San Bernardino
San Bernardino passenger stations from the Mount Vernon Avenue viaduct. Photograph; Don Winter
San
Bernardino has been an important railroad location ever since the first
glimmerings of a railroad in the area, with the stillborn Los Angeles and Independence
Railroad’s plans for a route across Cajon Pass, and then the California
Southern Railroad’s actual construction in the area in the 1880s. San Bernardino
has been the junction of three major railroad lines ever since: the location
where the former route (until 1994) to Los Angeles via Pasadena and the still
current route (in 2005) to Los Angeles via Fullerton come together, just west
of the San Bernardino passenger station at milepost 81.4 (from Barstow), 1,040
ft. above sea level, to continue as the line over Cajon Pass to Barstow.
On the former Santa Fe, San Bernardino is the place where the one-time Santa Fe maintenance shops to the north of the tracks at this point have been replaced by an extensive intermodal yard on both sides of Mount Vernon Avenue (which crosses the tracks on a stylish concrete viaduct). Under the viaduct, an additional track from the Fullerton direction, known as the “short way”, joins from the south, and there is a Metrolink storage yard at this location, south of the tracks, connected with the Metrolink stub-end passenger platforms at the southwest corner of the passenger station area. East of the stub-end platforms is the former Santa Fe depot building, now used by Amtrak. Between the main lines and the depot are additional tracks and platforms used by both Metrolink and Amtrak. There are a total of five Metrolink tracks and two Amtrak tracks in the passenger station.
On either side of San Bernardino, there are two main BNSF tracks, operated by Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) by a Dispatcher located in the BNSF/UP Joint Los Angeles Dispatching Office in San Bernardino In the immediate vicinity of San Bernardino, there are actually three main tracks (four through the area of the B Yard), all of them CTC-controlled and signaled for bi-directional operations. Track speed on the BNSF line at San Bernardino is 30 mph for all trains.
For Metrolink, current operator (in 2005) of the former Santa Fe line to Pomona (and the stub of the line on towards Pasadena that goes as far as Arcadia), San Bernardino is the eastern terminus of operations. The Metrolink line west is single track, operated by CTC from Metrolink’s Dispatching Offices in Pomona. West of Pomona, the Metrolink line to Los Angeles uses former Southern Pacific branch lines and former Pacific Electric trackage to reach Los Angeles. To avoid conflicts with BNSF freight traffic, the Metrolink route from Pomona crosses over the BNSF line from Fullerton on a single-track flyover. Metrolink also operates trains southward, over the BNSF line to Riverside (the Fullerton line).
West of the depot area, and beyond the Metrolink flyover, BNSF in 2004 has a locomotive facility where the Fullerton line turns south. South of the Rialto Avenue overbridge, there is a BNSF automobile traffic yard on the east side of the line, and the general freight B Tard on the west side of the line, extending south towards Colton.
In
the 1950s, San Bernardino was the hub of Santa Fe operations in the area, with
local passenger trains operating over both routes to Los Angeles and the two
branch lines to Redlands, long distance passenger trains operating over all
three main lines (although with a preference for the Pasadena route to LA), and
freight trains operating over all of these lines. It was the location of a
major freight yard, as well as the location of the Santa Fe locomotive and car maintenance
shops for the whole Southern California region.
General Layout
Coming from the west, the Metrolink line crosses Rancho Avenue at grade and then Lytle Creek on a bridge. Alongside the BNSF San Bernardino intermodal yard and locomotive facilities, on the south side of the line, the track rises on a flyover to cross the BNSF San Bernardino subdivision coming in from the south at CP Rancho (MP 55.3) and descends to pass under Mount Vernon Avenue and enter the Metrolink San Bernardino station and storage tracks at MP 56.2. These are adjacent to, and west of, the former Santa Fe depot at this location, long used by Amtrak. Two of the storage tracks are in the southeast corner of the curve onto the former Santa Fe ‘short way’ line towards Colton now used by weekend Metrolink trains between San Bernardino and Riverside Downtown.
Coming from the south, the Fullerton line passes through the crossovers at Rana (MP 2.2), where four main tracks start, crosses Hanna Street, Olive Street and Laurel Street at grade, then passes under the Mill Street Viaduct that crosses over the south end of the B Yard as well as the main tracks and the “short way” which diverge at East B (MP 1.1x). The “short way” crosses “old” Mill Street and Rialto Avenue at grade before reaching the San Bernardino Metrolink station at a big curve to the east under the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge, whereas the main tracks pass on the west side of the B yard, under the Rialto Avenue overbridge at the north end of the B Yard, around a big curve to the east adjacent to the San Bernardino locomotive facilities, under the flyover from the Metrolink San Gabriel line and east into San Bernardino (MP 0.0) with the intermodal yard to the north of the tracks. The BNSF intermodal yard is on the site of the former ATSF “A” Yard and the locomotive and car shops. To mitigate the cultural impact of removing the shop buildings in the 1990s, the BNSF agreed to keep the smokestack; mounted on the smokestack is the original shop whistle; it sounds each weekday at exactly 8:00 AM, thus keeping alive some of the old “company town” atmosphere.
At the east end of the San Bernardino Passenger station, following a junction with the currently-disused (in 2004) line to Redlands, the main line makes a sharp turn to the north, passing under a number of street overpasses (5th street, 9th street) and passing through the connections to/from the intermodal yard and crossovers among the main tracks at Seventh Street (MP 80.6). There are signal bridges containing the necessary signals at both ends of the Seventh Street crossovers. At Baseline, MP 79.9 (adjacent to another street overpass), there are more crossovers and associated signals on bridges (at least at the south (railroad west) end, where the number of main tracks was reduced to two until late 2004, with track speed increasing to 35 mph for freight trains and 50 mph for passenger trains. Just north of this point, after passing under the 16th street overpass, the line turns north northwest, and shortly thereafter comes alongside Cajon Boulevard (west of the tracks) and passes under the Highland Avenue street overbridge, a freeway connector overbridge, and then the Route 30 freeway overbridge (soon to be the I-210 overbridge when that highway is completed from the west).
In 1950, the overall layout was (of course) very similar, but many of the details were different:
Coming
from the west, the single-track Pasadena line (2nd District) crosses
Rancho Avenue at grade and then Lytle Creek on a bridge. At the West Yard Tower
(MP 82.0), the Third District comes in from the south on a wye. And a track
angles off to the northeast. A little further east, past the east leg of the
wye, the west end of A Yard angles off to the north of the main line. Tracks
curve off to the south to serve freight facilities before the “short way” comes
in with wye. On the east leg of that wye, Mount Vernon Avenue bridges overhead.
East of the viaduct, the passenger station lies on the south side of the line
(MP 81.4), while A Yard continues to occupy the north side. The San Bernardino
Roundhouse is on the north side of A Yard, just east of the viaduct and
southwest of the San Bernardino Shops which extend all the way to the east end
of the station/yard area.
Coming from the south, the Fullerton line crosses Hanna Street, Olive Street and Laurel Street at grade, passes through the crossovers at Rana (MP 1.5), where the “short way” diverges, then passes under the Mill Street Viaduct that crosses over the south end of the B Yard as well as the main tracks and the “short way”. The “short way” crosses “old” Mill Street and Rialto Avenue at grade before reaching the wye that includes a big curve to the east under the Mount Vernon Avenue bridge into the passenger station, whereas the main tracks pass on the west side of the B yard, under the Rialto Avenue overbridge at the north end of the B Yard, around a big curve to the east at West Yard Tower (MP 0.0x), and east into San Bernardino (MP 0.0) with the A Yard to the north of the tracks
In front of the station, there are seven total tracks, including the A Yard, two main line tracks, and three tracks on the passenger platforms. The “short way” enters the southernmost passenger track directly at its west end. The tracks into and out of the shops all connect with the main line beyond the big curve to the north but before reaching Fifth Street Tower.
At the east end of the San Bernardino Passenger station, following a junction with the line to Redlands, the main line makes a sharp turn to the north, passing over a number of streets at grade (5th street, etc.—the overbridges started to be built in 1951) and passing through the connections to/from the shops. The entire station area, and the exits from the shops, is controlled by the four-storey tower on the west side of the line at Fifth Street (MP 80.8), where yard limits end. There is a signal bridge containing the necessary signal for eastward movement adjacent to the Fifth Street Tower. At Highland Junction, MP 79.4, where there was once a tower (until 1925) controlling the junction and the erstwhile end of double track (which lasted only until 1912) the line to Highland and thence around the loop to Redlands continues north for a short distance, while the main line turns north northwest, and shortly thereafter comes alongside Cajon Boulevard (west of the tracks) and crosses Highland Avenue.
Buildings
Passenger Depot
The Mission Revival style depot was opened on July 15, 1918. It comprises a central three-storey section with towers topped by spheres on each corner, with longer two-storey extensions on east and west., the western one culminating in an end section that has peaked facades to north and south. On the north side of the depot (towards the passenger platforms) is a long colonnaded arcade that extends beyond the buildings on the east end. Part of the building was a Harvey House, added in 1921. The four segments of the building are 53’x84’, 70’x95’, 72’x142’, and 75’x64’ The arcade is 20’x330’.
Until November 8, 1989, the Santa Fe Dispatchers were located in the depot.
The depot was reopened in June,2004, after an extensive renovation; it is currently used by Amtrak.
Gustafson & Serpico, Coast Lines Depots—Los Angeles Division
Fifth Street Tower
Fifth Street Tower was a four-storey wooden building, built in 1924 to control movements to and from the San Bernardino Yard, as well as a mainline crossover. The tower closed during the 1960s.
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Gustafson & Serpico, Coast Lines Depots—Los Angeles Division
West Yard Tower
The concrete West Yard Tower was a three-storey building, built in 1927. It controlled the junction of the 2nd and 3rd District main tracks, the end of double-track at San Bernardino, the junction of the “short way” and “long way” at Rana. From 1927 to the close of the PE line, it had controlled the PE crossing of the “short way” at Rialto Avenue, which had previously been controlled from PE’s Rialto Avenue Tower. West Yard Tower’s interlocking plant was removed from service in 1980.
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Gustafson & Serpico, Coast Lines Depots—Los Angeles Division
Roundhouse
Yard Office
This 40’x243’ single-storey concrete building with dock was built in 1950, and is now used as both yard office and by train crews. The previous freight depot had burned in 1948.
Gustafson & Serpico, Coast Lines Depots—Los Angeles Division
Freight House
Maintenance Shops??
Operations
Passenger Operations
Freight Operations
Maintenance Shops??