This is a former Pacific Electric line. The Watts-Paramount section survived into the early 1970s, the middle Paramount-Bellflower-Stanton section survived until 2003, and the southernmost section from Stanton to Santa Ana survived until 1978.
This entire line had PE red car service to Santa Ana until 1950, when it was cut back to Bellflower. Bellflower lost passenger service in 1958, but its station still stands, boarded up and unrefurbished. Freight operations continued for several years after the red car service stopped. After the Watts-Paramount segment was abandoned, the customers were served from the other direction from a junction with other SP lines in Stanton in Orange County.
The rails were taken up from Watts working southeast in the early 1980s to a point just east of the SP diamond at Palomar. From Palomar to a point near Garfield Ave. in Paramount the tracks remained in place until some of the r-o-w land was cleared for the I-105 freeway.
In Paramount the line crossed the UP San Pedro branch to the harbor. In early 2003, the diamond was removed and a connection was built at this crossing to enable local trains on the UP line to serve the Paramount-area industries on the former PE line. As of July 2003 the tracks ended just west of Lakewood Blvd. at the eastern city limit of Paramount.
The Paramount-to-Stanton segment was being dismantled in July 2003.
The Stanton-to-Santa Ana segment had been dismantled in 1978. While that older portion of the right of way is still visible in 2003, it is now used as parking lots for businesses, self storage facilities, etc. Generally, it cannot be walked or explored, and it has lost most of its railroad "look".
All lines in this view are former Pacific Electric, at Watts in November, 1983. The dismantled line curving to the left is the abandoned section that headed southeast through Lynwood and Paramount toward Santa Ana. (There are now houses built on the right of way). The center-right line heads south to Dolores Yard in Carson; and this line is now paralleled by the MTA light rail Blue Line, opened in 1990. The branch to the right (barely in the photo) heads to the Chevron refinery in El Segundo. Courtesy Mike Palmer.
This shows the former PE line facing NW at Garfield Ave. in Paramount, as of May 1996. Note the gates are removed from the crossing signals and flangeways are paved in. The lineside signal was for the UP San Pedro branch crossing, about 1/4-mile behind the camera.
By 2003, both the lineside and grade crossing signals were long gone, but there are still rails both west and east of Garfield Ave. The MTA built a white fence across the right of way on both sides of Garfield Ave.
This was the Lynwood station as it looked in November 1983. This section of track/right of way was completely obliterated in the late 1980s/early 1990s when the Century Freeway (I-105) was built on the PE alignment through this part of Lynwood.
The MTA Green Line was built in the median of I-105 and opened in 1995. Courtesy Mike Palmer
Top Left: Facing SE at Bellflower Blvd, Bellflower. Boarded up station is across te street behind the shrubs. July 2003.
Top Right: Salvage crew working at North Stanton Jct., Stanton, July 2003.
Left: Santa Ana River bridge, Santa Ana, summer 1978.
Below: 5th Street crossing in Santa Ana, summer 1978. Wig-wags were more common then but are rapidly disappearing today (2003). By the time the Paramount-Stanton segment was abandoned they had all been replaced by gates and/or flashers.
