Local History: Pacific Electric Railway

LINES OF THE PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY

IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Newport Beach and Balboa Line

In 1906, Henry Huntington’s Pacific Electric Railway “Red Cars” began service to the Balboa Peninsula and the Pavilion, and soon, the Red Cars would bring thousands of summertime visitors from Los Angeles. By 1911, Pacific Electric was the largest operator of interurban electric railway passenger service in the world with over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of track. The system ran to destinations all over Southern California, particularly to the south and east.

The Newport-Balboa Line was the first Pacific Electric line into Orange County. It ran down the coast from Long Beach. The trains reached Huntington Beach via Seal Beach in 1904, and the tracks were extended to Newport Beach in 1905, and finally to Balboa in 1906. (On at least two occasions, rails were extended to the tip of the peninsula to carry rock for breakwaters protecting the entrance to Balboa Bay.) The P.E. considered continuing on down the coast, but those tracks were never built.

In 1903, while the Newport-Balboa Line was still in the planning stages, Henry Huntington and his partners bought the Pacific City tract along the proposed route and renamed it Huntington Beach. Sunset Beach was laid out along the tracks in 1905, and even Corona Del Mar hoped to take advantage of the proposed extension down the coast.

The town of Balboa (not to be confused with Balboa Island) owes its start to this line. Whereas Newport Beach was Orange County’s (principally Santa Ana’s) front door in the days of coastal steamer traffic, and was tied to Santa Ana by the Southern Pacific Railroad, Balboa was but a sandy peninsula until Pacific Electric extended to the town site. Steady growth thereupon ensued and in due time, Balboa surpassed Newport as a favorite spot for holiday seekers.

The Pacific Electric began reducing service on the Newport-Balboa line in 1940 when the service to Balboa was stopped, and the last passenger run to Newport Beach was in 1950. Freight service to Seal Beach and Newport continued via the line between Stanton and Huntington Beach. The track between Huntington Beach and Newport was abandoned in 1962. The Huntington Beach and Seal Beach lines were terminated in 1966.

The Red Car

The typical equipment required by this line in the 1920’s consisted of five cars which were stored overnight at Balboa and Los Angeles. At that time seven crews were needed, five working out of Los Angeles, two out of Balboa. At its height, this line carried fairly heavy weekend crowds. As many as eight 800-Class cars were stored over Sundays on the double track stub in Balboa. These would leave for Los Angeles in two and three car trains late Sunday afternoon.

The 1299 business class car, originally in use for the Pacific Electric which can now be seen restored to its former glory at the Orange Empire Railroad Museum, was also used for Pacific Electric E’s “Commodore Limited” parlor car service between Los Angeles and Balboa (Newport Beach) from 1942 to 1948. The deluxe, extra-fare service was used by numerous prominent Los Angeles businessmen who had summer homes in Balboa, among them PE President Oscar A. Smith.

provide a good view of the line.

From the Ashes

brass. Several of the cars served for years on the deluxe Newport-Balboa Commodore. Grandest of them all was the mighty “Alabama”, Henry E. Huntington’s private car. Regarded as one of the fastest and finest “inter-urbans” ever built, the huge 63-foot 52-ton car, the personal property of Huntington, was kept at his San Marino estate. The car has observation rooms at either end, and a toilet compartment and small kitchen in the middle. The kitchen was used to prepare light meals and refreshments for the passengers. The carpeted interior was outfitted with portable leather armchairs, and the large windows on the ends of the car

After Parlor Car service ended in 1948, the 1299 continued to be used for company inspection trips and was frequently chartered by rail enthusiast groups for special fan trips. While the prospect of bringing back rail service to Newport Beach and Balboa has been proposed several times over the years, the glory days of a rail trip from Pasadena and Downtown LA to Balboa in an hour is most likely to remain a memory of a long-forgotten era. However, The Pacific Electric Right-of-Way (PE ROW) / West Santa Ana Branch Corridor is a railroad right-of-way that extends for approximately 20 miles between the City of Paramount in Los Angeles County and the City of Santa Ana in Orange County. Final study recommendations for extending the metrolink line along this route occurred in the spring of 2012 and the old PE line will most likely reopen in the next few years.

Downtown Balboa

End of the Redline

(The Tracks ran down the middle of the peninusla)