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The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, opened October 17, 1875,〔''(“First Train of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad” )''. Volume 5, Number 20. © Los Angeles Herald, 1875. Newspaper. Los Angeles Herald. 19 October 1875.〕 was a steam-powered rail line which traveled from a long wharf north of the current Santa Monica Pier to 5th and San Pedro Street in downtown Los Angeles. Intended to eventually reach San Bernardino and Independence via Cajon Pass to serve the Cerro Gordo Silver Mines near Panamint, the line was never extended past downtown Los Angeles and was eventually acquired by Southern Pacific Railroad.〔Fischer, Greg. ''(“The Expo Line Before the Expo Line” )''. © Los Angeles Downtown News, 2011. Newspaper. Los Angeles Downtown News. 1 September 2011.〕 The right-of-way was purchased by Los Angeles Metro in 1990 and is now used for the Expo Line light rail line. ==History== The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad Company was incorporated in January 1875 with Francisco P. Temple, John P. Jones, Robert S. Baker, T. N. Park, James A. Pritchard, J. S. Slauson, and J. U. Crawford, as directors. Col. Crawford was the engineer and general manager. The of track between Los Angeles and Santa Monica were privately built without government subsidies or land grants, all in a little over ten months - primarily using 67 Chinese laborers imported for the task. Right-of-way between Los Angeles and Santa Monica was given by local ranchers who were anxious to have access to a railroad. The line opened October 17, 1875, with two trains a day running between Santa Monica and Los Angeles; the fare was fixed at $1.00 per trip, freight at $1.00 per ton. Southern Pacific Railroad's refusal to allow crossing of their main line tracks prevented construction east of Los Angeles, and the unexpected depletion and closure of the Panamint silver mine in 1877 (owned by Jones), led to severe fiscal difficulties for the young steam line—on July 4, 1877 the Los Angeles & Independence was acquired by Southern Pacific. New owner Southern Pacific extended the existing wharf to allow access to larger ships by 1891. This wharf allowed ship-to-shore offloading, making the line a freight and passenger hauler of growing importance. However, the U.S. Government's 1899 decision to build a breakwater in San Pedro and create the Port of Los Angeles, effectively doomed both natural harbors' (Redondo Beach and Santa Monica) use for commercial shipping traffic. With the Port of Los Angeles nearing completion in 1908 and Santa Monica shipping traffic ceasing, Southern Pacific leased the railroad line and Santa Monica wharf to Los Angeles Pacific Railroad. (a forerunner to Pacific Electric) which electrified the portion between the long wharf and Sentous (La Cienega) in that year. The remainder of the line was electrified by 1911 when various electric railroads merged under the Pacific Electric name. The wharf was demolished in 1913. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Los Angeles and Independence Railroad」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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