora. The Pacific Electric Monrovia-Glendora Line ran through the construction area on the left. When funding becomes available, the Gold Line will be extended from here to Claremont, and if San Bernardino County gets their act together, on into Montclair. Note the tensioning weights on the overhead poles; this was a technique I first observed when original San Diego Trolley line was built back in 1979-81.

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Photo 1) In Irwindale, the parking structure project go off to a late start. The site is the most "challenging"; note the retaining wall on the side of the Azusa Industrial Lead. This is part of Metrolink, but is currently used by Union Pacific for infrequent freight service. It was built in 1950-51 as the Pacific Electric Rivas Cutoff, to provide a connection for the remnant of the Monrovia-Glendora line after the track from Arcadia to LA was abandoned.

Photo 2) This is as far east as the wire goes so far. This location was known as Kincaid on the Santa Fe, and, up until 1967, there was a crossing diamond for what was, by then, the SP Azusa Branch. I lived in Duarte in those days, and, around 8:30 pm, would hear Santa Fe #18 (the Super Chief/El Capitan going through here, with the engineer throttling back on F-units just before they came to the PE/SP crossing to avoid flashing the motors as they crossed the gaps.

Photo 3) The Irwindale station will probably be the last one completed. One member of a transit-oriented website predicted rather sparse passenger loading at this stop.

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Nice work. Thanks for sharing.

Tracks with trolleys are better than no tracks at all ! Now paint all them LRV's up in PE and war bonnet colors

"Dynamic Envelope" is the design term for laying out transit infrastructure.
It begins with the outline of the equipment to be used, then computes the maximum lean in each direction due to suspension wear, spring deflection, and track maintenance tolerance. Only a small buffer is added to the dynamic envelope, for construction tolerances or for possible future larger equipment.

This is in contrast to conventional railroad design, where there are usually fairly generous additions to clearance for employees to walk along or ride equipment, and for oversize loads.

"Dynamic envelope"--that's a new term for me. My dad used to say, "Count the day lost when you don't learn something", so this is a good day. It reminds me of the story of rapid transit in New York, where they have to have two different fleets of cars--one for the ex-IRT lines and wider cars for the BMT-IND heritage lines.

And yes, I would love to see LA Metro run cars with PE paint jobs. And while they're at it, install PE air whistles instead of those raucous warning devices on the Breda cars. Metro had two (109 and 148) done in PE "tribute livery" for the 10th anniversary of the Blue Line in 2000, but those only stayed red for a year or two. Not sure how a Warbonnet color scheme would look on an LRV, but maybe someone can photoshop one for our inspection.

Looks nice, but I'm still waiting for them to build some North/ south lines.Right now I have to take the Green ,line to the Blue line to the red line. If they had a North/ south line I could just go to the Red line.to Down Town. And if you ride the Blue line you know it's standing room only must of the time. Bad planning

porkchop Wrote:
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> Tracks with trolleys are better than no tracks at
> all ! Now paint all them LRV's up in PE and war
> bonnet colors

You mean like this?

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Thanks--I have photos of the tribute cars, but they haven't been scanned.

Regarding north-south lines, during the past few years, various segments of Rosemead Blvd. (State Highway 19) have been refurbished with new light fixtures, bike lanes, landscaping, etc. Too back the upgrade didn't include a light-rail line connecting the Gold Line, a couple of Metrolink lines, the Green Line, and a seaside line connecting the Orange County beach communities with the Blue Line in Long Beach (we could call the coastal service "The Tan Line"). I even have a Beach Boys song to go with that rail-fantasy: "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

Thanks for the pictures, Bob. The line is really coming along.

DNRY122 Wrote:
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> Thanks--I have photos of the tribute cars, but
> they haven't been scanned.
>
> Regarding north-south lines, during the past few
> years, various segments of Rosemead Blvd. (State
> Highway 19) have been refurbished with new light
> fixtures, bike lanes, landscaping, etc. Too back
> the upgrade didn't include a light-rail line
> connecting the Gold Line, a couple of Metrolink
> lines, the Green Line, and a seaside line
> connecting the Orange County beach communities
> with the Blue Line in Long Beach (we could call
> the coastal service "The Tan Line"). I even have
> a Beach Boys song to go with that rail-fantasy:
> "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

Complete with the PE Air Whistles that were built in the shops at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris.

Thats the stuff !!

It looks like there is not much room for a parking structure on that piece of land they are building it on or is it just me?

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