Union Pacific in the Los Angeles Basin: A History of the SPLA&SL

Union Pacific was a latecomer to the Los Angeles Basin, not becoming part of the Southern California railroad picture until 1901, when E.H. Harriman and W.A. Clark agreed to share ownership of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, which had taken over the property of the Los Angeles Terminal Railway.

Completion of the line between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles enabled UP mainline freight and passenger service to reach California. The history of the SPLA&SL, which became simply the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railway in 1916, and then disappeared into the UP, is complex, and the Los Angeles end of the railroad especially so.

It is all here, from the many complications at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, to the suburban branches, and the complex passenger arrangements needed to serve the territory. The rivalries with Santa Fe, Pacific Electric and Southern Pacific were expressed in many conflicts and eventual agreements, through Depression, war and many postwar changes and adjustments.

Historical information is included up to and beyond the merger of UP and SP, extending to recent years. The book contains a great wealth of photo illustrations, many from Union Pacific files, the majority never before published. It provides Union Pacific enthusiasts as well as those interested in Southern California railroading with much fascinating and valuable history and information.

The company archives are B&W photographs. Color photographs are from recent history. The cover illustration by John R. Signor shows the City of Los Angeles arriving at Riverside, California in the 1940s.

Contents:

• Acknowledgements
• Preface, pp. 6–10
• The Los Angeles Terminal Railway: St. Louis Comes to the Basin, pp. 11–56
• The San Pedro
• Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, pp. 57–122
• Promoting the Pedro, pp. 123–154
• Federal Control Gives Way to the Roaring Twenties, pp. 155–210
• Trouble at the Harbor and Everywhere Else, pp. 211–256
• The Great Depression, pp. 257–316
• World War II and the Post-War Adjustments, pp. 317–376
• Passenger Trains and Line Abandonments, pp. 377–424
• This Brand-New Railroad Industry, pp. 425–468
• Forecast: Storms Everywhere, pp. 469–482
• Bibliography
• Endnotes, pp. 483–492
• Index, pp. 493–496. Signature Press, hardcover with jacket, 496 pages, 9 x 11.25 x 2 in., 562 B&W and Color photographs and illustrations. Features: New Hardcover Jeff S. Asay Signature Press