Harbor Subdivision (BNSF)
Encyclopedia
The BNSF Harbor Subdivision is a historic single-track main line of the BNSF Railway
which stretches 26 miles/42km between the rail yards of downtown Los Angeles
and the ports of Los Angeles
and Long Beach
across southwestern Los Angeles County. It was the primary link between two of the world's busiest harbors and the transcontinental rail network. Mostly displaced with the April 15, 2002 opening of the more direct Alameda Corridor
, the "Harbor Sub" takes a far more circuitous route from origin to destination, owing to its growth in segments over the decades. The subdivision was built in this fashion beginning in the early 1880s to serve the ports and the various businesses that developed along it.
brought an extension to that city in 1888. The early 1900s would see that project eclipsed with the coming of the San Pedro Outer Breakwater and the Port of Los Angeles. By the early 1920s, owing to the development of the area's oil fields, the Harbor Sub was extended through Torrance
, Wilmington and on to Long Beach
. Development of Watson Yard in Wilmington completed the line. Other than sidings at "Lairport" (along the eastern edge of Los Angeles International Airport
next to Aviation Boulevard at 120th Street), "Ironsides" in Torrance and the line's longest siding at the Alcoa
plant, also in Torrance, the Harbor Sub is completely single-track without signals, compensated with track warrant
control via a local dispatcher.
Early operations on the line meant one or more daily freight trains and, prior to the Second World War
, an occasional passenger train. From the 1950s to the early 1990s, this line saw one or two through trains each way daily. A number of locals worked the line including the Wilmington Turn out of Hobart Yard in Vernon
and the Hobart Turn out of the aforementioned Watson Yard. Other locals were assigned to Watson Yard and Vernon's Malabar Yard. Though operations on the Hobart Turn ceased in the early 1980s, the Watson (near Wilmington) and Malabar switch jobs remained to serve industries along the route. The Malabar Yard area is the site of one of the few Magnetic Flagman grade crossing signals remaining in active use. The lone lower-quadrant signal on an unusual Union Switch & Signal
base guards a crossing with nine separate tracks on 49th Street. The opposite end of the crossing is protected solely by a crossbuck.
Most of the remaining grade crossing signals are mid-20th century flashers and gates. A very old signal with a cantilevered platform extending over traffic and which was manufactured by the now-defunct Griswold Signal Company
protects the Torrance Boulevard crossing in Torrance.
on the Torrance/Lomita
border to the Harbor Subdivision. A secondary east/west spur served a United States Navy
storage annex a short distance east of the main spur, today the site of a municipal park named Wilson Park.
It originally began a short distance from Zamperini Field
(then known as Torrance Municipal Airport), crossed Lomita Boulevard into the tank farm and continued northward through a residential area, emerging at last onto the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard
and Madrona Avenue. The line crossed Sepulveda and paralleled Madrona along its southbound lanes, branching across Madrona south of Jefferson Street, through the Madrona Marsh
nature preserve and across both Maple Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard to serve the naval annex and to connect yet again with the Harbor Sub. The main spur crossed Madrona at a diagonal a short distance north of Torrance Boulevard and continued again along Madrona's northbound lanes. The line left Madrona at what was then its endpoint at Del Amo Boulevard where it met with the Harbor Sub near the southwestern corner of the Mobil refinery. Grade crossing signals on the line were standard highway flashers except for the Lomita Boulevard crossing and where the naval annex subspur crossed Madrona Avenue and Maple Avenue, which were protected only by crossbuck
s.
Los Angeles County Popular Street Atlas shows the southern terminus of the line at the tank farm off 225th Street while the naval annex sub-spur is not shown at all. The tracks and signals were removed by 1974, although most of the right-of-way remained intact until the widening of Madrona Avenue and its extension up and over the Harbor Sub to connect with Prairie Avenue in the early 1980s. The length of right-of-way directly adjacent to Del Amo Fashion Center
served as holiday employee parking after the tracks were removed.
It was during this time that the annex sub-spur got a new, albeit temporary, lease on life. A new spur was built from the Harbor Sub to the American Racing
manufacturing plant along the old naval annex ROW and part of the Madrona Marsh ROW. The spur was removed by the middle of the decade. Except for the now-overgrown ROW south of present-day Wilson Park on the site of the naval annex and some track and a switch stand from the 1980s extension in the Monterey Business Park near American Racing, no other readily discernible evidence of the line remains.
Another abandoned spur in Torrance, the Alcoa Spur, still connects to the main just west of the end of Del Amo Boulevard, parallels Del Amo on its way across Crenshaw and continues east where it once served heavy industries with ExxonMobil products on Del Amo Boulevard and Western Avenue
. Only short locals used to run this line and was so little used that the crossing was exempted from requirements that school buses and hazardous material trucks stop before crossing. The western end of the line is still used on occasion for spotting cars, but the grade crossing signals at Crenshaw have been removed and the line severed just past the eastern shoulder. A bumper near the western shoulder signifies end-of-track. Still another Torrance subspur, since removed, serviced light industries along Maple Avenue. Currently, BNSF uses this track to store rail equipment that either cannot run east due to a shortage of locomotives, or west due to congestion in the port complex.
, an Interstate Bakeries Corporation
bakery in Inglewood
, an ExxonMobil
refinery in Torrance and the aforementioned Alcoa processing plant. Since the line is somewhat unusual insofar as it passes through residential as well as commercial districts, especially through Torrance and Redondo Beach, it is a popular destination for railfan
s and photographers despite reduced traffic. Radio dispatch via track warrant control makes it easy for railfans with portable scanners to follow train movement.
The line is currently under control of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
and is used by both the BNSF and the Union Pacific. Despite the closure of the Inglewood/El Segundo segment and the reduction in the number of trains from roughly 20 one-way trains per day to about six two-way trains, growth in local freight traffic is projected to be roughly two percent per year. A study conducted by the MTA examined the feasibilities of extending the Green Line
to Torrance via the Harbor Sub, the creation of a new light rail transit line and even the possibility of a maglev
high-speed rail system. The study also examines the possibilities abandonment would create, although the scenarios remain highly unlikely.
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
which stretches 26 miles/42km between the rail yards of downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
and the ports of Los Angeles
Port of Los Angeles
The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies of land and water along of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately south of downtown...
and Long Beach
Port of Long Beach
The Port of Long Beach, also known as Long Beach’s Harbor Department, is the 2nd busiest container port in the USA. It adjoins the separate Port of Los Angeles. Acting as a major gateway for U.S.-Asian trade, the port occupies of land with of waterfront in the city of Long Beach, California...
across southwestern Los Angeles County. It was the primary link between two of the world's busiest harbors and the transcontinental rail network. Mostly displaced with the April 15, 2002 opening of the more direct Alameda Corridor
Alameda Corridor
The Alameda Corridor is a 20 mile freight rail "expressway" owned by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority , connecting the national rail system near downtown Los Angeles, California to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, running parallel to Alameda Street...
, the "Harbor Sub" takes a far more circuitous route from origin to destination, owing to its growth in segments over the decades. The subdivision was built in this fashion beginning in the early 1880s to serve the ports and the various businesses that developed along it.
Construction
First built to serve Port Ballona, located at what is now Playa del Rey, the construction of a larger, better port at Redondo BeachRedondo Beach, California
Redondo Beach is one of the three Beach Cities located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 66,748 at the 2010 census, up from 63,261 at the 2000 census. The city is located in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area.Redondo Beach was originally part of...
brought an extension to that city in 1888. The early 1900s would see that project eclipsed with the coming of the San Pedro Outer Breakwater and the Port of Los Angeles. By the early 1920s, owing to the development of the area's oil fields, the Harbor Sub was extended through Torrance
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
, Wilmington and on to Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. Development of Watson Yard in Wilmington completed the line. Other than sidings at "Lairport" (along the eastern edge of Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
next to Aviation Boulevard at 120th Street), "Ironsides" in Torrance and the line's longest siding at the Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
plant, also in Torrance, the Harbor Sub is completely single-track without signals, compensated with track warrant
Track warrant
Track warrants are systematized permissions used on some railroad lines to authorize a train's use of the main line. Dispatchers issue these permissions to train crews instead of using signals. The crews receive track warrants by radio, phone, or electronic transmission from a...
control via a local dispatcher.
Early operations on the line meant one or more daily freight trains and, prior to the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, an occasional passenger train. From the 1950s to the early 1990s, this line saw one or two through trains each way daily. A number of locals worked the line including the Wilmington Turn out of Hobart Yard in Vernon
Vernon, California
Vernon is a city five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, California. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States Census, the smallest of any incorporated city in the state....
and the Hobart Turn out of the aforementioned Watson Yard. Other locals were assigned to Watson Yard and Vernon's Malabar Yard. Though operations on the Hobart Turn ceased in the early 1980s, the Watson (near Wilmington) and Malabar switch jobs remained to serve industries along the route. The Malabar Yard area is the site of one of the few Magnetic Flagman grade crossing signals remaining in active use. The lone lower-quadrant signal on an unusual Union Switch & Signal
Union Switch & Signal
Union Switch and Signal was a supplier of railway signaling equipment, systems and services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As of January 1, 2009, US&S is known as Ansaldo STS USA.-History:...
base guards a crossing with nine separate tracks on 49th Street. The opposite end of the crossing is protected solely by a crossbuck.
Most of the remaining grade crossing signals are mid-20th century flashers and gates. A very old signal with a cantilevered platform extending over traffic and which was manufactured by the now-defunct Griswold Signal Company
Griswold Signal Company
The Griswold Signal Company was a manufacturer of traffic signals and railroad grade crossing signals based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.The company was founded by Minnesota native Frank W. Griswold, one of thirteen children born to attorney and local landowner Franklin C...
protects the Torrance Boulevard crossing in Torrance.
Spur lines
One of the line's major spurs was the so-called Torrance Oil Spur. This north/south spur line connected a Union Oil tank farmTank farm
Tank farm may refer to the:*Alternate name for an oil depot, a facility for storage of liquid petroleum products or petrochemicals*Tank Farm, also known as 'Tuff Crater', a volcanic crater in the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand...
on the Torrance/Lomita
Lomita, California
Lomita is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 20,256 at the 2010 census, up from 20,046 at the 2000 census...
border to the Harbor Subdivision. A secondary east/west spur served a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
storage annex a short distance east of the main spur, today the site of a municipal park named Wilson Park.
It originally began a short distance from Zamperini Field
Zamperini Field
Zamperini Field is a city-owned public-use airport located three miles southwest of the central business district of Torrance, in Los Angeles County, California, United States....
(then known as Torrance Municipal Airport), crossed Lomita Boulevard into the tank farm and continued northward through a residential area, emerging at last onto the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard
Sepulveda Boulevard
Sepulveda Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles, California, which stretches some 42.8 miles from Rinaldi Street at the north end of the San Fernando Valley to the city limits of Hermosa Beach, where it "jumps" east and continues on to Long Beach. It generally runs north-south, passing underneath...
and Madrona Avenue. The line crossed Sepulveda and paralleled Madrona along its southbound lanes, branching across Madrona south of Jefferson Street, through the Madrona Marsh
Madrona Marsh
The Madrona Marsh Preserve, located in Torrance, California, is the last vernal marsh remaining in the South Bay area of Los Angeles and one of few wetlands located within an urban landscape....
nature preserve and across both Maple Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard to serve the naval annex and to connect yet again with the Harbor Sub. The main spur crossed Madrona at a diagonal a short distance north of Torrance Boulevard and continued again along Madrona's northbound lanes. The line left Madrona at what was then its endpoint at Del Amo Boulevard where it met with the Harbor Sub near the southwestern corner of the Mobil refinery. Grade crossing signals on the line were standard highway flashers except for the Lomita Boulevard crossing and where the naval annex subspur crossed Madrona Avenue and Maple Avenue, which were protected only by crossbuck
Crossbuck
A crossbuck is a sign composed of two slats of wood or metal of equal length, fastened together on a pole in a saltire formation...
s.
Spur abandonments
The Torrance Oil Spur had been largely abandoned by the mid-1960s; the 1964 edition of the Thomas BrothersThomas Brothers
Thomas D. Brothers is an American musicologist, and professor at Duke University.He graduated from University of Pennsylvania, magna cum laude with B.A. in Music, in 1979, from University of California, Berkeley with an M.A. in Music, in 1982, and with a Ph.D...
Los Angeles County Popular Street Atlas shows the southern terminus of the line at the tank farm off 225th Street while the naval annex sub-spur is not shown at all. The tracks and signals were removed by 1974, although most of the right-of-way remained intact until the widening of Madrona Avenue and its extension up and over the Harbor Sub to connect with Prairie Avenue in the early 1980s. The length of right-of-way directly adjacent to Del Amo Fashion Center
Del Amo Fashion Center
Del Amo Fashion Center is a two-level regional shopping mall in Torrance, California, USA. It is currently managed and co-owned by Simon Property Group....
served as holiday employee parking after the tracks were removed.
It was during this time that the annex sub-spur got a new, albeit temporary, lease on life. A new spur was built from the Harbor Sub to the American Racing
American Racing
American Racing Equipment Inc. is a high performance after-market wheel manufacturer started during the American muscle car era.-History:"Romeo Palamides, an early drag racing innovator,Grandfather of Jet Racing, designed and crafted leading edge, high strength-to-weight magnesium drag racing...
manufacturing plant along the old naval annex ROW and part of the Madrona Marsh ROW. The spur was removed by the middle of the decade. Except for the now-overgrown ROW south of present-day Wilson Park on the site of the naval annex and some track and a switch stand from the 1980s extension in the Monterey Business Park near American Racing, no other readily discernible evidence of the line remains.
Another abandoned spur in Torrance, the Alcoa Spur, still connects to the main just west of the end of Del Amo Boulevard, parallels Del Amo on its way across Crenshaw and continues east where it once served heavy industries with ExxonMobil products on Del Amo Boulevard and Western Avenue
Western Avenue (Los Angeles)
Western Avenue is a major four lane street slightly west of Downtown Los Angeles and the center portion of Los Angeles County. Besides Sepulveda Boulevard, it is one of the longest north/south streets in Los Angeles...
. Only short locals used to run this line and was so little used that the crossing was exempted from requirements that school buses and hazardous material trucks stop before crossing. The western end of the line is still used on occasion for spotting cars, but the grade crossing signals at Crenshaw have been removed and the line severed just past the eastern shoulder. A bumper near the western shoulder signifies end-of-track. Still another Torrance subspur, since removed, serviced light industries along Maple Avenue. Currently, BNSF uses this track to store rail equipment that either cannot run east due to a shortage of locomotives, or west due to congestion in the port complex.
Potential future uses
Rumors of the abandonment of the Harbor Subdivision abounded during the construction of the Alameda Corridor. BNSF has stated that, although the entire line is now within so-called yard limits and a segment between mileposts 8 in Inglewood and 14 in El Segundo "mothballed," the line will remain open to service businesses on the route and as an alternate route should the Alameda Corridor suffer an accident or derailment. Local freights continue to work the line on either side of the closed area. Major customers include a ChevronTexaco refinery in El SegundoEl Segundo, California
El Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on the Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is one of the Beach Cities of Los Angeles County and part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments...
, an Interstate Bakeries Corporation
Interstate Bakeries Corporation
Hostess Brands, Inc. is the largest wholesale baker and distributor of fresh bakery products in the United States, and is the owner of the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands. For many years it was based at 12 East Armour Boulevard, Kansas...
bakery in Inglewood
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
, an ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
refinery in Torrance and the aforementioned Alcoa processing plant. Since the line is somewhat unusual insofar as it passes through residential as well as commercial districts, especially through Torrance and Redondo Beach, it is a popular destination for railfan
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
s and photographers despite reduced traffic. Radio dispatch via track warrant control makes it easy for railfans with portable scanners to follow train movement.
The line is currently under control of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the California state-chartered regional transportation planning agency and public transportation operating agency for the County of Los Angeles formed in 1993 out of a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the...
and is used by both the BNSF and the Union Pacific. Despite the closure of the Inglewood/El Segundo segment and the reduction in the number of trains from roughly 20 one-way trains per day to about six two-way trains, growth in local freight traffic is projected to be roughly two percent per year. A study conducted by the MTA examined the feasibilities of extending the Green Line
Green Line
- Geographic demarcations :* Green Line, a name for the Gothic Line or "Linea Gotica", a German defensive line in Italy during World War II, renamed the "Green Line" in June 1944...
to Torrance via the Harbor Sub, the creation of a new light rail transit line and even the possibility of a maglev
Maglev train
Maglev , is a system of transportation that uses magnetic levitation to suspend, guide and propel vehicles from magnets rather than using mechanical methods, such as friction-reliant wheels, axles and bearings...
high-speed rail system. The study also examines the possibilities abandonment would create, although the scenarios remain highly unlikely.