Santa Monica via Sawtelle Line
Introduction:
SANTA MONICA VIA SAWTELLE
LINE
ROUTE:
From Hill Street Station via
Hill Street, W. 16th Street (Venice Boulevard), private way to Beverly Hills Station
where junction was made with the Santa Monica Boulevard Line; thence via
private way adjacent to and on paved track in Santa Monica Boulevard to Sawtelle
and Santa Monica; thence to Ocean Avenue and Trolleyway to Windward Avenue,
Venice.
HISTORY:
From 4th & Hill Streets,
to Beverly Hills, 10.19 miles, this route was constructed by Pasadena &
Pacific Railway Company in 1897. From
Beverly Hills to Santa Monica the line was built in 1896. From Santa Monica to Ocean Park was
built in 1896 by P&P; from Ocean Park to Venice, 1901. Pacific Electric took over operation of this
line in 1911. It continued to operate
until July 7, 1940, when bus conversion occurred.
OPERATION: As of July, 1911,
all service except a few owl pull-ins operated through to and from Venice, with
base running time of 64 minutes, with 30 minute headway. On November 1, 1926, this line and the Venice
Short Line were combined, making a loop service, but on February 1, 1927, the
union was sundered; thereafter nearly all Sawtelle trains terminated at Santa
Monica with the only exception being pull-ins to the Ocean Park Carhouse. Limiteds were introduced for the first time
on this line in December, 1927; two such trains began running in the evening
rush hour. In October, 1928, a morning
limited train was added. 1933 witnessed
service cuts; base service operated every 40 minutes with 30 minute nights and
Sundays when the Brentwood Line was but a shuttle. Limiteds, remained. Running
time, Hill Street Station to Broadway Station in Santa Monica was 60
minutes. This service remained in
effect substantially until abandonment in 1940.
EQUIPMENT:
From 1911 to 1924, this line
was assigned 800 Class and 500 Class equipment; from 1924 to abandonment, 800
and 950 Classes served.
TRACK:
For that portion of this line
between Hill Street Station and Vineyard, see W. 16th Street Line. From Vineyard to Sawtelle (West Los Angeles),
track was on private way with 75-lb. T-rail on redwood ties with rock ballast
and macadam paving; from 26th Street to Pico Boulevard., rail was 128-lb.
girder, on treated ties with rock ballast and asphalt pavement; from Pico
Boulevard to Windward Avenue rail was 75-lb. T-rail on redwood ties and rock
ballast.
ELECTRICAL FACILITIES:
Substations feeding this line
were: Burlington (No. 36), Vineyard (37), West Hollywood (38), and Ocean Park
(40).
CAR STORAGE:
Out of service cars belonging
to this line were stored at Hill Street Station (17 cars), Vineyard (34), and
Ocean Park Carhouse (65).
FREIGHT:
Freight service was operated
over this line between Vineyard and Sherman Junction and between Beverly Hills
and West Los Angeles. Between Vineyard
and Sherman Junction, 292 car loads were handled annually as of 1935-36-37; in
the same period, 1,330 car loads were hauled to points between Beverly Hills
and Los Angeles. Heaviest point was
Beverly Hills, where a number of spurs produced a total of 1,130 car loads
annually. So profitable was this
business, that after passenger service was abandoned, the old inbound main line
was retained between West Los Angeles and Hollywood. Daily except Sunday box motor and RPO service was also provided. A total of seven such runs were carded as of
1938 with three of these being RPO.
MISCELLANEOUS:
Passenger traffic on this
line was definitely handicapped by the sluggish performance of the cars within
highly congested districts. It was
necessary to consume 22% of the running time to negotiate but 4% of the
distance as of 1939. As of the same
year, 31 cars were needed at peak periods, 8 at minimum periods. A schedule speed of 19.0 mph maximum, 14.0
mph minimum was in effect. Peak period
headway was 6 minutes, base period 20 minutes. The area served between Hill Street Station and Venice Boulevard.
was within the heart of the Los Angeles business district. Venice Boulevard as far as Vineyard began as
a business district, gradually changed into residential. From Vineyard to Beverly Hills the district
was well developed residentially with numerous small business districts. From Beverly Hills to West Los Angeles
residential development was of a more scattered nature; here also the line
passed the great 20th Century Fox motion pictured studio as well as large golf
courses. Between West Los Angeles and
Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, the area traversed was mainly business in nature
and residential development immediately to their rear. The remainder of the route traversed beach
communities wherein residential development was highly concentrated. Heavy bus competition was suffered by this
line. Santa Monica Municipal and Bay
Cities Transit offered paralleling service between West Los Angeles, Santa
Monica and Ocean Park, while the through bus line to Vineyard (LARy ‘P’ car
line connection) of Santa Monica Municipal was a heavy competitor. The Wilshire Boulevard-Santa Monica bus
service of Los Angeles Motor Coach was also a serious rival for beach business
as well as Los Angeles-Beverly Hills traffic. The most impressive viaduct on this line was the grade crossing
separation at Pico Boulevard, near Vineyard; this was opened for service on
November 16, 1927, and in connection with the adjoining grade crossing
separation at La Brea Avenue, opened about the same time, afforded an
impressive demonstration of PE’s desire to curb grade crossing tragedies.
| PASSENGERS (Fare & Transfer) | |||
| Year | Passengers | Car Miles | Revenue |
| 1913 | 2,250,467 | 637,484 | $196,109 |
| 1916 | 1,664,344 | 593,778 | 167,516 |
| 1918 | 1,417,565 | 536,384 | 173,873 |
| 1920 | 1,623,805 | 596,664 | 234,116 |
| 1922 | 1,704,980 | 643,540 | 380,540 |
| 1924 | 1,946,001 | 840,687 | 433,075 |
| 1926 | 2,396,495 | 1,100,905 | 545,294 |
| 1928 | 2,362,973 | 1,129,577 | 478,222 |
| 1930 | 2,563,134 | 1,101,815 | 399,385 |
| 1932 | 2,061,103 | 1,041,153 | 293,835 |
| 1934 | 1,663,583 | 938,267 | 231,348 |
| 1936 | 2,333,072 | 1,071,072 | 277,022 |
| 1938 | 2,286,461 | 1,055,140 | 269,558 |
| 1929 was the best year, with 2,644,512 passengers carried. | |||
| MILEAGES: | |
| Hill Street Station | 0.00 |
| Vineyard | 5.55 |
| Carthay Circle | 7.73 |
| Beverly Hills | 10.18 |
| Sawtelle | 13.45 |
| Santa Monica | 17.13 |