{{short description|Pacific Electric streetcar line (1895–1951)}} {{use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox rail line |name = Sierra Vista |image = File:PELogo.svg |image_width = 175px |color = {{rcr|Pacific Electric|Sierra Vista}} |type = Streetcar |system = Pacific Electric |locale = Southern California |start = Pacific Electric Building,<br />Downtown Los Angeles |end = Sierra Vista,<br />El Sereno,<br />Eastside Los Angeles |stations = |routes = |daily_ridership = |open = {{start date and age|1895|5|6}} |close = {{end date and age|1951|9|30}} |owner = Southern Pacific Railroad |operator = Pacific Electric |character = |stock = |linelength = {{cvt|7.65|mi}} |tracklength = |tracks = |gauge = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on}} |electrification = {{600 V DC|conductor=overhead}} |speed = |elevation = |map = {{PE N Sierra Vista}} }} The '''Sierra Vista Line''' was a streetcar route mostly operated by the Pacific Electric Railway. It ran from 1895 to 1951 as the short turn making local stops along the Pasadena Short Line on the outside tracks of the Northern Division quadruple-track system.<ref name=ESHS>{{cite web |title=Down The Tracks Of Time El Sereno & the Pacific Electric RW |url=https://elserenohistoricalsociety.org/pacific-electric-railway |publisher=El Sereno Historical Society |access-date=11 December 2022}}</ref>

==Route== The line ran from Downtown Los Angeles to the Sierra Vista Junction, at the corner of Huntington Drive and Main Street in the El Sereno community of Eastside Los Angeles.

==History== The route began as a horsecar line. In 1894, the Pasadena & Los Angeles Electric Railway purchased, re-gauged, electrified, and double-tracked a section of the line for streetcar use. Service began on May&nbsp;6, 1895.<ref name=Hilton>{{harvnb|Hilton|Due|2000|p=409}}</ref> Pacific Electric acquired the route in 1898,<ref name=Hilton /> and the line was again rebuilt to standard gauge. Upon opening on November&nbsp;11, 1902,<ref>{{cite news |title=Railroad Record: Ride to Pasadena in half an hour |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114531870/ |access-date=13 December 2022 |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=9 November 1902 |page=31}} {{free access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rain pleases Pasadena |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114532012/ |access-date=13 December 2022 |newspaper=Los Angeles Evening Express |via=Newspapers.com |date=10 November 1902 |page=7}} {{free access}}</ref> service ran between the Raymond Hotel and the junction with the Alhambra Line. Negotiations to cross the existing roads&nbsp;— the Santa Fe Railway, Terminal Railway, and California Cycleway&nbsp;— led Pacific Electric to build a bridge over the right of ways shortly after their service commenced. In 1908, double tracking was completed throughout.<ref name=ERHA>{{cite web |title=Pasadena Short Line |url=http://www.erha.org/pensl.htm |publisher=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California |accessdate=20 September 2020}}</ref>

Between 1912 and 1914, the inbound terminus was moved to Ceres and Central in the rear of Southern Pacific's Arcade Depot.<ref name=Veysey84 /> Starting August 1915, local services on the line were assumed by interurban runs.<ref name=Veysey84 /> Independent service was reestablished in December 1916, instead terminating at the elevated concourse at the Pacific Electric Building.<ref name=Veysey84 /> Alhambra–San Gabriel Line cars absorbed local services again between November 1918 and February 1920. The Sierra Vista Line operated exclusively in Pacific Electric's Northern District until 1938. Beginning March&nbsp;20 of that year, the service was multiplexed with the Southern District Watts Line.<ref name=Veysey84 /><ref>{{cite map |url=http://www.bigmapblog.com/2011/us40-2-los-angeles-california-rail-systems-1906/ |website=Bigmapblog.com |title=Map of Los Angeles, California Rail Systems |date=1906 |quote=with Pasadena Short Line labeled |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201232500/http://www.bigmapblog.com/2011/us40-2-los-angeles-california-rail-systems-1906/ |archive-date=1 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |url=http://www.bigmapblog.com/maps/map05/tt/UHYCvctoGOZUeuag_TT.jpg |website=Bigmapblog.com |title=Pacific Electric map of Los Angeles |date=1920 }}</ref> The Aliso Street bridge opened in 1943, eliminating grade crossings with the Union Pacific and Santa Fe Railroad.<ref name=ESHS /> From 1943 to 1948, local service was extended over the Short Line past Sierra Vista as far as Pasadena.<ref name=Veysey84 /> Passenger volumes during World War II additionally necessitated cars terminating downtown to run via a loop on San Pedro, 6th, and Main streets.<ref name=ESHS />

Through-routing with the Watts Line virtually ended on October&nbsp;22, 1950, with the franchise run discontinued on December&nbsp;28.<ref name=Veysey84>{{Harvnb|Veysey|1958|p=84}}</ref> Service ended on September&nbsp;30, 1951.<ref>{{Harvnb|Veysey|1958|p=85}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=PE Trolley Lines Yielded to Buses |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96222316/ |access-date=23 February 2022 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=September 30, 1951 |page=26}} {{free access}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{Cite book |last1=Hilton |first1=George W. |title=The Electric Interurban Railways in America |last2=Due |first2=John F. |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-8047-4014-3 |location=Stanford, California |orig-year=1960 |page=409}} * {{Veysey-PE-1958}} {{refend}}

==External links== *{{cite web |url=http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/psl.htm |website=Uncanny.net: Transportation and the City, Past and Present |title=Tour of Sierra Vista Local Line |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040715075318/http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/psl.htm |archive-date=15 July 2004}} *[https://elserenohistoricalsociety.org/pe-railway-%26-real-estate El Sereno Historical Society.org: Growth During the Pacific Electric Railway] *[http://www.pacificelectric.org/category/pacific-electric/northern-district/ Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society.org: Northern District]

{{Pacific Electric Railway|state=collapsed}} {{Los Angeles Eastside|state=collapsed}}

Category:Pacific Electric routes Category:Eastside Los Angeles Category:El Sereno, Los Angeles Category:Light rail in California Category:Railway services introduced in 1895 Category:Railway services discontinued in 1951 Category:1895 establishments in California Category:1951 disestablishments in California

{{tram-stub}} {{California-transport-stub}} Category:Closed railway lines in the United States