1622 at Clement Junction Tower
Donald Duke Collection
Pacific Electric freight locomotive no. 1622 passes Clement Junction Tower at Alameda Street in this Southern Division action shot.
Modified based on comment
Donald Duke Collection
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Is the name Clements or Clement? The tower name plate has no “s” at the end of the name.
– looks like “Clement” – thanks, Bob! – ed.
Definitely Clement in the SP timetables also.
(I only worked for them for 43 years…)
Don took great pictures, but wasn’t very good on his spelling if you take a look at his books. He added an N to Echandia, making it Enchandia, and a T to Oneonta, making it Onteonta, as well as the S to Clement. I attended Oneonta elementary school, 3 blocks from the junction. There is an Echandia sign on the southbound I-5 where it crosses over the former North and East lines and the 10 frwy.
There appears to be a an extra rail in the crossing diamond, but if this was Alameda St. what would have been using the narrow gauge track? The only thing that comes to mind is it could have been non-revenue LA Ry. track for going into Butte St. for ballast loads (this would have implied a trans-loading facility). I’ve also seen photos of an LARy work motor with a flatcar loaded with electrical apparatus for the Edison Co. Eagle Rock Substation, which had a spur off the W streetcar line. One other possibility (quite remote) is that the rail is a vestige of when the narrow gauge LA & Independence RR ran on what became the Air Line.
Bob,
Have you ever seen a picture of 3 rails around the corner at Amoco? The 3rd rail could have gone to Vernon Ave for a connection with the LARy, or would there have been a closer connection either on the Airline, or by backing into Amoco, and then going North, without getting nearly all the way into downtown?
I don’t think the LARY would have entered Butte St Yard via the Air Line. Had LARY needed to enter into Butte St Yard, they probably would have gone in from Santa Fe Ave since that LARY line was the closest to Butte St. I would wager that the crossing with the narrow gauge rail would have been a replacement crossing, since the crossing frogs wore with use and may have needed replacing. In a period with many streetcar line abandonments, there may have been some suitable crossing assemblies from the abandoned lines that still had life in them and these crossings may have either been pulled up or saved for such a replacement purpose. Some of these crossings may very have had the three rails, they were probably located at some downtown intersections.