Southern Pacific Railroad

An 8-year-old legal battle between Alhambra and the Southern Pacific Railroad has ended with the city paying the railroad $6.8 million, according to City Manager Kevin Murphy. The lawsuit stems from a joint project between the city, the railroad and the state to eliminate grade crossings along Mission Boulevard, Murphy said. Previously, the tracks had been at street level, contributing to traffic congestion at crossings.

This week in 1901, trains on Southern Pacific's new Coast Line began carrying passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco along a route that for 100 miles traced cliffs above the ocean, inspiring the railroad to deem them "the most beautiful trains in the world." Frank Norris' muckraking novel "The Octopus" was published that same year, based on what he called the "fight of Ranch and Railroad" for control of California at the turn of the century.

Union Pacific Corp. agreed Thursday to acquire Southern Pacific Rail Corp., a century-old fixture in California transportation circles that has fallen on hard times, in a $4-billion deal that would create the nation's largest railroad. The marriage would give Union Pacific annual revenues of more than $10 billion and 34,000 miles of track across 25 states and in Mexico and Canada. But it would leave California with just two railroads, raising fears of reduced competition.

There is delicious irony in the fact that the Union Pacific Railroad donated $25,000 this spring to the political committee that is promoting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "People's Reform Program." Schwarzenegger, after all, casts himself in the mold of progressive Gov. Hiram Johnson, whose election in 1910 broke the oppressive political grip of the Southern Pacific Railroad -- a predecessor of the present Union Pacific -- on state government.

Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp., ending months of speculation, said Friday that it will sell the historic Southern Pacific railroad to comply with a federal ruling that had blocked the railroad's merger with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. The holding company, which owns both railroads, listed four options it is considering for divesting itself of Southern Pacific.

The Glendale Planning Commission on Monday adopted preliminary plans and boundaries for a redevelopment zone in the industrial area along San Fernando Road and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The proposed plan encompasses 622 acres along the western border of the city, parallel with the Golden State Freeway (5) and the Los Angeles city boundary from the southern tip of Glendale north to Burbank.

It wasn't a train that rolled out of the rail depot lot here early Tuesday morning, but the historic station itself. Just after midnight, house movers transported the Southern Pacific depot a quarter of a mile east to a Philadelphia Street lot. The depot held down its spot in local history for more than a century but could not remain because of a redevelopment project the city has been pushing for 12 years. Early in November, contractors for Urbatec Co.

Renovation of six Southern Pacific Railroad crossings is scheduled to start next week. The work at each crossing is expected to take about four days. Streets will be closed in each direction during the construction. The renovation will start at the McFadden Avenue crossing next Monday. Crews will then move to Center Drive, Edinger Avenue, Heil Avenue, Slater Avenue and Talbert Avenue in succeeding weeks. All the crossings are between Beach Boulevard and Gothard Street.

A 48-year-old man was struck and killed by a freight train as he sat on the Southern Pacific railroad tracks in Newhall, authorities said Saturday. The incident occurred at 10:40 p.m. Friday near San Fernando Road and 15th Street, said Mike Brown, a spokesman for Southern Pacific railroad. The victim was seated in the middle of the tracks and made no attempt to move as the approaching Southern Pacific train sounded its whistle and clanged its bells, Brown said.

Fillmore will use $1.7 million in redevelopment funds to buy 13 acres from Southern Pacific railroad, the City Council decided Tuesday night. The site of the former Fillmore railroad depot adjoins Central Park and extends east of Mountain View Street. Under the agreement, Southern Pacific will retain a 30-foot right of way through the parcel for use by trains.

One of the darkest chapters in the turbulent history of the Southern Pacific railroad in California was the "Mussel Slough Tragedy," which left seven men dead over a land dispute, turned a mild, bookish family man into a train robber and killer and led author Frank Norris to write about "The Octopus"--the nickname for the railroad with a stranglehold on the state. No other single California company ever held the power and influence that Southern Pacific did.

Lucas Morvo, rambling down Lankershim Boulevard on his way to buy hot purple hair dye, knows his way around the thrift stores of North Hollywood. But ask him about the broken-down train station at the end of the block, and the teenager shrugs. "I don't know it," he says, his long hair brushing the metal spikes on his dog collar as he cranes his neck for a peek at the century-old building. "And I hang out here a lot."

The Surface Transportation Board, seeking to end severe rail service problems in Texas and the Gulf Coast, said it will consider whether to order sale of parts of the newly merged Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads to competitors. If the board eventually concludes that major sales are needed, it will mark one of the rare instances in which federal regulators have ordered even a partial breakup of a rail merger.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled that a 1.8-acre parcel of land in the East Wilmington Greenbelt area, donated to the city for a park, cannot be used as a Habitat for Humanity housing project. Judge Robert H. O'Brien ruled Monday that property donated in 1976 by Southern Pacific railroad and accepted by the city for "public recreation and beautification purposes" cannot be turned over to Habitat for a 26-unit complex to house low- and moderate-income families.

Bumper harvests in several farm states have forced elevators to dump grain on the ground, and now a rail-car shortage is keeping it there. Blaming the problem on Union Pacific Railroad's problem-plagued merger with Southern Pacific, Midwestern lawmakers are asking federal officials for priority status for their states' elevators and export stations to allow shipments to port facilities.

Reacting to three freight train crashes that killed seven people in less than two months, federal regulatory officials this week announced an unprecedented, round-the-clock inspection of Union Pacific Railroad. Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene M. Molitoris said a preliminary review of the crashes--two in Texas and one in Kansas--has found evidence of "critical safety deficiencies" at the nation's largest railroad.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has blocked a Habitat for Humanity plan to build 13 duplexes for low-income families in Wilmington because issues of how the land should be used and who owns the property are unclear. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien ruled last week that ownership of the former railroad property and its history need to be clarified before the project can proceed.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson announced an agreement Wednesday with Southern Pacific Railroad to repair two railroad crossings that have generated dozens of complaints from motorists in Canoga Park. Later this month, city workers will make improvements to railroad crossings on Parthenia Street and Nordhoff Street near Canoga Avenue, Bernson said.