Amtrak Redondo Junction Maintenance Facility (Los Angeles, California)

USA / California / Vernon / Los Angeles, California

Maintenance Facility for Amtrak's LA based services including the Southwest Chief, Coast Starlight and Sunset Limited Long Distance Trains as well as the Pacific Surfliner regional operation.

Located several miles south of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, the Santa Fe roundhouse at Redondo Junction was built in 1914. One source claims the roundhouse originally had 35 stalls, but no physical or photographic evidence has yet been uncovered to indicate that the house ever had more than 25 stalls. The turntable was a 120-foot through plate girder design. Photos going back to the 1930's show the roundhouse without doors, and given the area's mild climate, it probably never had them.

The Redondo Junction roundhouse was sold to Amtrak in January 1977, and continued to service the passenger carrier's locomotives through the 1990's. In May 1999, Amtrak completed a new service facility north of the roundhouse. The house was demolished in late July and early August 2000 to make way for further reconfiguration of the servicing area. The turntable is expected to remain.

The junction was the site of a bad wreck involving the Santa Fe RDCs:

www.lafire.com/famous_fires/560122_SantaFeTrainWreck/01...

Home of ATSF 3751:

www.sbrhs.org/

Santa Fe 3751 is a restored 4-8-4 steam locomotive that was originally owned and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The locomotive is currently owned by the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society, the organization that performed the restoration. 3751 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A second locomotive of the same class has also been preserved, Santa Fe 3759. It too is listed on the NRHP.


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atsf.railfan.net/structures/round.html --
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°1'11"N   118°13'34"W

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This article was last modified 11 years ago