Owensmouth Line Explained

Owensmouth
Type:Interurban
System:Pacific Electric
Locale:Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, California
Start:Downtown Los Angeles
End:Owensmouth-Canoga Park (1912–1938)
North Sherman Way (1911–1912, 1938–1952)
Stations:34
Ridership2:1,038,622 (1926)[1]
Open:December 16, 1911 (to Van Nuys)
December 7, 1912 (Owensmouth)
Close:June 1, 1938 (Canoga Park–Sherman Way)
December 29, 1952 (all service)
Owner:Southern Pacific Railroad
Operator:Pacific Electric
Stock:PE 5050 Class (last used)
Linelength Mi:29.1
Map State:collapsed

The Owensmouth Line was a Pacific Electric interurban service that connected the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles. The route was largely developed as the result of real estate speculation.

History

See also: San Fernando Line. The Pacific Electric streetcar service to Owensmouth (present-day Canoga Park) was part of a real-estate development in Southern California. Nearly the entire southern San Fernando Valley was bought in 1910 by the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Co., owned by a syndicate of wealthy Los Angeles investors, developers, and speculators: including Harrison Gray Otis, Harry Chandler, Moses Sherman, Hobart Johnstone Whitley, and others. It anticipated possible connections to, but was planned independent of, the soon to be completed (1913) Los Angeles Aqueduct from the Owens River watershed to the City of Los Angeles through the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County.

To help promote sales of the land, General Moses Sherman's Los Angeles Pacific Railroad set off to build a streetcar line across the San Fernando Valley, to serve the three plotted new towns: Van Nuys (1911); Marion (now Reseda); and Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) (1912). At the time, streetcar lines were seen as a necessity to promote development. Alongside it across the Valley westward from Van Nuys was Sherman Way: the "$500,000 paved boulevard" with lush landscaping and no speed limit where one might get up to, a separate dirt road for farm wagons/equipment, and telegraph lines. Los Angeles Pacific Railroad later sold the line to the Pacific Electric. The line opened to Van Nuys on December 16, 1911, extending to Owensmouth on December 7 the following year.[2]

Owensmouth was named in classic real estate "boosterism", as 'nearest' the outlet-'mouth' of the Owens River Aqueduct and echoing English and New England town names such as Falmouth, Yarmouth, and Plymouth. It was actually away when founded in 1912 and used well water instead until being annexed to the city of Los Angeles in 1917. The controversy of Valley land speculation and the aqueduct brought the community to change its name from Owensmouth to Canoga Park in 1931, after the Southern Pacific "Canoga" station there. The name of the Pacific Electric line was unchanged as Owensmouth until the demise of through service.

The route originally navigated the Cahuenga Pass in its own right-of-way on the west side of the state highway. When the Hollywood Freeway was built, the line was relocated to the freeway's median strip.[3]

Services were truncated to North Sherman Way on June 1, 1938,[4] [5] and service was generally referred to as the Van Nuys Line. Unlike other PE lines which saw a decrease in service after World War II, ridership greatly increased in the service's final years. and one-man operation was implemented in 1950. Services were finally replaced by buses on December 28, 1952.

A survey conducted by Caltrans in 1981 reported that almost all of the line had either been removed or paved over for street use.

Modern light rail

See main article: G Line (Los Angeles Metro). In the 2000s a new cross-Valley rapid transit line was built: the Metro Orange Line, a dedicated bus transit-way which uses part of the old Pacific Electric right-of-way (Chandler Boulevard east of Ethel Avenue) and the former Southern Pacific south and west Valley route (from White Oak Avenue to the Chatsworth station). Service commenced in 2005; it was renamed to the G Line in 2020.

Van Nuys Boulevard is planned to be rebuilt for light rail service in 2031 under the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project.

Route

Leaving Downtown on the same tracks as the Hollywood Line, the line continues along the Sherman Line at Sunset Junction before turning north at Highland. The line continued on its own private right of way though the Cahuenga Pass, turning up Vineland Avenue through North Hollywood, and onto Chandler Boulevard. Proceeding west to the curve onto Van Nuys Boulevard, it ran through Van Nuys to a curve (Sherman Circle) off of Van Nuys Boulevard turning west onto Sherman Way to Owensmouth. On Shoup Avenue, named after Pacific Electric president Paul Shoup, the center was used as its end of the line sidings.

List of major stations

StationMile[6] Major connectionsDate openedDate closedCity
Canoga Park29.1019121938
Reseda24.911912
North Sherman Way19.89San Fernando1952Van Nuys
Van Nuys19.11San Fernando19111952
Circle Drive17.72San Fernando
Kester (Ethel Avenue)16.17San Fernando
Lankershim
14.17San Fernando19111952North Hollywood
Rio Vista11.59San Fernando
Universal City11.10San Fernando
Barnham Boulevard9.99San Fernando
Cahuenga Pass8.65San Fernando19111952
Highland & Hollywood7.84Hollywood, San Fernando, Venice via Hollywood19021955Los Angeles
Highland & Santa Monica7.09San Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman
ColegroveSan Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman19021955
Virgil AvenueSan Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman, Western and Franklin Avenue19021955
Sunset JunctionHollywood, San Fernando, South Hollywood–Sherman, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue19021955
Subway Terminal Building0Echo Park Avenue, Glendale–Burbank, Hollywood, San Fernando, Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey, Sawtelle, South Hollywood–Sherman, Venice Short Line, Venice via Hollywood, Western and Franklin Avenue, Westgate19251955

Ridership

Passengers (Fare and Transfer)!Year!Passengers!Car Miles!Revenue
1913368,688276,895$81,917
1914487,907378,151$115,228
1916454,942315,820$88,879
1918499,282381,858$101,452
1920815,483394,132$191,198
1922795,906494,037$202,058
1924912,075585,773$219,281
19261,038,622624,206 $225,957

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: San Fernando Valley Line . 8 September 2020 . Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California.
  2. News: Owensmouth's joy great because cars start . 30 November 2023 . Los Angeles Evening Express . Newspapers.com . December 7, 1912 . 6.
  3. Web site: February 1982 . 1981 Inventory of Pacific Electric Routes . 3 June 2020 . Caltrans.
  4. News: Modernized Transportation Service in Valley About June 1 . 30 November 2023 . The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet . Newspapers.com . April 25, 1938 . 1.
  5. News: Improved Cars Now in Service . 30 November 2023 . The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet . Newspapers.com . June 2, 1938 . 1.
  6. Web site: . September 1, 1934 . Pacific Electric Time Tables . September 1, 2021 . wx4's Dome of Foam . Pacific Electric . 28.