Railroad: Southern Pacific Railroad
Location: Fontana, California
Date: December 22, 1986
Credit: Elrond Lawrence, courtesy of the photographer
Two Southern Pacific diesels pull a freight train across Foothill Boulevard on Historic Route 66 in December 1986. This was once an interurban line of the Pacific Electric Railway connecting downtown Los Angeles with San Bernardino, California. The line would eventually be succeeded by Southern Pacific.
The Pacific Electric transported people and products in the rapidly growing Los Angeles metro region during the early twentieth century. These services played a major role in building LA’s economy, but highways ultimately replaced the electric railway. Freight service continued on this line under Southern Pacific, but traffic steadily dried up. Southern Pacific merged with Union Pacific in 1996 and most of the San Bernardino railway was abandoned by 2004.
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Trail: Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail
Trail length: 18.1 miles
Date: December 4, 2021
Credit: Elrond Lawrence, courtesy of the photographer
A man on a fat-tired bike bypasses traffic on the Foothill Boulevard overpass of the Pacific Electric Inland Empire Trail in 2021, viewed from the opposite
perspective of the 1986 photograph.
The trail stretches along the corridor of the former San Bernardino line of the Pacific Electric Railway. Over the past several decades Los Angeles has seen unprecedented growth and development, which strains the environment as well as housing and transportation resources. The conversion of this line helps cut through the region’s urban sprawl and provides an alternative transit option in this highly automobile-dependent area.
