Bounty for Los Alamitos Branch line pictures

[bsme25]

Great shots. Thanks.

[JR]

"It's all cr@p now!"

Happened to be in the area today and took these non-train (yawn) shots. At the entrance to the track looking E then W.

[SteveD]

Last load in was 1996(coincidemtally, Barr also discontinued rail service at its Bellflower yard on ex P.E. West Santa Ana Line previous year), abandoned by U.P. in 1998.By mid-year, the only track left was an isolated mile or so between Valley View and Los Alamitos Blvd.,complete with crossing signals, etc., but disconnected from outside world(Valley View itself was paved over and rails removed,but Bloomfield still had gates and rails), per observations included in deja.com thread on topic back then.

[tomplatten]

Great shots! Iused to wander around in the old Spreckles sugar factory at the end of the Los Al branch back in 1956! I wish some "old timer" had taken similar shots of the Riverside-Corona branch back in the early fifties when the trains ran down the middle of Magnolia Ave! Alas-no luck!

[DeserTBoB]

Myfordbrowning Wrote:I am glad that MP 184 made the effort to capture the trains on the Los Alamitos Branch. Very interesting photos.

Cliff

Agreed...really fantastic stuff! The shot of the railhead in the 35's headlights shows that this branch's days were numbered indeed, and the ride must've been pretty interesting, even at 5 MPH. It shows the SP I used to know back when it served customers pretty durned well. Great history here, and thanks for the time and effort! Same goes for V and others who took the time to scan some TT pages...really great stuff as well.

[Don B]

I grew up in Cypress between the Santa Ana line and the Los Al branch. During the summer months I wouldfollow the Espee crews when they switched the Suprene Feed Co. at Walker and Lincoln on the Santa Ana linethen head for the west end of the Los Al branch to catch them switching the lumber yards later in the day.

Steve D.notes that Barr discontinuedrail shipments but in the case of the Los Al line, I suspect that thedecision was made for them (correct me if I'm wrong). Following a heavy rainca. 1995, maybe 1996, the "last load in" laid the south rail over just east of Bloomfield (they were actually on their way out with an empty).The tracks were simply sitting in mud at thatpoint and therewasn't much holding the rails down. When I stumbled upon this scene, I had a sinking feeling, knowing that SP, soon to be UP, would have to replace a fairlylong section oftrack to make the line usable.And what would be the point? They had but one customer at the end of the line. Sure enough, they did not make the repair.


Switching arrangements on this line changed over the years as various lumber yards disappeared, along with their spurs. The first time I recall seeing the crews drop a car down the line toward Barr Lumber occurred after ca. 1986, whenanew spur was built alongside a newindustry, just east of the elementary school sports field, east of Bloomfield. Thenew industry never actually received rail shipments but the spur proved useful to switch crews. Prior to that, you would see either the caboose in the lead or somewhere in the middle, depending on what they had planned at the west end of the line. I imagine thatit was a somewhat tricky affair that had to be well planned out at Stanton Junction.


As a kid I shot a lot of photos of the Los Alline with my 110 Instamatic. I've lost them over the years but still have a few 35mm b&w's shot by my dad during our occasionalwalks down the line.Also have a few of the Santa Ana line and Stanton junction. The attached photos date to ca. 1982.

Thanks to the others who posted their photos. Really brings back memories. I have to admit, though, it's kind of depressing. But at least some of you had the foresight to take the photos. That's about all that's left of old Southern California.