Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge

{{infobox historic site

| name = Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge

| image = File:Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge.JPG

| caption = The bridge with a Gold Line train.

| built = 1896

| coordinates = {{coord|34.110958|-118.184373|display=inline,title}}

| location = 162 S. Avenue 61

| designation1 = Los Angeles

| designation1_number = 339

| designation1_date = 1988

}}

The Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge in Highland Park, Los Angeles, is more than {{convert|710|ft|m}} long and crosses the Arroyo Seco Parkway at an elevation of over {{convert|56|ft|m}}.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015067175888&view=1up&seq=283 Best Method of Erecting Plate Girder Bridges: Discussion.] In: Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Railway, Bridge and Building Association. Vol. 5–7, 1895, P. 55–61. It is the tallest and longest railroad span in the city of Los Angeles, and most likely the oldest such structure still in use.[http://www.laokay.com/Railroad.htm Railroads in United States - Things to Do In Los Angeles], LAokay.com. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131123738/http://www.laokay.com/Railroad.htm|date=January 31, 2010}} The bridge crosses the lower part of the Arroyo Seco, a watershed canyon from the San Gabriel Mountains.

History

The Santa Fe Arroyo Seco bridge, built in 1896, replaced the 1889 wooden trestle used by the Southern California Railway, which was a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railroad. The 1889 bridge, designed by Santa Fe's chief structural engineer Fred T. Perris, replaced the original 1885 wooden trestle bridge built by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad. Mainline rail service ended in 1994. In the late 1990s, the bridge was retrofitted to accommodate Gold Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, which opened on July 26, 2003.[http://historian4hire.com/arroyosecobridge.html Charles J. Fisher, historian and preservationist] The A Line now runs on the bridge's tracks following the Regional Connector's opening in June 2023.

Advocated by the Highland Park Heritage Trust and Charles J. Fisher, the bridge was declared City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 339 on January 22, 1988.http://cityplanning.lacity.org/complan/HCM/dsp_hcm_result.cfm?community=Northeast Los Angeles

Gallery

File:Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge aerial.jpg|Aerial view of the bridge.

File:Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge trestle.JPG|One of the bridge's trestles.

File:Los Angeles and San Gabriel Railroad train on the bridge at Garvanza, the first trestle across the Arroyo Seco, approaching Highland Park from South Pasadena, ca.1885 (CHS-6666).jpg |1885 view of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Railroad crossing the Arroyo Seco near Garvanza - Highland Park

File:Rail line map of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad.jpg|Rail line map of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad 1885

References

External links

{{HAER |survey=CA-265-U |id=ca2775 |title=Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Bridge, Spanning Arroyo Seco Parkway at parkway milepost 29.03, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA |photos=3 |color=1 |cap=1}}

Category:Bridges in Los Angeles County, California

Category:Railroad bridges in California

Category:Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)

Category:Highland Park, Los Angeles

Category:Steel bridges in the United States

Category:Bridges completed in 1896

Category:1896 establishments in California

Category:Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

Category:Historic American Engineering Record in California

Category:Trestle bridges in the United States

Category:L Line (Los Angeles Metro)

Category:A Line (Los Angeles Metro)