Montebello shares its western and southern boundaries with the City of Commerce. A rail line flows through southern Montebello before entering industrial Commerce. This image was taken at Olympic Boulevard, looking south on Montebello Boulevard.
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| This shot was taken July 31, 2010, and I was headed north on Montebello Boulevard, waiting patiently. |
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| Rail cars move through the overpass above Telegraph Road, near Atlantic Boulevard in Commerce. This vantage point is at the intersection called the mix-master. |
East Los Angeles Train Station
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| About 25 yards east of the mix-master is the former East Los Angeles Train Station. (This photo was taken July 31, 2010.) The following photos of the train station were taken in 2001. |
Located
at 5480 Ferguson Avenue, the station was opened on May 15, 1929 by the
Union Pacific Railroad. Architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood was hired
by the railroad to design the building. He was also the designer of the
Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, built in 1927. Some of the
features of the hotel also appear in the East Los Angeles Train Station,
including heavy beams painted in bright patterns. The exterior of the
station had a cameo appearance in the 1946 film
The Postman Always Rings Twice.
This station ceased operation in 1971, and the building was designated a
Cultural/Historic Landmark of the City of Commerce in 1990.
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| At the time this photo was taken, the Central Market owned the land where the train station sat. Currently, SEIU Service Employees Local 121 has its headquarters on the grounds at 5480 E. Ferguson Drive. (Credit to S. Kato for updating me about SEIU's location.) |
2003 Train Derailment
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| (This photo was taken July, 2010.) |
It was upon this overpass at Garfield and Ferguson that I witnessed
mashed up railcars in accordian-like fashion Sunday evening June 22,
2003. I had been out of town, and I later heard the news that 31
runaway freight cars began in Montclair, loaded with lumber and paper,
gained speeds of 70-86-100 miles per hour, before Union Pacific
officials intentionally derailed at Track 4 in a Commerce neighborhood
about half a block to the right of this picture. The incident occurred
Friday, June 20th, when Union Pacific officials determined the only
option was to cause a derailment. The aftermath, at 11:58 a.m., was the
load of lumber exploding at Davie Avenue, impacting four homes, with a
dozen people injured, though thankfully without fatality.
A couple of years later, Davie Avenue was renamed Miracle Place.
The
area along ground-zero of this 2003 mishap received a soundwall between
their houses and the tracks. Pictured is Nicola Avenue, an adjacent
street to Miracle Place.
