Burbank Rail Line Became the Current Orange Line Pathway

All over Los Angeles, there are ghosts of the past even in the latest innovations.  The Los Angeles Metro Orange Line is one such case.  Although it has been forbidden by state law from building a railway on the old right of way (opting for a high-tech articulated bus to streak along its dedicated roadway), the transit authority chose the former Burbank Branch railway for its Valley express transit route.

The old Burbank Branch ran the familiar route from Lankershim to Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) since 1893.  A lot has changed in the intervening century, but the route still connects the most populous and important Valley neighborhoods on its 18-mile pathway.

Hunter Communications Original News Source:
KCET

Link to article:
Photos:  When the Metro Orange Line Was Rail

Excerpt: " The Metro Orange Line: it's named like a rail line and looks like one on system maps, but you won't find tracks along this 18-mile transit corridor through the San Fernando Valley. In fact, state law has forbidden aboveground rail transit along this route since 1991 -- the legacy of local homeowners who fought against surface rail in favor of a much more expensive subway. Instead, since 2005 super-long articulated buses have rolled down the Orange Line's dedicated, paved roadway, which now stretches from North Hollywood to Chatsworth.

But change may be arriving soon. On Oct. 29, the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution introduced by council member Tom LaBonge calling on the state legislature to repeal the 1991 ban -- a first step toward upgrading the Orange Line's bus rapid transit with the sort of light rail technology used on the Metro Blue, Green, Gold, and Expo lines.

If LaBonge's plan succeeds, the Orange Line will be returning to its historical roots. As seen in historical images from the region's photographic archives, for nearly 100 years rail vehicles of one kind or another -- steam locomotives, electric trolleys, diesel trains -- rolled down the Orange Line right-of-way.

It began in 1893 as the Southern Pacific's Burbank Branch, a double-tracked rail line that meandered through wheat fields and open ranchland. In its early years, the Toluca Flyer steamed along the route, serving passengers at Owensmouth (now Canoga Park) and Lankershim (now North Hollywood) stations, among other stops. In 1911 the fabled red cars of the the Pacific Electric Railway began sharing part of the route, and in later years diesel-powered freight trains rumbled down the line. By the time a cash-strapped Southern Pacific sold its Burbank Branch to L.A. County's transportation agency in 1991, the wheat fields had given way to residential neighborhoods and transportation planners looked to the route as the best possible transit corridor for a maturing San Fernando Valley."

The Toluca Flyer, seen here at the Lankershim (North Hollywood) station in 1900