Waterfront Red Car

The Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line is a currently non-operational 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) heritage streetcar line for public transit along the waterfront in San Pedro, at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California.[1] It opened for service in July 2003, with a construction cost of $10 million.[1] Service ended on 27 September 2015 due to major construction projects that would result in the demolition of a portion of the route. In March 2016 development plans for the port were announced which would include resumption of service on the Waterfront Red Car Line.

Port of LA Waterfront Red Car
Pacific Electric Replica 501 in San Pedro
Locale	San Pedro, Los Angeles
Terminus	Between World Cruise Center and 22nd Street at Miner Street
Commercial operations
Built by	Pacific Electric Railway
Original gauge	1,450 mm (4 ft 9 ^3⁄32 in)
Original electrification	overhead line
Preserved operations
Owned by	Port of Los Angeles
Operated by	Port of Los Angeles
Stations	4[1]
Length	2.4 kilometres [1]
Preserved gauge	1,450 mm (4 ft 9 ^3⁄32 in)
Preserved electrification	overhead line
Preservation history
19 July 2003	Opened[1]
27 September 2015	Closed
Website
Waterfront Red Car Line
Route map Wilmington Railway Museum Harry Bridges & Figueroa Gaffey & Westmont Gaffey & Capitol Pacific & Channel World Cruise Center 1st Street 5th Street Maritime Museum Ports O'Call Marina 22nd & Signal Warehouse 1 22nd & Miner Outer Harbor Outer Harbor 22nd Street Park 22nd & Via Cabrillo-Marina Fort Macarthur Cabrillo Beach

Route

The line used vintage and replica Pacific Electric Red Cars.[1] The route ran south over a former Pacific Electric Railway right-of-way from the World Cruise Centre cruise ship terminal under the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the intersection of 22nd Street and Miner Street, with intermediate stops at Downtown San Pedro, the Maritime Museum, and the Ports O' Call Village.[2][3] The service operated three days a week (Friday-Sunday) with occasional service on other weekdays depending on passenger ship landings.[1]

History

The Pacific Electric Railway Red Car system operated for over 60 years (closed 1961), with more than 990 mi (1,600 km) of tramway routes throughout Greater Los Angeles and the surrounding cities and counties.[4]

Before the line closed, the Waterfront Red Cars comprised three tram cars in the style of the originals. Two of the three Red Cars—the replica cars, numbers 500 and 501[5] — were built from scratch by employees of the port of Los Angeles;[1] the interiors are cooled using the same clerestory-style windows as the original 500-class Red Cars (“The Fives”). The third car, No. #1058, was a vintage Pacific Electric 950-class car,[5] having been assembled from two wrecked 950-class cars by Richard J. Fellows, restored for parades, movies, and the like, and then cleverly converted to be steered with the original throttle as a tiller and braked by the original brake handle; the original dead man pedal operated the gasoline engine throttle, which powered the rubber tires. The Port of Los Angeles bought the car and converted it back for rail operation as a charter service.[5]

The Waterfront Red Cars were supplemented by two shuttle bus lines. The Blue line serves downtown San Pedro and Ports O' Call village, whereas the Green line serves the harbor and marina.[1]

The replica cars will be reused again when the line reopens, but they must be modified to run on light rail tracks.[6] Whether the original car will be brought back to service is unknown, though it will most probably be retired.

Shutdown and future

Future extensions to Cabrillo Beach, Harbour Park, the new cruise ship terminal at Berth 46, Pacific Avenue, and Warehouse 1 were initially under consideration.[1] In April 2010, a new feasibility report was released, with the first priority to switch much of the existing line to street-running tramway track on Sampson Way.

In 2015 it was announced the Waterfront Red Car Line would be closed for 18 months, with service ceasing in late September 2015, to make way for the realignment of Sampson Way leading into Ports O’ Call Village.[7][8] Because the street realignment cuts through the southern part of the line, it would require a new track and modified, street-level cars running parallel to the new Sampson Way, estimated to cost $40 million.[7] Port officials eventually concluded that such reconstruction would be cost prohibitive.[7] Waterfront Red Car Line service ended on 27 September 2015. However development plans for San Pedro's Ports O' Call were announced in March 2016 that included the resumption of Waterfront Red Car service; no date for the restoration of the Red Cars was included in the announcement.[9][10]

See also

• List of heritage railroads in California
• Heritage streetcar systems
• Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California

References

1. Port of Los Angeles.org: Waterfront Red Car Line website. Accessed 19 August 2015.
2. SanPedro.com: POLA Waterfront Red Car Line - with map
3. RailwayPreservation.com: Port of LA Waterfront Red Car Line . accessed 19 August 2015.
4. "Port of LA Waterfront Red Car Line". U.S. Streetcar Systems Website (RPR Consulting Ltd.). 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
5. "Red Car Facts and Figures" (PDF). Port of Los Angeles. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
6. "San Pedro Red Car will be part of new Ports O' Call plans". Retrieved 2016-10-07.
7. Littlejohn, Donna (19 March 2015). "Has San Pedro's waterfront Red Car reached the end of the line?". Daily Breeze. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
8. Littlejohn, Donna (25 September 2015). "San Pedro's Red Car unlikely to be spared by last-minute call for reprieve". Daily Breeze. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
9. Littlejohn, Donna (1 March 2016). "San Pedro's long-awaited Ports O' Call plan to be unveiled Wednesday". Daily Breeze. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
10. Khouri, Andrew (2 March 2016). "Developers reveal plans for $100-million makeover of Ports O' Call". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 May 2016.

External links

• Port of Los Angeles.org: Official Waterfront Red Car Line website