Watts Line

{{use mdy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox rail line |name = Watts |image = File:Electric railway review (1906) (14760698712).jpg |image_width = 300px |color = {{rcr|Pacific Electric|Watts}} |caption = The quadruple-tracked line south of Downtown Los Angeles |type = Streetcar |system = Pacific Electric |locale = Los Angeles, California |start = Pacific Electric Building |end = Watts |stations = |routes = |daily_ridership = 37,436 (peak, 1946) <br /> 4,325 (close, 1958) |open = {{circa|1906}} |close = {{end date|1959|11|2}} |owner = Southern Pacific Railroad |operator = Pacific Electric (1904–1958)<hr />Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (1958–1959) |character = |stock = |linelength_mi = 7.45 |tracklength = |tracks = 2–4 |gauge = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on}} |electrification = {{600 V DC|conductor=overhead}} |speed = |elevation = |map = {{PE S Watts}} }}

The '''Watts Line''' was a local line of the Pacific Electric Railway that operated between the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the Watts Station at 103rd Street in Watts. It was the primary local service for the Southern District, which also included the Long Beach, San Pedro, Santa Ana and Whittier interurban lines. The route operated along the Southern Division's Four Tracks route, with the Watts Line using the outer tracks and the Long Beach line and other limited stop lines using the inner tracks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.erha.org/peswat.htm |title=Pacific Electric Watts Line |publisher=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California }}</ref>

==History== [[File:Slauson Junction.jpg|thumb|left|A Watts car at Slauson Junction prior to the expansion to four tracks, {{circa|1902}} ]] Pacific Electric undertook a program to quadruple-track the Long Beach Line between Los Angeles and Watts starting in 1906.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=A Four Track Line on the Pacific Coast |url=https://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/ERJ/srj-street-railway-journal/1906-srj-volume-27-no-23-june-09.pdf |access-date=19 August 2025 |magazine=Street Railway Journal |volume=XXVII |number=23 |publisher=McGraw Publishing Company |date=June 9, 1906 |page=926}}</ref> Local service was separated from the Long Beach Line in April 1907 when the four tracks were completed to Slauson Junction.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four-Track System on P.E. Line |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-express-four-track-s/179291861/ |access-date=20 August 2025 |agency=Los Angeles Express |date=April 29, 1907 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=Emblem1959>{{cite magazine |title=Watts Rail Line Goes to Bus |url=http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/employeenews/Emblem_1959_Dec.pdf |access-date=11 April 2021 |magazine=Emblem |publisher=LAMTA |date=December 1959 |page=12}}</ref> Completion of the line south Watts was delayed due to lack of materials, caused by sudden call to double track the new Covina Line.<ref>{{cite news |title=Two and four tracks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114768469/ |access-date=17 December 2022 |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=6 July 1907 |page=24}}</ref> The full four-track system opened that October.<ref>{{cite news |title=Four Tracks to Watts Relieves Congestion |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-express-four-tracks/179294118/ |access-date=20 August 2025 |newspaper=Los Angeles Express |date=October 14, 1907 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Local trains ran on the inside set of tracks while Watts Locals ran on the outside set.

During the 1910s, its service was combined with the South Pasadena Line of the Northern District. From 1938 to 1950, the line was combined with the Sierra Vista Line,<ref name=1958History>{{Veysey-PE-1958 |pages=93–94}}</ref> which was the main local line in the Northern District. Streetcars were removed and replaced with a parallel bus service on November 2, 1959.<ref name=Emblem1959 /><ref name=Nov2>{{cite web |title=November 2: This Date in Los Angeles Transportation History |url=https://metroprimaryresources.info/this-date-in-los-angeles-transportation-history/november/november-2/ |website=Metro Primary Resources |date=24 October 2012 |publisher=Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archives |access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref>

Tracks north of Washington Boulevard were removed or paved over (except a short spur track) after PE service ended. In the late 1980s, the right of way was rehabilitated with one or two tracks used for freight rail (with electrification removed) and two tracks rebuilt to modern light rail specifications. Service along the line between Washington Boulevard and 103rd Street recommenced in 1990 as the Los Angeles Metro Blue Line (renamed the A Line in 2019), with stations at Washington Boulevard, Vernon Avenue, Slauson Avenue, Florence Avenue, Firestone Boulevard, and 103rd Street.

==Stops and stations== The following were stops and stations along the Watts line:<ref>{{cite web |title=1944 Pacific Electric Station List |url=https://www.pacificelectric.org/collections/douglas-neilson-collection/1944-pacific-electric-station-list/ |website=Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society |publisher=Pacific Electric |access-date=20 June 2025 |date=January 1, 1944 |page=6}}</ref> * Pacific Electric Building (6th & Main) * 7th & Main * 8th & Main * 9th & Main * 9th & Los Angeles * 9th & Maple * 9th & San Pedro Street * 9th & Stanford * 9th & Central Avenue * 9th & Naomi Street (inbound) * 9th & Hooper (outbound) ** (begin Four Tracks) * Long Beach Avenue * 14th Street * 16th Street * Washington Blvd * 20th Street * 24th Street (Amoco Junction) – interchange with Air Line * Adams Boulevard * Santa Barbara Avenue * 41st Street * Vernon Avenue * 48th Place * 52nd Street * 55th Street * Slauson Avenue (Slauson Junction) – interchange with Whittier * 60th Street * Gage Avenue * 68th Street * 68th Street * Florence Avenue * 76th Street * Nadeau * 82nd Place * Graham * Kent (88th) * 92nd Street * 97th Street * Watts (103rd Street)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Attached KML |display=title,inline}}

Category:Pacific Electric routes Category:1906 establishments in California Category:Railway services introduced in 1906 Category:Railway services discontinued in 1958 Category:1958 disestablishments in California Category:Closed railway lines in the United States